Polish your crucifix and cock that 6 shooter back because you’re going to need all the help you can get if you want to stop the vampire plague from taking over the world in Icehill Entertainment’s Vampire Origins HD.

Uncover the mysterious backstory of Vincent, an undead servant of the underworld, while blowing demonic vampires to bits and saving the world from a vampire infection that has suddenly swept across the land.

Thankfully, you won’t be tackling this feat alone. Coming along for the ride are you good friends pistol, shotgun, and saber to help you fight your way through a myriad of blood thirsty vampires.

Vampire Origins HD’s most obvious comparison is to the Resident Evil franchise. The only difference here is that it’s worth playing, unlike the sad excuse for an iPad game that was Resident Evil 4 HD.

The story behind Vampire Origins is a little played out. It’s what you expect from a run of the mill “infection” story, but stands out due to its unique comic book cut scenes. The Sin City style artwork really adds to the vibe.

It’s easy for a game to look pretty though, and boy does this game look pretty with its highly texturized victorian city full of subtle spooks and clever design. It’s something entirely different have a game that controls naturally, especially when utilizing touch controls.

Vampire Origins accomplishes this by making use of a lock-on targeting system that allows for quick bursts of full out action without having to worry about lining up a perfect shot each and every time. It helps with maintaining the game’s action packed pace as well as allowing the user to focus on having fun rather than pulling off a tricky shot. The unique twist put on Quick Time Events is another cool feature used when battling Bosses. Something I’d like to see other games use as opposed to the more basic click here and then here QTEs that Gameloft’s Hero of Sparta uses.

Linearity is a hard problem when dealing with action-adventure games on a mobile platforms. Having players hunt for keys, scraps from vampire lore, and using Vincent’s Magic eye to look for hidden objects gives you other things to explore while making your way from point A to point B.

There are also plenty of options to be tweaked and additional modes to keep you busy. A nightmare difficulty is included for those willing to take the challenge. Two different controls schemes are available, one that makes use of a virtual joystick and another where you can simply point to walk. After beating different levels throughout the game you’ll unlock a Survival mode for it where you’ll be faced with an endless wave of increasingly difficult enemies. It is part of the Crystal Network too, so there are achievements to keep you busy collecting.

I had just about lost all hope for 3rd person action-adventure games on the iPad after playing so many lackluster titles that didn’t live up to my expectation, but after playing Vampire Origins HD I now have more hope for the genre in future iPad games. If you’re a gamer you’re going to love Vampire Origins HD, it shows how great mobile games can really be if given the proper care.

You can purchase Vampire Origins HD for the iPad for $4.99 here.