My favorite Gamecube game - A review of Eternal Darkness

[Nupraptor]

Well, the other day, I finally got the chance to sit down and play Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. I've had an eye on this game's development since it was a title planned for the N64, since it was being developed by Silicon Knights, the same people who brought us Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (and, if you know me, then you know that Blood Omen is a bit of an obsession of mine ;)). Well, it's taken a few years, but the end product is most definitely worth it.

First off, let me get this out of the way: You've probably heard comparisons drawn between Eternal Darkness and H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Yes, they are most certainly justified. But that's not a bad thing. Ancient gods at war through time, a copy of the Necronomicon, vast cyclopean cities and many other similarities can easily be drawn. But they only serve to strengthen the final product.

The graphics were very nice. Never was I stunned or left drooling over them, but they were crisp and clear, without any pre-rendered backgrounds. There were lots of nice visual touches and they just worked really well.

The sound: The voice-acting in the game was absolutely top-notch. Silicon Knights literally hired some of the best in the Biz to portray their characters, including Michael Bell (Raziel, Soul Reaver 1-2), Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake, MGS 1-2), Richard Doyle (Moebius, Legacy of Kain games), Paul Eiding (Mephisto, Diablo 2), David Hayter (Solid Snake) as well as many other top-notch actors. I was very impressed. Not only was the voiceacting excellent, but there were lots of very nice audio-touches, such as the gods' chanting whenever you cast a spell, or the very subtle and atmospheric music. You learn to reconize what waits for you at the end of a long hall by the noise it makes. You'll learn to dread (or welcome, depending on the situation) the sound of the Trappers.

Controls: It took me all of about 20 minutes to get used to the Gamecube controller (which I'm still not overly fond of). But, once I did, the control scheme was tight and very comfortable. The ability to aim at individual body parts of your enemies worked out admirably, and I found myself gleefully lopping off the heads of my undead enemies, stepping back and watching as they clawed at thing air or even each other.

The story was excellent - it woved together the stories of about a dozen different character magnificently. Sometimes, you may even find yourself look at the aftermath of one of the other character's actions from earlier. From the running around as a Roman commander with a Gladius, to a Civil War-era landowner with flintlock pistols, to a modern archeaologist with an elephant gun, it had plenty of diversity to keep the player entertained. It weaves together it's own world: One that's two parts Lovecraft, one part Blood Omen and one part insanity.

Speaking of which: The insanity effects were absolutely brilliant! They come completely unexpected, alternating between convincing you that your character has lost it, or that you yourself have lost it. I'll try not to spoil the surprise of seeing them for yourself, but here were a few of my favorites:

* As you go to enter a room, your character's head falls off from their body. The head floats up into the air, and begins reciting Shakespeare.

* You Gamecube will freeze up and you will be presented with the most dread of screens ever: the Blue Screen of Death. After a few moments, gameplay will resume as normal.

* The volume bar will appear on your television set and the volume will start dropping until the game is muted, as if you had sat on the remote control. It returns to normal after a moment.

Suffice it to say that some of the insanity effects really had me fooled. On at least one occasion, I was ready to lunge at the Gamecube in a paranoid frenzy. Plus, I know that I saw only about half of the insanity effects coded into the game during my 20 hour run through the game, giving me all the more reason to go back and play through it some more.

And that's not the only reason to play through it again: There are actually 4 different ways to progress through the game, each with slightly different cutscenes and different endings. At the end of the first character's campaign, which is relatively short, you are presented with a choice of three glyphs, each represnting one of the gods whom that character will serve throughout the game (the fourth one is a secret, only available after you finish the other 3). That alone should be enough to warrant at least a second play-through.

Overall, I was very impressed by Eternal Darkness: More so than any other Gamecube game I've played so far. If you're into Dark, Atmospheric games with lots of excellent voice-acting, story and a really cool gimmick, then ED: SR is a must-have.

