Skeletons lumber towards me from all directions – surrounded and outnumbered I activate a spinning attack, my Scythe a red blur as I cut through the masses and navigate myself towards a gap in the crowd, allowing me some breathing room to quickly plan my assault. Seamlessly I switch to my Lightning Gun and blast a few from a distance, just as a Reaper spawns to provide reinforcements for the attacking horde. One of my lightning shots lands a critical hit which instantly activates my Destiny card powers, causing a frost explosion that sends bones flying, quickly swinging the odds back in my favour. The battle is over and I move on, collecting the loot that now scatters the battlefield, the carnage over in a mere matter of seconds, but it won’t be for long. Summary Victor Vran Overkill Edition is an enoyable aRPG that mixes satisfying combat with a rewarding loot system and then throws in a few expansion packs for good measure. If you like your isometric dungeon crawlers, you’ll find a lot to love here.
Victor Vran is full to bursting with hectic moments like this, and I was surprised at how quickly I was drawn in to the world Haemimont Games has created. Playing the titular character, a demon hunter with an array of weapons and abilities at his disposal, you start the game entering the town of Zagoravia in search of your friend Adrian, a fellow demon hunter, after receiving a letter via raven – all good dungeons and dragons fantasy style stuff, and naturally things quickly take a turn with everything clearly not as clear-cut as you would hope while off visiting a pal. As for Victor, he is a likeable enough protagonist that fits the deep and surely demon hunter stereotype we’ve come to know and love in video games – something that is further hammered home by the fact that he is voiced by Doug Cockle, or as I better know him, Geralt of Rivia. When I initially heard his voice narrating the first cutscene and setting up the story I thought that this would be a major distraction, like I was playing The Witcher 3.5, as both games have a lot more in common than just the voice of the player character, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I swapped one demon hunter for another and Victor took a life all of his own.
Another game that has clearly inspired Victor Vran is Diablo, and if you’ve played that game there is plenty to love here. Victor Vran takes what works and adds its own take on certain gameplay features, tweaking or adding whole new ones that just make Victor Vran shine. One of these is the fact that Victor is not bound by a character class; instead your play style is dictated by your character build. Want to wield swords and maces to get in close to your enemy? Or do you prefer to strike from afar, using shotguns and revolvers, or even spells? The game doesn’t confine you to one type, and you can easily switch your setup on the fly, dealing our ranged or melee as you see fit. I found I started playing in my usual way, using swords and going in swinging, but by the end I was mixing it up, using a scythe for quick attacks and enemy dispersion, then switching to a guitar (yes, a guitar as a weapon, but trust me it works and isn’t as out there as it sounds) to blast enemies from a distance. Without the freedom to equip what I wanted and play around a bit I would have probably stuck to what I know, instead I was able to mix it up and the game was more enjoyable for it. Weapons can be bought, found in chests or dropped by enemies, and a good deal of time is spent on inventory management and experimentation in order to build a character that plays the way you want, rewarding you with bonus experience or abilities to help you on your way.
That being said, at times I did feel slightly overwhelmed by the fact that so many weapons had buffs and bonuses that it did get difficult to choose which weapons to keep or play around with, but that’s just me – normally I agonise over every little detail refusing to sell weapons until my inventory is full to bursting on the off-chance that I sell a weapon that would be a game changer later on. Victor Vran doesn’t penalise you for carrying around all the weapons you find, but I’m a good chunk through the main campaign and have finished the Motörhead expansion and the amount of weapons I am lugging around is getting a little silly. Said weapons can be sold in the games hub which serves to link the different areas together, or transmuted into more powerful variants depending on what you’re after, and the game does a great job of explaining all these options as the story progresses.
As you would expect, customisation is a key gameplay element when playing Victor Vran, as alongside weapons, armour can be equipped which dictates how your Overdrive (special) meter fills, and Destiny cards can be collected which add further buffs and bonuses to Victor as you level up. These all add to the gameplay, and each area of the HUD is carefully managed so you are aware of each element as they come into play, with certain actions and abilities tied to a cooldown timer so you can’t just continually spam a certain powerful attack. Each action you can perform is hotkeyed to the controller, with square, circle and triangle serving as attacks, X as jump, R1 allowing you to switch weapons and the shoulder buttons as your special, and getting accustomed to the layout of the controller is slowly drip fed as each ability unlocks as you level up. Starting out with the bare minimum regarding abilities teaches you to make do with what you have, so that later you truly feel like a badass as you swing your weapon about and fire off specials as enemies swarm around you.
