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Nintendo likes to stick to the tried and true methods for their games. There have been at least 30 games that involve Mario or Luigi, 10 that involve Link, 10 that involve Donkey Kong, and 7 or 8 that involve Samus. And, don't get me wrong, that's not necessarily a bad thing, each successive game has brought new innovations to those games' respective genres, but the characters themselves are starting to show their age. Eternal Darkness is a fresh look for Nintendo that they really needed. Before I start, I'd just like to say that Eternal Darkness is NOTHING like Resident Evil and is not technically of the survival-horror genre (Melee weapons are your best bet until you get real far in the game, so you don't need to worry about ammo).
Eternal Darkness starts in modern times in Rhode Island, but you'll spend most of your time as different characters during different time periods, everything from a Roman centurion over 2000 years ago to a Canadian fireman during the Gulf War. Although each character you play as live during different time periods, all the levels are set in one of 4 locations: A temple in the Middle East, a temple in Cambodia, a cathedral in France, or the Roivas mansion in Rhode Island. As you play through as each character, you'll be able to explore new areas that previous characters didn't have access to. Every character has the Tomb of Eternal Darkness, which enables him or her to cast spells. You'll find new items that allow you to cast new spells as you progress through the game. Your characters have physical properties to a certain extent. For example, if you swing a sword or run around for an extended period of time, your character will be panting for breath. They can't attack or run as fast until they can recover. Depending on your character, your speed and stamina will be affected. Max, a heavyset character, is quite slow and loses stamina easily. Ellia, a young girl, is very fast. Michael, a firefighter, is in great shape and can run and attack without losing much stamina.
Also I should warn some people that Eternal Darkness has lots of gore. So, if you don't like your kids playing violent games, you probably won't be too eager to let them play this one. Anyway, you'll get different weapons depending on the time period you're in, but for the most part melee weapons are the most effective thanks to Eternal Darkness's combat system. You can specify if you want to attack your enemies (namely hordes of zombies and the like) in the head, arms, or torso. If you use a melee weapon and cut off their limbs, they're basically harmless (unless they are the "singing" zombies who have a nasty habit of exploding all over you). Eternal Darkness does have some puzzles in it, but nothing too difficult; it mostly focuses on combat.
But, the most interesting gameplay element is the sanity meter. This is an awesome concept that as your character fights the baddies, they slowly go insane. The only way to recover lost sanity is to kill more enemies, use spells, or enter the trapper dimension. As your sanity drops, some crazy stuff will start to happen. I won't spoil any of the good effects, but they include: the walls bleeding, entering a room on the ceiling, and a statue head that turns to follow your movement. There are times that you might accidentally (or in some cases, purposefully) throw your controller because of the sanity effects. I know I did >_>.
Eternal Darkness looks great. The character models are nice, animation is smooth, and there are no slowdowns whatsoever. There are a few things in the background that don't look too good, but you'll be focussed on everything else around you. Eternal Darkness takes place in the dark, so there are plenty of lighting and shadows throughout the game. They all look great, but you'll have to play this game in the dark to reduce glare, otherwise you can't see a thing. If you were too scared to play Resident Evil or other games like it in the dark at night, get a friend over for when you play it.
Eternal Darkness doesn't have much music, but it doesn't need it. There are good sound effects for everything and great voice acting, but it's when you lose sanity that the sound really kicks into high gear. The ambiance is great when you start to go insane. Again, if you were too scared to play Resident Evil or other games like it with the sound up in the dark, get a friend over for when you play it.
Overall, Eternal Darkness is a highly original game that Gamecube owners can be proud of. Unfortunately, Nintendo didn't market the game well, so most people I know hadn't even heard of it until recently. Eternal Darkness is creepy, innovative, and, most importantly, fun. You'll have fond memories of some of the sanity effects for years. I believe that if you own a Gamecube you should own this game. Definitely in my top 5 Gamecube games.
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When nintendo seemed to be doing everything wrong, in comes eternal darkness. Easily one of the best games for the cube, not to mention one of the best games around. Eternal Darkness has a very well done backstory to it. All aspects of this game are great.
The controls are easy to learn, as are the tactics in the game. Although things were easy to learn in this game, they are challenging to be good at. The cut scenes move the story along nicely, and effectively change depending on which of the three ancients you picked at the beginning. The insanity cut scenes are a very pleasant addition.
