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One of the most
anticipated games for the Nintendo Gamecube, but why you ask?
Well, perhaps it is because it is a much more macabre game
than Nintendo's spot-free history and yet completely original
and all new. Straight from Silicon Knights with the up and
coming Denis Dyack at the 'helm', they have fully managed to
create the first full "Psychological Thriller" where the
person who holds the controller is at risk of losing their
marbles, all at the hand of the newest innovation "The Sanity
Meter". This meter measures exactly how much of your sanity is
left whilst encountering villains who also happen to be dead
already, details on this magnificent idea to come.
Now probably one of the biggest
questions from consumers is "How similar is it to Resident
Evil?", and as an enormous RE fan believe me, they are in two
different leagues, only similar in the way their desire to
scare, and they both use a mansion. That's all. Storyline,
weaponry, objectives and puzzles are all totally different.
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As far as
storyline goes, Eternal Darkness (ED from here on out) has one
of the most impressive in-depth storylines I've ever seen. The
premise of it (without giving too much away) is that Alexandra
Roivas has just found out that her grandfather has been
brutally murdered and since her parents died years back she is
the sole inheritor of a mansion, and also takes on the task of
finding out what happened to her grandfather since the police
are clueless. She soon discovers an ancient book made from
human skin called The Tome of Eternal Darkness, and she goes
about finding missing pages of the book which act as chapters
of the story. Each chapter deals with the history of an old
war between humankind and The Ancients, the original rulers of
Earth who desire to rule once more in the darkest of fashions.
When a chapter is found, instead of merely reading it you get
to act it out from the writer's perspective, slowly revealing
the history of the war and how it relates to Alex and her
family. To say the least,the storyline is simply amazing and
is interwoven with dark poetry such as Edgar Allen Poe's "The
Raven". In all there is rougly twelve chapters, the first of
which reveals your enemy and how he got to be what he is. I
will leave the rest of the storylne for you to discover, since
it is quite in-depth and fun to watch unfold.
Now the game mechanics are vastly thought out, seamlessly
woven into the game, from the controls to the assorted meters.
First off, the controls are so easy you will soon forget that
you're holding a controller, everything is where it should be
and responds the way you desire. I know, I know, sounds too
easy to be true, yet it is. You move with the left analog
stick, the D-pad is used for storing quick-spells, the left
trigger is used when you want to run, the right trigger is
used for targeting, the Z button is to reload (if you don't
want to wait until you run out of ammo, otherwise your big
green button will do that), B button is used for an assortment
of tasks such as viewing an external item or picking up an
item, and likewise is the A button which is primarily a button
used for fighting, the Y button is used for storing spells for
quick use, X is used for sneaking, and the Start button
opens/closes the menu, the other analog stick (C stick) is
rarely touched, used only to rotate items in the menu screen
and move the map around once again within the menu screen. My
only wish is that they would have flip-flopped the Z and X
buttons to make reloading a tad easier, but it doesn't make
much of a difference since you spend little time with any
weapons that require ammunition.
There are three meters, health (duh), magic and sanity.
Health is just what it sounds like, it measures how much life
your character has left. However, the less health you have the
more your character's speed slows to a grinding halt (just
like real life), let's face it, if you're an inch within your
death you won't be running a 4.0 second 40 yard dash like some
other games. Also, even when you are fully charged with life,
if you run a lot your character will still slow down from
fatigue, how quickly your character's energy drains (and how
big the life meter is) is directly tied to each character's
physique and role. For instance, your old fat uncle may get
tired fast and might not have a very large life meter, but
perhaps he will have a bigger magick and sanity meter. You can
refill your life meter by casting a spell, or finding an item
that replinishes your life. The magick meter is straight
forward, when you cast a spell, it depletes the magick meter,
the only way to refill your magick is by walking or running
around (there were times when I was forced to run in circles,
kind of funny), pretty simple. Now the fun part is the sanity
meter, every time you are spotted by an enemy, you drop a
little on your sanity bar. The lower it gets the more "things"
will start to happen, the punishment fits the crime, that
means that if you've only lost a little of your sanity then
the effects will be minor, they won't go into the bigger
dramas unless you've lost a whole lot of your sanity. I won't
spoil any of the effects for you since it is such a huge
enjoyment throughout the game and adds some *serious* depth
and levels of fun. You can refill your sanity by A) killing
your enemies and executing a fatal blow to them, B) cast a
spell that replinishes sanity, or C) if your character happens
to have an item that refills your sanity (few and far between
though).