9.5 / 10

[Vega Van-Derveld]

I haven't seen a review give this less than 8 or 9 yet. Shame I don't have a game cube :\

[Sejah Haversh]

I know I'm going to get smacked down, but, I honestly didn't like that game.

[Morgan Evanar]

I've yet to stumble across anyone I can stomach for more than 15 minutes that owns a cube, and I found the controller to be just... ackward. I hate the thing because its so different.

[Nupraptor]

I really don't like the Gamecube controller. I think it's poorly designed and isn't very ergonomic. But I've heard quite a few people claim it's the most comfortable thing EVAH. (shrugs)

Any particular reason you didn't like it, Sejah?

[Sejah Haversh]

Well, unlikr you, I thought the voice acting was rather poor. Well, not the voices themselves, but I think the animators did a piddly job of giving lines enough expression.

I also hated the fights. I absolutely hated the fight engine, it was slow, awkward, and difficult to control. Had I been able to have a decent reaction speed, ti would ahve been better, but it was just too slow.

And I think that the Gamecube controller isn't that hot, but I do prefer it over the X-Box controller (Can we say Dreamcast rip-off with a big pointless sticker in the middle?)

I was just not taken by the game, and would not care to give it another shot.

[Morgan Evanar]

I love the x-box controller. Its a bigger dreamcast controller, which I always thought was too small.

Actually, the X-Box controller is the only standard controller I think is big enough.

Regardless, this game seems to be nifty. I guess I'll get it if/when I pick up a Cube sometime next year.

[Nupraptor]

I like the X-Box controller a lot. :) But then, I liked the Dreamcast controller a lot.

The fight system did take me a while to get used to. But it definitely seemed heads and shoulders above the likes of, say, Resident Evil.

Re: the voice-acting - I dunno. I can scarcely believe we played the same game, in that regards. Michael Bell's mad ravings were outstanding, I thought.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

This is how I break down the Systems:
Gamecube: Party Games, Classics (I.E. Super Smash Brothers/Godzilla)
Playstation 2: Racing/RPG/Free World Explorer
X-Box: What ever is stolen from Nintendo and Sony.
PC: RTS and Shooters.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Ha ha about the X-Box comment - not. I'll give Microsoft one thing, their hardware generally is pretty top notch. It takes time for a console to get it's own branding and reputation and from what I see, the X-Box is doing well.

Hearing what is coming out on X-Box in the next few months, I think it may well be worth getting one. Now, maybe there aint a real lot out as yet, but one of the general indicators of good systems is their lack of them in second hand stores. PS-2's are getting common, Gamecubes are starting to turn up... but you cant get an X-Box. Youc ant really judge the X-Box as yet, give it 12 months. Personally, there's a game called Blinkz due out soon that takes advantage of the X-Box's drive... it looks interesting. Very interesting.

[Severen Morkonis]

There arealso many RPG's on the PC also, and multiplayer is ahuge industry on the PC and i doubt the X-box or PS3 can do anything about it

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

I lost nearly all my faith in Nintendo when they sold Rare to Microsoft... I'm going to have to buy a blasted Mircosoft just to play Perfect Dark! And what is this about No X-Box's found? They everywhere! CURSE NINTENDO!!! CURSE MICROSOFT!!!

And WOOT!!! GTA 3: VICE CITY!!! It comes in Monday Night! ShastamiatchobiOtch! I so going to be there to pick it up! Officially it don't release until Tuesday, but I WILL be there Monday!!! HELL YA!!!

[Marcus Telcontar]

Repeat after me

Consoles are not a religion.

If Microsoft just happen to produce good hardware or software, then good on them. From what I have seen the X-Box is quite a good system.

[Severen Morkonis]

That is clearly not selling as much as the PS2..or the in the works Ps3 will.

[Nupraptor]

That's because Sony has a throng of rabidly loyal fans who'll buy any system they put out without thinking about it.
I lost nearly all my faith in Nintendo when they sold Rare to Microsoft... I'm going to have to buy a blasted Mircosoft just to play Perfect Dark! Oh no, you mean you might have to buy an X-Box because you'll like the games coming out on it? The horror!

