Pretty exterior with no substance.
User Rating: 6.2 | Van Helsing XBOX
Devil May Cry can be seen as a blessing and a curse to the modern action game afficionado. The original game itself was spectacular. And that's wonderful. It's success spawned a number of pretenders to the throne. I'm sure a popular pitch to publishers started something like "It's like Devil May Cry, except..." Van Helsing is obviously one of those followers. It is also another link in the abyssmally long chain of movie-licensed video games that aren't worth the media they're published on. The game consists of rapidly firing guns and crossbows, and on occassion swinging tojo blades. However it is possible to beat most of the game without using the Tojos. There is some light puzzle play involved. And there are hidden powerups that alter the game like giving you a big head. I must admit that graphically the game was wonderful. However, you might not get to see them because the gameplay will bore you so much that you'll gouge your eyes out. If you want a simple shoot-em-up that you can waste a few hours on, Van Helsing fits that bill. In my eyes, this game, like the vampires it contains, should never see the light of day. 
