Developer - Silicon Knights
Publisher - Nitendo
Players - 1
Blocks - 15


Introduction

Some say they found this game so scary that they almost wet themselves in a lot of places and psychologically couldn't cope with playing the game for periods longer then 2 hours at a time. Others may have jumped once or twice and found themselves disturbed in places due to varying concepts and ideals, but overall found the game rather enjoyable. And yet others found themselves laughing most of the way though, deliberatly driving their characters past the brink of insanity just to experience all the special effects this game has to offer. Whichever of the above you presume yourself to be, chances are you'll find the game to be quite enjoyable - disturbing perhaps, but enjoyable nevertheless.


The Story

Throughout the game you play the roll of 12 characters ranging from a time period of 26B.C. to 2000A.D. The central character to the storyline is a university student by the name of "Alexander Roivas", who after having a rather unsettling dream receives a phone call informing her that her grandfather has been murdered. The police request for her to come to the Roivas manor and identify the body, as she is the only living relative.

Game players are then taken to a scene in the Roivas manor where Alexander positively identifies the rather mutilated body. Rather upset she yells at the police asking them why they had to show her such a scene - why couldn't they have checked dental records or something!? The police aquidly inform her that they would, however there is no head for them to do so.

A week later, unsatisfied with the lack of answers the police have uncovered, Alix decides to explore the family manor in hopes of finding some sort of clue as to exactly what happened during her grandfather's final hours. She quickly comes across a room with a book titled the "Tome of Eternal Darkness" - a book central to the storyline. Each chapter in this book is a different character which you must play, from a different background and time period. For most part it's in chronological order, though there are some exceptions.

I shall not reveal anymore of the storyline starting from the first level (first chapter in the book), however i will state that a good portion of the characters die in rather interesting ways so therefore don't become too attached to them. Some really are quite likeable.


Gamplay

The gameplay is realistic in many ways, which causes many to appreciate it. For example when your character is seriously injured they become rather slow, limp a lot and are easier for enemies to attack. Physically fit characters run faster and are more agile then overweight ones, whom tire quickly. The magic, health and sanity bars are respective to what one would expect of the character’s time period, occupation and personality - the journalist from WW2 for example has a much smaller sanity bar then most of the other characters.

Weapons are from their respective eras. The various blade designs are rather artistic, and each has a slightly different feel to one another when used. Firing weapons are reflective to what they should be in real life - the crossbow for example only holds 1 arrow at a time and takes quite a while to reload.

The fighting system on the game is rather simplistic to understand and get used to. There is a little strategy in regards to how you fight enemies - if you cut off the head then they cannot see where you are and if you sever off the arms of a more humanoid shaped enemy then they cannot attack you. When starting out, a player may have to give a little thought as to how they plan on slicing and dicing a room with several enemies.

Also most defiantly worth a mention is the sanity feature in the game. As your character is spotted by the various enemies they lose some of their sanity - different enemies cause you to lose different amounts. This is understandable in many ways, as in reality if one encountered the living undead or saw some skeletal creature jump out of their dead workers bodies then they would start having mental problems. If you accidentally kill an innocent person in the game, your sanity meter takes quite a severe blow. Once your character has no sanity left then their health begins to suffer.

As your sanity bar lowers, some of the game's special effects begin to play. You may start seeing bleeding walls and enemies which aren’t really there. You may begin to hear noises like random incantations in Latin, people screaming in a nearby room or desperate pounding on the doors and walls. The game may start to experience technical errors such as the TV suddenly being muted or the screen turning itself off for a few seconds at a time. There are many different sanity effects - most of which I will not mention here but rather leave you to experience for yourself first-hand.


Game Pathways

Towards the end of the first chapter, your character must choose between 3 artifacts - a red, blue and green one. Each artifact leads to various game drawbacks as well as different scenes with each respective ancient. I strongly recommend that you do not choose the red artifact the first time you play the game, as the enemies are much harder to defeat and drain more health.

Storyline wise the green artifact is the best choice to start with, not to mention the voice of Zel'lotath is rather interesting. I have found it the easiest pathway to play, plus the excess sanity drain makes things far more interesting.

The first time you play the game it takes approximately 15 hours to complete. Second and third time takes around 10 hours each. Completing the game three times leads to an alternate ending as well as the ability to cast spells of purple element. Some of these spells have different effects from ones of other elements, so it’s worth experimenting around a little.


Sound

Voiceovers in Eternal Darkness are exceptionally well done, some of the voices being quite interesting to listen to. As mentioned beforehand the voiceover for Zel'lotath is rather unique and intriguing – it captures the listener’s attention while possibly causing them to feel a little uneasy. Also worth complimenting is the exceptional job done by the voice actor of Maximillian Roivas when he reads the various autopsy reports. The characters fear, paranoia and insanity are captured beautifully here.

Eternal Darkness also contains some good instrumental pieces of music - at the time of me typing this I am listening to a rather soothing piece from the soundtrack titled "Black Rose". Not all have such a dark feel to them, infact some make quite good background music when doing everyday activities. Only complaint I have about the music would be how quickly the music of the Roivas manor becomes repetitive - especially when one is having troubles finding the next chapter page.

When playing the game, ensure you have the volume at a reasonable level. Some of the sanity noise effects are rather good - for example the first time I heard pounding at the doors I found myself pausing the game to check the front door. The game is just more enjoyable when the volume isn't too quiet.


Graphics

Considering this game was originally built for N64, the graphics are exceptional - never once did I have problems fighting an enemy due to a poor camera angle. While some of the characters have better graphics then others, there are none which I would claim are poorly done.

Some of the artwork in the game, especially hanging around the Roivas manor, happen to be very nice pieces of work. They would probably appeal most to those with darker tastes and style.


Ending

Due to the fact the game has been out for 4 years now, it shouldn't be very hard to pick it up second hand for rather cheap price. It's the best game I have ever had the pleasure of playing on the gamecube (granted I haven't played all too many), and certainly worth the $15 spent purchasing it second hand.

Lovers of philosophy may be appealed to some of the things mentioned in the game. The mythology of the game cast aside for a moment, there are some very good points brought up by Edward Roivas – the character which does most of the narrating in the game. References are made to famous philosophers such as Freud, Skinner and Jung, as well as early mentions of a piece of literature by Sir James George Frasier. I haven't personally read the piece of literature that was referred to, but have been told it's quite relevant.

An exceptionally good fan-done trailer which doesn't ruin the storyline can be found here, and is worth watching even if you are not planning to buy the game. The monologue voiceover is from the start of Eternal Darkness and contains one of my favorite quotes of the game.


Final Rating

9.5/10. And that's only because the music of the Roivas manor became repetitive after spending a long time trying to find one of the chapters. That plus I don't like giving many things a perfect score.

Nice review. Like I said to you before if I see this game in the store I will buy it.

When this game was released it didn't get the spotlight it deserved. Wich is quite a shame.

nice review indeed. the game looks very apealing to me. but unfortunaly, i dont have a gamecube, so wont be able to buy it V.V

bought a PS2 last year(barely use it xD) so i doubt my parents will let me buy one GC, even with MY money ~.~

too bad, this looks like it'd be my kind of game too