The Inevitable Sequelling Of Van Helsing

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing was an action RPG which prompted John to use such breathless superlatives as "pleasant" and "absorbing", so I assume you're all pre-ordering its sequel immediately. Said sequel is out next month, and while it broadly looks like another sup from the same clicky-deathfest-with-tower-defence-bits cup, it promises more character classes, weapons and whatnot, as well as the slightly discomfiting claim to have "even more humour" and "MOAR easter eggs."

Hungarian devs Neocore claim that The Incredible Adventures of Van Hellsing II "will not just be a collection of a dozen new maps and monsters, but a true sequel that keeps all the good bits from the first game, with a little improvement here and there and adds plenty of new features."

Here's the trailer to look at with your preferred organ:

And here's a statty list of differences between the two games. Numbers, numbers, what do they really mean, eh?

Given it's only been some nine months since the first game starring the son of Bram Stoker's much-exploited vampire hunter, I think it's fair to not expect a dramatic departure from Van Helsing 1. However, given that John identifed some promise in that game, it could well be that an expanded do-over will hit the spot. He's planning to offer a verdict on the sequel, so look for that around the release date of April 17.

Which is sort of a suicidal date, given it's three weeks after Diablo III: Reaper of Souls comes out. Though I suppose if Blizzard's expansion turned out to be nob (I honestly have no idea on that front - have paid no attention to it) perhaps people will be hungry for an alternative. A HIGH STAKES GAMBLE.

If you just can't wait to bop vamps on the nose, pre-ordering the thing now gets you instant access to the closed beta.