What a surprising guilty pleasure. I almost didn't make it through the 1st episode of Van Helsing - needlessly over the top gore. But here I am, 2 days and 12 episodes later and I'm really digging the series.
The first few episodes played out very much like an RPG session in my opinion (not trying to include spoilers) and would make a decent Convention Scenario (would need to include more immediate goals though). If I only grokked Savage Worlds better. Maybe I can hack something together for Swords & Wizardry Complete ;)
I like how we get some insight into both sides of the conflict. Not just our very flawed heroes but their adversaries, the vampires. Living among humans for centuries, a volcano plunging the west coast of the United States into a state of ash darkened skies has brought vampires to a position of strength. The politics behind the power players is an interesting subplot.
I'll save season 1 episode 13 for tomorrow - then onward to season 2 :)
Tavern Steins awarded - 4 out of 5. Better than the first season of Shannara Chronicles IMHO. I'll have to give my thoughts on that later.
Uhmm...
ReplyDeleteA couple of years before leaving Italy, I published a game called "Apocalypse Slayers", based on the SlayEngine by Christian Kennig ("Dungeonslayers").
It was a "generic apocalypse" game, with modules for the specific end-of-the-world scenarios: zombies, "Mad Max", Aliens...
One of the modules was "Slayers of Vampires". It was losely based on The Strain; but well... It may be worth to adapt it.
And Van Helsing is certainly worth 4 steins!
I watched the first couple of episodes. Then I started watching Z Nation. Try that next. ;)
ReplyDeleteZ Nation is great.
DeleteAt the beginning, I thought it might be a parody of The Walking Dead - then I heard one of the producers, in an interview, admitting that it *is* a parody of The Walking Dead, and had yet more fun.
Oh my, I surrendered the series at about episode 6 or so @.@
ReplyDeleteIt sounds interesting and I hadn’t heard of it. But saying it’s better than the Shannara Chronicles is damning it with faint praise.
ReplyDeleteWhat isn’t better than that travesty?
The horror, the horror...
Amen to this!
DeleteI've never heard of the show. What network is it on?
ReplyDeleteNew episodes are on SyFy, Netflix has at least season one.
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