[Severen Morkonis]

Well to be honest, both the X-Box and Nintendo Cube provide less games than Sony do, i think at the moment i read the PS2 is bringing out 5-7 games every quarter (3 months). where as the Cube and X-box bring out 3-6 games out every quarter and those gamesmight be good in the grpahics department, but they dont in my opinion and the opinion of the guy writing the report, bring out games that satisfy all areas of game play...I think the Gamecube brings out nice games, but bringout to much cartooney based games.

Donkey Kong, Mario brothers and all that Genre, which is all well for those who like playing the games but a waiste of time for the guys who like RPG/Stratigy.

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

GameCube is for kids. Look at the perfect exemple Mario Sunshine o_O That's the stupidiest game I've ever played -______- Oh my god I got the first 40 shines and I stopped playing it was horible and it insulted me. I rather play Sonic Adventure on my Dreamcast o_O It kicks it's *** a million times. As for X-Box and GameCube..heh if you go to videos you will see that the PS2 section has twice as much games that the gamecube and X-Box sections doo :eek, they would actually have to merge Gamecube and Xbox to maybe keep up with Sony, and even there I doubt ,we Sony fans have SquareSoft on our side :smokin and nothing beats Square.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Well to be honest, both the X-Box and Nintendo Cube provide less games than Sony do

You know I find that has a good reflection in the quality of the games you find on the consoles. I have seen so many games for the PSX that are utter rot, since they seem to churn out a game for anyone who will give them a small fee.

I can't really comment on the GameCube or X-Box since I have neither.


we Sony fans have SquareSoft on our side and nothing beats Square.

Aren't I right in saying that Final Fantasy is going to be a Nintendo based game in the future? I'm sure the contract was signed for the games after 13 or 14 or something along those lines.

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

Hmm I heard something like they were gonna make a nintendo FF in the futur. But I dunno if its gonna be a FF from the series, I heard it was gonna be another kind of FF like FFT well thats what I read in a magazine.

[Severen Morkonis]

You know I find that has a good reflection in the quality of the games you find on the consoles. I have seen so many games for the PSX that are utter rot, since they seem to churn out a game for anyone who will give them a small fee.

I can't really comment on the GameCube or X-Box since I have neither.


I have all 3 consols, well my brother has the Cube and he lets me play it. Sony dont just "churn" games out at all. Eatch game is by a diffrent games company, sony are not the only people providing games for the PS1 PS2, eatch game company makes there genre of game....for instance EIDOS makes, shoot em-ups and sneak em-ups and so on such as Hitman 1 and 2. EA concentrate on sports and also shoot-em ups such a MOH-Frontline.

A japanese firm that made MGS 1 and 2.Make Sneak-em ups and cartoon/Anime based games, all sony is doing is sighing gamesup to be made to play on the PS2/X...which in myopinion the more the games out the better choice you have, the game might be rubbish to me, but somone other people like it..you might think its utter rot, but the guy next to you might think "Damn ive been waiting for that formonths and its finaly out" and goes and buys it.

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

True.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is for the Gamecube
Looks like FF9, cartoonish look.

Yes, the Gamecube is more for the younger audience, but they do have some cool games. Metriod Prime is the one I looking forward to. And like I said, it is the game system's for parties. A friend's church was hosting an all nighter awhile back. It was boring as Hell, we drove home, got my gamecube, and played Super Smash Brother's all night. Just the 3 of us.

Gamecube makes alot more games with a Lasting Appeal for Multiplayer. I have not seen a single PS2 Multiplayer game which has any Lasting Appeal. X-Box has Halo, but even that gets boring after 2 hours of play.

Games I waiting For:
Metriod Prime: GC
Star Ocean 3: PS2
Star War's Galaxies: PC

[Morgan Evanar]

There are a few reasons I dislike the Playstation 2.

1- It is hideous. The hardware is totally overrated. Jaggies, blurry, low quality texturing.

