Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Gamecube)
Developed by: Silicon Knights
Published by: Nintendo

After what seems like an “eternity” of development time, St.Catharines’ own Silicon Knights have finally released their masterpiece for the Gamecube, Eternal Darkness. This thing has been in the works for so long that I think it was originally supposed to be a Nintendo 64 game. Needless to say, if the game was anything short of spectacular there would be a lot of disappointed game players out there. Fortunately, Eternal Darkness is one of the first truly earth-shattering games to come out for the Gamecube so far.

Reviewing this game is a little difficult for me, because I take my time going through games like this… at the moment I have only put in about three hours on it. Have I experienced enough of the game to pass judgement on it? I think so. Truth be told, within the first few minutes of playing Eternal Darkness I was already won over by the game’s tremendous attention to detail, gorgeous graphics and dark, immersive atmosphere.

The first thing you see when you load up the game (aside from that cute, loveable Nintendo logo) is a quote from Edgar Allen Poe, which immediately got me to thinking, even if this game isn’t dark and scary at least it will be laughably pretentious… clearly a win/win situation.

One thing I will say is that the story is quite involved… so involved that after the three measly hours of gameplay, I still haven’t really scratched the surface of what is going on in it. The story starts as a young woman named Alexandra Roivas gets a phone call informing her of her grandfather’s mysterious (and somewhat gory) death. She begins to explore his mansion for clues and it becomes apparent that he has been caught up in some sort of black magic that may well have been the cause of his demise. There is a book called the Tome Of Eternal Darkness that Alex unwittingly stumbles across, and as she pieces together different chapters, she learns about various family members and relations from the past who were also tangled up in the same web of evil that cost her grandfather his life.

As the game plays out, you control Alex Roivas in the present time, and whenever she reads a chapter from the Tome Of Eternal Darkness, you also take control of each of the characters in the past and live out their story temporarily. Some of the other characters include a Roman soldier named Pious Augustus from 26 B.C., and a Cambodian girl named Ellia from 1150 A.D. Direct gameplay is in the style of Resident Evil, however the movement is a lot smoother and the controls are not as stiff and wooden as Resident Evil. Also, during combat you can target specific areas of the body, which allows you to lop off limbs or slice enemies cleanly in half. Awesome! As with Resident Evil, your movement becomes slower and more laborious as your health meter dwindles.

In between the various chapters, and throughout the game, there are some pretty lengthy cinematic cut scenes. Normally I am not a big fan of cinematics, but the voice acting is so well done and the graphics are so visually stunning that I really have no complaints whatsoever. I could probably sit and watch a whole movie of them.

The game’s spooky atmosphere successfully compliments the story. If you want horror and suspense, then this game is for you. The guys at Silicon Knights are clearly fans of Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft in terms of content, and I think they’ve probably also taken notes from some of the more respected horror movie directors in terms of execution. The sound effects and music are creepy, and there are points in the game that will make you jump, or at least send a chill down your spine.

Part of the game’s absorbing atmosphere comes from one of its most unique elements… the so-called “Sanity Meter”. As the various characters come into contact with evil creatures, they lose sanity. When they run out of sanity, strange things start to happen… things that actually mess with your own head as a game player. I have to admit, I didn’t see how this could work, but it’s actually quite effective. You’ll have to experience it yourself really, but believe me when I say it just may have you rubbing your eyes and staring at the screen in confusion and disbelief from time to time. It’s a good thing that you can gain back sanity by delivering “finishing blows” to creatures, otherwise there would be a whole lotta insanity going on. (I don’t really see how impaling an undead monster with your trusty long sword once it has fallen limp would help bring you back to reality, but I guess I’ll just go with it.)

Your sword isn’t the only weapon you have in your arsenal. Throughout the game, you can learn to use various magic spells, which may help in combat or may help solve puzzles as well. The magic system in Eternal Darkness is another unique and creative aspect of the game. Basically you mix and combine various symbols and runes to create a spell. You can find scrolls that provide blueprints for a specific combination that will achieve a certain desired effect. The system may appear somewhat complex at first, but apparently it’s also very flexible, to the point where you can experiment with symbols on your own and even create spells that the developers of the game hadn’t necessarily intended. I haven’t progressed far enough to try this out myself, but I can believe that such possibilities exist in a game that is this detailed.

And really, it comes down to the little details that set this game apart from anything else I’ve ever played before. During a flashback scene to Pious Augustus’ time, for example, the Roman soldiers are initially speaking in Latin with English subtitles. Either the guys at Silicon Knights are perfectionists, or someone there is a really big ancient history nerd. Either way, you have to give them credit, because this game is an impressive achievement.

Although big releases for the Gamecube seem to be coming out rather slowly at the moment, Eternal Darkness finally makes me feel vindicated as a Gamecube owner. It shows that the system is capable of some amazing things, and it will keep you occupied at least until some of the other big games hit the shelves. But don’t be fooled, this is not just a game to kill time with, this is the real thing. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is a landmark game, and if you don’t believe me you’ll just have to read all the other great reviews it has been getting everywhere else. — Sean