Combat in Victor Vran is fluid and at times hectic, with a lot going on all at once. Spells zap and explode around you as enemies swarm from all over, and at certain points it can be a little tricky to see exactly what is going on around you. Enemies spawn as you explore the map, and they range from the small and easily killed to the large and rage quit-inducing variety. For the most part I found that the main attack was enough to plough through the waves of enemies you face, but at times I would have to mix it up depending on certain enemy types or the situation – for example, the scythe has a nifty Whirlwind attack that causes Victor to spin and move around, damaging all in his way, which is useful for getting out of tight spots. Other abilities come in handy at certain points, and building a decent character build through equipping the right gear is crucial in order to proceed later on, and again this too is something that can be done on the fly in the heat of battle.
The Overkill edition comes complete with two expansion packs, each with their own aesthetic and set of trophies and gear. Handily any gear you collect is easy to transfer between one game or another by simply staying in your inventory – I was able to get a good chunk of the way through the main campaign, jump into the Motörhead expansion, switch to the Fractured Worlds and then back to the main campaign all the while retaining my gear and level bonuses without any fuss.
The first of these expansions, Motörhead: Through the Ages, is an enjoyable addition to the main game, complete with Motörhead soundtrack to get you fired up as you bash your way through its slightly shorter campaign. Designed with the help of Motörhead, the storyline tasks you with bringing the Snaggletooth back to life with the help of Lemmy and Lloyd Kaufman, with even the three worlds you visit through the course of the game inspired by the band’s music. These worlds differ from those of the main campaign, featuring a war torn city, a wild west frontier town and a medieval castle, and they are each fun and enjoyable to explore, with each containing new enemies and features such as Monuments of Rock where enemies spawn and reward you with items and EXP (including my guitar weapon – I told you it made sense). If you are a fan of Motörhead you will no doubt have a blast, but as someone who’s only knowledge of them starts and stops with The Ace of Spades most of the references did go well over my head, but if you’re a fan you will absolutely lap it up.
Out of the expansions it is the Fractured Worlds that feels the least fleshed out. Gone are the open maps that allow you to explore and hunt for secrets, and instead each map becomes a series of disguised corridors that simply funnel you from one enemy encounter to another, as the enemies slowly get tougher as you progress, boiling down to what is essentially Victor Vran’s survival mode. This isn’t to say that the gameplay isn’t fun, and challenging yourself to blast through waves of enemies is as enjoyable here as it is in the other games, as is finding and equipping better loot, but when it is paired alongside an enjoyable main campaign and the Motörhead expansion, Fractured Worlds comes off as the worst of the three.
The main game and the Motörhead expansion, however, offer up a lot in terms of enjoyment and replay value. Each map has a number of challenges that can be completed for extra gold, items or experience, such as defeating a set number of enemies or killing a champion in a certain way, and exploring each fully requires some patience and expert use of the jump button to reach some tricky out of the way spots to find treasures that are often hidden in out of the way places. Found within each area are doorways to new bonus locales that can be completely ignored in order to finish the story but that serve as an extra challenge or area within which to grind your level up, and each come with their own set of challenges to complete too. All can be completed solo or in coop with upto 4 others online, which is something I was unable to try for this review.
A wealth of features, an enjoyable campaign that is further added to by two decent expansion packs and some satisfying combat make Victor Vran a real joy to play. Levelling up and looking for better loot to further your adventures is addictive as it is fun, and the way that your play style dictates your character build is as shallow or as deep as you want it to be. Take into account it’s price tag and you will be hard pressed to find a similar aRPG with as much bang for your buck.
Victor Vran Overkill Edition PS4 Review
Review Disclaimer: This review was carried out using a digital copy of the game provided by the publisher. For more information, please read our Review Policy.
*Reviewed on a standard PS4