2- Fanboys. Playstation fanboys have to be the stupidest contigent of people to take the internet.

I like both the Cube and X-Box, from a graphics standpoint. Clean, sharp texturing and both use FSAA to good effect.

But in the end, I'll always go back to the PC.

Dyzm, you seem to needlessly dislike Microsoft... because they're Microsoft. They're starting to write some very solid software, and the hardware in the X-Box is excellent.

/me huggles his WinXP with hacked uxtheme.dll.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Sieken - I'm not saying all the games they have are bad. The one's you've named are good, but there are a lot of games on the Playstation which I'm not impressed with, nor are lots of others. It's just a general observation of mine that these type of games crop up more often on the PSX/2 than on other consoles.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

I have really nothing against Mircosoft, just mad at Nintendo for selling Rare, and mad that X-Box bought it. Rare is my Favorite 3rd Party Developer. Which means I going to have to buy a X-Box for Perfect Dark, Conquer, Kaome: Elements of Power, Etc.

Vega, I don't know about that, N64 Pushed out allot of crap. Elmo's Counting by Numbers? But N64 did have a fair share of blockbusters. Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Zelda (1 &2) Mario, Shadow's etc. etc.

Tell ya one thing, I am NOT looking forward to that new Zelda Game, luckly, from what I heard, they have another Zelda game in production which looks like the demo they made when Game Cube first came out.

[Kirrto McKavity]

Sonic sold to Nintendo... i never thought id see the day Sega went that low.....

[mourns the death of the company that created her precious MegaDrive]

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Like I said, just my own observation. Perhaps I haven't seen a wide enough scale of games.

[Severen Morkonis]

I was just trying to Tell you Jen, that just because you dont like the look of the game, dont mean another person wont go and buy it and enjoy it...take FF for exsample..i wouldent touch it with a 10 feet barge pole..youhowever would pick it up and play it. And visa verse, you dont like shooter-up games....i do...diffrent people have diffrent prefrences. :)

[Jackson DeWitt]

The only console that looks palatable to me is the X-box. It's almost worth it alone for Halo :D

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

I dont even own the Xbox and Ive played Halo so much that I dont even wanna see it in front of my face. X_x sick of it

[Nupraptor]

if you go to videos you will see that the PS2 section has twice as much games that the gamecube and X-Box sections dooThat reason behind that is simple: More people own a PS2 than any other system, and it's been out for about a year longer. Dev's make the most games for the system most people have. It's a simple question of sales potential. But the system itself is a vastly inferior piece of hardware, and there's no logical reason you can offer as to why it's "better" than any other console.

BTW - Square is vastly overrated. I'll take a new Lunar game over the next iteration of FF any day of the week.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

Speaking of Final Fantasy, anyone see some of the concept art for the new Final Fantasy X-2? The first true Final Fantasy Sequal, ever!

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

Im not very excited about FFX-2 I hated FFX anyways.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

It was very short, but I liked the Story Line. And X-2 is just the second half of the game. Almost like in FF7 the story changed goals.

[Morgan Evanar]

X-2 looks pretty unapealing. Looks like the subscribed to the Eidos school of marketing (Lara Croft/Tomb Raider).

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

One thing though. Heard they were gonna take out the sphere grid if thats so then I might play. Cause FFX's Sphere grid SUX0R >____________<

[Nupraptor]

I liked the Sphere grid. It gave your character a lot of diversity since, at high levels, you could branch out and learn other abilities.

Then again, I also liked the Junction system of FF8.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Materia has always been my favourite.


(Lara Croft/Tomb Raider).

Ick. saw the pictures of Yuna with two hand guns dressed like Lara. not impressed.

[Nupraptor]

I read that they made the poster like that so as to sort of poke fun at Yuna's character. Yes, she's really going to use guns, but the poster was supposed to be sort of tongue-in-cheek... from what I hear.

[Severen Morkonis]

Tomb Raider sucked anyway....although i did play with the 2nd game alot and had a little fun...