Eternal Darkness

Jakanden · Posted: 06/24/04 - 20:24 Post subject:

Anyone played this? I am almost finished with this (I think) and I must say it is one of the best games I have played in a LONG time. At first I didn't dig it but after I got into it I realized how good it really was. Here is a mini-review I wrote

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The game I am currently addicted to is Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. When I first began playing this game, I really wasn't all that enthralled by it. Sure it was kinda spooky and reminded me of a Silent Hill game, but all in all I wasn't impressed. Well, due most noteably to all the things my sister told me about this game, I continued to play it. Now I have to admit, she was right, this game is wicked awsome.

The basic premise of the game is that you are Alexandra Roivas, the granddaughter of a recently deceased psychologist. You have vowed to uncover the circumstances behind his bizare death and in doing so you discover the Tomb of Eternal Darkness. As you read it you take on the role of everyone who has come in to contact with it. These range from a Fransican monk in the late 9th century to an Indiana Jones type Archeologist in the 1980's to a character right out of Arabian nights in 6th century Persia. The game spans thousands of years and 12 different characters. Each character has its own unique weapons and stats (For lack of a better term). Warrior characters, for instance, have more sanity and health than say, a doctor. They also can run around and fight longer before getting fatigued. These touches force you to play each character differently. You play each character for about 30-45min before getting back to Alexandra and it is interesting to see how all the character stories intertwine and connect. You also get to witness some historical events such as the death of Charlemagne and the cause of World War I (in which you see the "real" reason for these events).

It may be easy to compare this game to Resident Evil or Silent Hill, and while it does have a resemblance to both, it is also its own unique game. Much like the Resident Evil series, the game does have a heavy does of action, however unlike Resident Evil, it does not require you to be some fast button pushing maniac to make sure you dont get slaughtered as the action is smooth and forgiving and it really doesn't get TOO difficult (Even on the boss battles). Much like Silent Hill, the game relies on psychological terror to keep you on the edge of your seat. There have been quite a few situtations where I was playing it at midnight with all the lights off and I had to stop because it was just freaking me out too much. It does a very good job of this with a combination of lighting, music and the unique "Sanity Meter".

The sanity meter is what makes this game in my opinion. Each time you come up against the hoards of darkness you lose some sanity (Although this can be refilled by performing a finishing move on the creatures). When your sanity drops, the game really starts to mess with you. By this I mean the game really lays it on thick. Some things I have seen are:

- The game looking like it has locked up
- The controller stops working with an error on the screen saying "Controller is unplugged"
- The game resetting and going back to the Nintendo screen

And a host of bizzare other things. I could give you a multitude of insanity effects I have seen, but it would be far too much of a spoiler (Perhaps I have said too much as it is). Sometimes you find yourself so enamored, that you don't even realize that your sanity meter is down. This is when you will get shocked by what happens because you are not expecting it. There are quite a few times where I was like "What the hell?!?" only to realize my character was going insane. It adds a wonderful element to gameplay and makes for some interesting "gotcha" moments.

While I don't dig it as much as Metroid Prime, I do personally think this is one of the best games I have played in the past few years. Thats right, the past few YEARS. Even though it takes a bit to pickup, the game sneakily draws you into its twisted story and overall creepy mood. While the graphics are not the best, the gameplay more than makes up for it. It is a game truly worthy of the survival horror genre and a game that all others should aspire to be as good as.

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So has anyone else played this and if so - what are some of the insanity effects you have seen?

Eternal Darkness

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