Interview of: Van Helsing | By: Justin Fenico

05 Mar-2004

Another title that has been given the Movie/Video Game coat to wear, Van Helsing is hoping not to become like all those failed attempts of being in both industries. I had a little chat with Stephen Townsend to find out how it would avoid such a fate.

QUESTIONS

Q: Let’s get a quick introduction of our interviewee, how are you involved in the creation process for Van Helsing? What other projects have you been fortunate enough to work on? A: My role on Van Helsing is that of the publishing producer. I’ve worked in the industry for eight years most recently on two very different games - Cat In The Hat and before that Medal of Honor Allied Assault. ....................................................................................................... Q: Creating a game simultaneously with a movie must be an interesting experience. What kind of communication is being done on both sides? Are the actors/actress lending there voice talent? A: This is the fifth licensed game I’ve had the opportunity to work on and each present their own unique set of challenges. For Van Helsing, we’ve worked closely with the filmmakers meeting regularly to discuss and review progress on the game and to make certain we were in line with Stephen Sommers’ vision for the film. We used imagery taken directly from the film sets, 3D models from ILM as reference and even our audio was created by Soundelux, who are also working on the film. In addition a majority of the film’s cast offered their voice services reading from a script pinned specifically for the game. ....................................................................................................... Q: Lately more and more titles have been sharing the duel role of being both a movie and game, no more so than the Lord of the Rings trilogy which did extremely well, though not all titles share the same outcome. Why the decision to make Van Helsing into a game? What precautions are being taken to avoid an outcome of, let’s say, less desirable movie/game blends? A: Some movies are really not well suited be great games but Van Helsing is a monster hunter. He dawns a dark cloak, a brimmed hat and wields an amazing arsenal of weapons. He’s sort of like the Clint Eastwood of monster hunting. He’s the guy every kid naturally wants to be – a loner, take-no-prisoners sort of mercenary who has no fear. We already had the template for a great action hero to start with so we extrapolated from the direction offered by the film and created a hoard of game specific weapons and minions for Van Helsing to do battle with. ....................................................................................................... Q: So Van Helsing is a vampire hunter, that’s all well and good but we’ve been treated to many vampire hunting games over the years. What is it about Van Helsing that will make it a different experience from previous titles? A: Van Helsing is a character that we’ve seen before but have never really been privy to how he fits within the world of Dracula. Our game story delves into this through a series of in-game cinematics creatively woven into the natural progress of level to level gameplay. Unlike a lot of other Vampire hunting games, Van Helsing is hunting the king of all Vampires – Dracula – in addition to a horde of other classic foes such as Frankenstein’s Monster, Wolf Man, Igor and Dracula’s Brides. Although there is an exploratory component in Van Helsing, this game is really about non-stop action and the use of the grapple hook to fight, repel and solve puzzles. This is the attribute that really differentiates the gameplay in Van Helsing. ....................................................................................................... Q: Let’s get more specific, how will the game unfold? Are we talking about moving from level to level with cut scenes etc… or can we expect something else? A: The game unfolds very cinematically with Van Helsing initially being summoned by the Vatican to go on a mission of great importance. All of the cinematics occur in-game with use of all in-game models to make the transitions as seamless as possible. In addition to this, there are story elements that exist in game to help move the plot along. The key here was to make sure we didn’t remove the player from the game world in order to comprehend and follow the overall story arch. ....................................................................................................... Q: How about on a graphics standpoint. What type of special effects can we hope to gaze upon while playing? How about monster and character creation, are they created to mimic the movie as close as possible? A: All of the weapons have pretty spectacular effects associated with them from electrical bolts and smoking pistols to flaming scimitar blades. You’ll even be able to see the electricity flowing through the back of Frankenstein’s Monster’s head. The Saffire development team has gone to great lengths to translate the vision for the film to the game. All of the monsters used from the film have been meticulously recreated in 3D from models, textures, maquette photos and full 3D interactive VR Quicktime movies. ....................................................................................................... Q: Van Helsing has some pretty nasty looking weapons. Can we expect to see all the weapons from the movie? Personally, what’s your favorite thus far? A: The main weapons from the movie are in the game plus quite a few others – 8 in total, all with upgrades. My favorite is the Gatlin gun. You can do some serious damage with this weapon and at the point you’re awarded it, you’ll need it. ....................................................................................................... Q: With all of the weapons, he has the ability to pull off a type of fatal attack. Can you give us a more in-depth look into these attacks and maybe a few examples? A: All of the weapons have different affects on enemies so it’s up to you, the player, to figure out which works best for which enemies. If you’re vanquishing baddies in rapid succession you’ll be awarded Finishers that take down all enemies in a single hit. With these, the monsters die in particularly brutal ways which I won’t spoil for you. ....................................................................................................... Q: Not being released until May to coincide with the movie, what is being done to the game right now? A: The dilemma that always comes with releasing day and date with a film is that you’re always slightly ahead of what’s being done on the film. Right now we’re putting on some of the final touches and tweaking enemy encounters. We’ve also just completed replacing our temp midi tracks with the live orchestral score recorded in Seattle. ....................................................................................................... Q: What’s your favorite part both about the movie/game that you think players will get the most enjoyment from? A: Van Helsing is a very fun and entertaining experience. While monster hunting is generally a very serious business, both the game and the film manage to toss a little humor into the mix when appropriate. Sommer’s has a great track record for successfully translating his vision to the screen and from what I’ve seen of Van Helsing this should be one of his best films to date. In terms of the game the gunplay and Van Helsing’s ability to roll, flip, slide on his back and execute a host of other moves while continuing to blast monsters is a lot of fun. The game moves with a really nice pace and the puzzle elements are extremely intuitive so the player won’t get frustrated trying to access new areas. In addition to a game offering fun gameplay, I always appreciate games that offer a rich fictional story as the back story to the main character’s quest. I like to turn out the lights and really get into the experience. With Van Helsing, gamers will truly enjoy that playing the game is sort of like watching an interactive extension of the film. It seems like Van Helsing is setting up to be one gun blasting, vampire slaying ride. I’d like to thank Stephen Townsend for taking the time to answer these questions. Scheduled for a May release, we will continue to bring you more news as it hits the wire.

SCREENSHOTS

MEMBER FUNCTIONS

ADVERTISEMENT

Advertising on ToTheGame