The spell casting part is a bit more complex at first, but
simple once you play with it a little. There are three levels
of casting power controlled/used by three different circles of
power, a three point circle of power (looks like a triangle),
a five point (hectagon), and a seven point (septagon?). You
collect these circles of power as you progress through the
game. You also build a collection of Runes, which contain
magickal powers, each Rune covering a different magickal area.
For instance, one Rune will relate to "Creatures", and another
to "Summon". There are three prime areas of coverage for
Runes, 1) Alignment/Color, 2) Action, 3) Object it effects
(could be you, an item, a room, etc.). Just finding a Rune is
not enough however, it must also be deciphered through the use
of a Codex before you can attempt to use it in an incantation,
so you have to not only find the Rune, you must also find the
Codex that matches the given Rune (each Rune has a matching
Codex). Once you have at least one alignment (Red/Blue/Green),
and at least two Runes, it is possible that you can create
your first spell. To create a spell open the menu, go to the
spell area and select the Create New Spell option, select a
Circle of Power, then an alignment Rune and if it's a 3-Point
Circle of Power then you have a remaining two Runes you can
add to try and create a spell. Not every combination of Runes
and alignments creates a spell, and just because you do create
a spell does not mean you automatically get to know what that
spell does. Once you find a spell scroll it will tell you the
correct combination of Runes and the spell's effect to create
____ spell (the ____ being whatever spell scroll it is that
you picked up). So basically, you could create a spell without
a scroll, and even use it and not even know what it does (I
experienced that quite a few times). It is definitely fun to
play with though.
The graphics are pretty nice, of course at this stage of
technology it's pretty tough to make crappy graphics, ya know?
My personal opinion is that gameplay overrules graphics (i.e.
I'd rather play Dr. Mario than play Xbox's Fellowship of the
Ring). Keep in mind that this game was originally intended for
the N64, so some of the graphics had to be ported and slightly
upgraded (turned out rather nicely still though), but late in
the game you will see some pretty extravagant graphics in
comparison to some chapters, but the bottom line is that all
the viewing is easy on the eyes. There is no control over the
camera, which actually is nice, because Silicon Knights used
it to their advantage to make the game a little more
unpredictable. There are a few times when it creates a
problem, but not enough times to get worked up over.
Not missing any details, Silicon Knights definitely did well
on the sound portion. Any composer will tell you that music is
the key ingredient in movies, and it's no different here.
While there isn't much music, there are still tons of sound
effects that will etch into your mind to tense your muscles
and make you question what's really happening. Very creepy
stuff.
The attention to details is downright astounding. Each
character you come across as you read the chapters has a
distinct appearance, and even has a unique lineup of weapons
all of which match the character's era and status. The voice
actors get an 'A', and they even throw in some greek for added
effect, very well done. The storyline is awesome, plenty of
cut-scenes but not too many to make it boring. The gameplay is
sweet, losing your mind is highly recommended, yet it will
effect how you play and will be more than an added piece of
candy. Lastability is there, even after you defeat the game,
you can play through twice more to uncover something secret.
Will you want to play through it twice more? Yes, it's that
doggone fun. This game is a massive sleeper hit and a soon to
be cult classic. Would I buy a Gamecube just to play this
game? Yes, but I'd also probably buy RE, Zelda and the
upcoming Final Fantasy. This game is not only recommended,
it's a must. I give it 4.5 out of 5 planets.
Skrabble Rating:
4.5 out of 5 Planets
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