Another thing the games did well was being scary or creepy. The insanity cut scenes have no warning, and will give you a good scare. An insantiy cut scene happens when your insantiy meter runs out.
You also have a health and magic meter in the game. The magic meter is there because as you progress through the game you'll learn new spells from the three ancients. Each ancient can defeat an ancient, but is defeated by an ancient also. That is an important thing to remember in the game.
All the playable characters are brillanty done. Weapons that reflect the time that they are in. Not to mention they move according to their attributes, which makes it realistic. Like when you play Maxillion Rovias, he's fat and slow. So when you play him, you can't out run enemies. That's where your skill comes in.
There is no doubt that this is a 5 star game, also there is no doubt that this game is a classic.
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This game is so FRIGGIN Wicked! I haven't stopped playing it since I bought it!
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I LOVED this game. A real gaming milestone in every sense of the word. One of the best and most complex, immersive, satisfying gaming experiences of my life -- I've been obsessed with it for THREE WEEKS. I played it three times through, and was never bored once.
ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY'S REQUIEM offers everything gamers hope for in a game (and far too often, are disappointed): a strong heroine, great and interesting and very varied characters (you will play for more than 12 -- young, old, male, female, fat, thin, etc, throughout history), a fantastic storyline, superb rendering for the GC with no visible load times or slowdowns.
Absolutely not for kids (it's violent and really, really scary), ETERNAL DARKNESS is a smart, violent, atmospheric -- and an unbelievably great combination of adventure and combat. The visuals, puzzles, and powers just get better and better as the game progresses, and the finale is moving and unexpectedly intelligent (the whole game is beautifully written and as satisfying as finishing a great novel).
NON-SPOILERY ADVICE: Save often, experiment with spells as soon as you have enough runes, and target the heads (R-targeting in combo with stick allows you to choose which body parts of enemies to go after). I would also suggest that -- if you get stuck -- you use hint systems versus walkthroughs (which in this case especially can spoil the game).
NOTE: It is very important when you are playing KARIM (Ch4), ROBERTO (Ch8), and MICHAEL EDWARDS (Ch11) that you fully explore the levels. You should come away with something important here that will affect gameplay in the finale. There is also an extra and very important magical item discovery to be made when playing DR. LINDSEY (Chapter 6) that will affect gameplay enormously (and it's just loads of fun) so be aware you should complete this level with yet another magical weapon of sorts.
However, please note that you can skip all of the above and still finish the game, it's just harder (and not as much fun, as the extra spellcasting is part of the coolness).
STARTING UP: I would suggest playing the Ulyaoth (BLUE, magical) alignment first (have Pious pick the blue artifact in the beginning), then if you replay (and the game offers wonderful replay incentives with different monsters, key moments, and levels of difficulty for each of three different levels), you can play Chatturgha (RED, health) which is a bit tougher combatwise but with slightly easier boss battles. If you play a third time for the secret ending (and it was a lot of fun), play Xelotath (GREEN, sanity) last. It's hardest of the three but at that point you'll have the experience to know what to do, and can (...)and enjoy the gameplay. Completing the game a second time gives you more illuminating final dialogue and the chance to skip to the sections of your choice, while completing a third time offers a secret (and vital) extended epilogue covering all three of the games you just finished -- and what they really mean.
And ED:SR isn't just about health or magical powers like most games, but also requires that you maintain your character's sanity. I would therefore totally recommend allowing your character's sanity levels to drop deliberately from time to time, just because the insanity stuff is so inventive and is so much fun. And be warned -- if the game suddenly does some strange things to you, or you find your controls acting strangely, don't be too hasty to restart or check your console, as ED:SR likes to play with your head as well as your character's!
Ultimately this is a brilliant and worthy title for the Gamecube -- one I wish they would continue with in a sequel or follow-up (I'd buy it without even reading a review).
So if you're at all adventurous, buy it, try it, and by the time you're through, you won't be disappointed. Although you may not be all that sane, either... ;-)
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This is a very interesting game. My boyfriend bought it yesterday, and despite some very freaky scares, we both really like it. You should definatly take heed to the rating. This is NOT okay for children. Ours aren't even allowed to watch, for fear they'll have nightmares. It's very creepy, and scared the stuff out of me just watching. Here's a hint: beware the bathtub!
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