Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Positives:

• Atmosphere
• The Sanity system
• Story
• Characters
• Voice acting
• Gameplay

Negatives:

• Not much

This game came out on the Nintendo Gamecube and it seemed like they were trying to appeal to the more adult gamer with this offering. Though, they would have some resident evil games on that system, this was their exclusive brand. Granted, they did not ever go beyond this particular game making it pretty much a one game series, but within that one game are quite a few series! Graphically, it still holds up very well, though I have stated in the past that I do believe graphics pretty much peaked during this time and now all that is done is clearer and more detail. The story in this one is pretty good and it offers a few twists on game play, but at times the game play mechanics themselves can prove to be a tad frustrating as far as fighting monsters and such. Still, with this one, Nintendo was letting us go into the darkness with an offering of their own and I do believe for the most part they did a pretty good job.

The story has a young lady named Alex going to the home of her grandfather. He has been killed in gruesome fashion and the police have no leads or clues as to what happened to him. She decides to explore the house and see if she can perhaps turn up something. She ends up finding a book called the Tome of Eternal Darkness and within it she will live out various other peoples' meetings with the Darkness that is going to try cover the world in Eternal Darkness. Can the various people who encounter the tome hold back the darkness, or are we destined to lose the light?

The game play is about the most problematic part of the game. I love that you get to control such a wide variety of characters and use so many interesting weapons. I also think the whole insanity effect was cool, just wish I could explore more while insane, but they make it so if you run out you lose health, which kind of sucks as the more entertaining thing in the game is trying to figure out if you just got your head knocked off for real or if it was just the character going momentarily crazy. The levels do have a bit of sameness to them, but at the same time you revisit stages during different time periods so you can see what age has done to the places. The fighting, now that is kind of a pain. I understand they were going for making you tense as you try to reload a gun and it takes a moment; however, at times it is also very difficult targeting the enemy too. You also get killed by camera angles and such as well. The magic casting also took forever, which for the most part was not too big a deal, that is until you had to face this huge creature during the war and time your magic attacks. Overall, not too bad as it was an earlier game so one can expect the controls to be a bit more difficult as making games like this were still not quite the norm.

So overall, a good horror survival game which obviously used a whole heck of a lot of H.P Lovecraft stories and influence. I think the story got a bit weaker as it progressed, but not a lot. It would have been interesting to see if they could have done a sequel, but the only way I could see them doing it, is if they made a completely unrelated story, but then you run into the problem of making the same game with only different locales and characters. They would have also had trouble trying to come up with different insanity effects too, so I can see why they did not immediately make a sequel. I think they could do one now though as it has been a long time since this game came out.

This game doesn't stoop to the level of jumpscares (except for one part but I feel it was well earned), the atmosphere alone strikes fear and unease in a person. If you can get your hands on this game, play it alone, at night, on a CRT. You'll never have another experience like it.

Eternal Darkness had an unusually long period of development. Work on it began in 1998 as a game for Nintendo's Nintendo 64 system, but when the game's developer, Silicon Knights, was made a full subsidiary of Nintendo, the development was switched to the then still in development Gamecube hardware. Although many games that spend four years in development have a lot left to be desired, Eternal Darkness overcomes that barrier, delivering an experience that no other game has ever produced.

Although the game features an intricate storyline, a diverse cast of characters and an excellent system of play, what sets Eternal Darkness apart from all other games before it is the Sanity Meter. As characters are spotted by enemies, the meter gradually empties. Although it can be refilled, when the meter is no longer full, the game begins to play tricks, not only on the character that is going insane, but also on the player. A diverse range of insanity effects keeps players on their toes, not knowing when an effect will occur or what it will be.

While the Sanity Meter is a major part of Eternal Darkness, it wouldn't be enough to sustain a game by itself. However, Silicon Knights has put together one of the best gaming experiences in recent memory. Very little about the game can be considered truly flawed. Even the graphics, which show hints of its days as a Nintendo 64 title, have a certain charm to them, the faults overcome by the overall presentation of the game.

The plot is very intricate and incredibly thought out for a video game. Rather than play existential as Metal Gear Solid 2 ended, everything weaves together to form a coherent knot. The voice acting is top notch and only adds to what is a truly incredible experience. Eternal Darkness is sure to be recognized as a classic and destined to be followed by many inferior imitators.

When Final Fantasy VII made it's debut on the Play Station, video gamers everywhere realised that video games had then become a new medium for telling stories. Just as novels could never be translated properly into movies, so to the narrative of a video game remains distinctive and offers a story that can be told with originality and style. So Nintendo takes its first steps into a new genre with Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Telling a two thousand year long story with second party developer Silicon Knights at the helm, famous for the Blood Omen series.

The story starts with an enigmatic monologue by the narrator Edward Roivas, and then we are thrust into the shoes of his grand daughter Alex. After a dream sequence where she is chased by zombies, she awakens to a phone call from an Inspector Legrasse from the Rhode Island Police who tells her there's been an "Accident with her grandfather."

A quick flight later, and Alex deals with the sight of her grandfathers mangled body, as well as an inept police force. Frustrated by the police, she takes it on herself to find the culprit and so unfolds, what is in my opinion, one of the best told stories in a video game, and for any other medium for that matter.

Dark magic, darker characters, and the now famous 'sanity meter' forge this delightful foray into the horror genre. The game is classified as a "survival horror", but this is a poor way to describe the game. More of a psychological thriller, the game isn't scared to try to mess with the players head, and mostly succeeds.

Borrowing from classic horror stories, we see numerous references to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Even the character Inspector Legrasse is named after the Police Inspector from The Call of Cthulhu, so it's no surprise that the game is brimming with eldritch terrors and ancient beings vying for the future of the planet.

The sanity meter itself is an ingenious device, sitting alongside the health and magic meters. When an enemy locks eyes with you, the meter drains. This varies between enemies. The lower the meter is, the more insane the character is. This causes a wide range of hallucinations, from a dismembered head reciting Shakespeare, to a message stating the control is unplugged when monsters are swamping you. This latter effect is one of the games most magnificent features, playing with the player's head.

GAMEPLAY- The game play mechanics are simple and solid. The stick is used to move around, A is to attack and B is for everything else. You can unleash a small combo using the A button repeatedly, or select body parts to hack at with a simple targeting system, though the selected limbs flash obtrusively. A major annoyance is that using horizontal attacks is useless in small areas, which the game is filled with, as the swords will always clash with the wall. Eventually you'll learn to aim at the heads of all enemies, this brings the blade down vertically and it's the weak spot of most of the enemies anyway. After you learn the magic spells though, you can assign spells to four 'quick spell' buttons, so you don't have to dig into your magic book for the spell you want over and over again.

GRAPHICS- When first playing, the graphics seem rather outdated. This isn't too surprising as the game was in production for a long time and was originally slated for a Nintendo 64 release. The models are clunky and the textures seem overly pixelated. But as the character is drawn more and more into the world, so too is the gamer. The larger rooms are impressively awe-inspiring as well as the imaginative sets. But the lighting effects are what make this game visually stunning. The spell casts are always a pleasure to watch. The camera angles are excellent, stylistically giving us a full view of what is going on, and never becoming obtrusive.

SOUND- The sound effects and music are top notch. Eternal Darkness has Dolby Surround capabilities, which really show off the extra touches. Echoing footsteps, insane whispers coming from behind you, and creepy music that reverberates throughout the house. It's horror as best as it comes.

An excellent and well-crafted game, with one of the finest stories ever told. This is the kind of game that game makers should inspire to make.