Platform: GameCube
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Silicon Knights
Players: 1
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Name: Eternal Darkness Platform: GameCube Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Silicon Knights Players: 1 |
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Here it is folks, the first must-have adventure game for the GameCube. Eternal Darkness is a very in-depth role-playing/fighting/strategy/adventure game. The central plot revolves around the Tome of Eternal Darkness, a book which has been passed down for hundreds of years throughout the Roivas Family tree. Contained in the book is the way to stop the Eternal Darkness from once again being summoned and engulfing the world in evil. You play as 12 twelve different characters in their own unique time periods, and weapons are authentic to each period as well. For example, you get to use a blowgun as a young girl back in the Middle East, while when you visit there in the 90s with a Canadian firefighter, you get a Glock and an Assault Rifle complete with grenades.
A cool feature about the game is the recurring settings. You start in the Roivas family mansion, but as you find the Chapter Pages for the Tome, you are transported to a different time and place to play as a new character. There are 4 places that are visited multiple times, and each time you visit, you get to see the changes that the place has gone through, whether it be decay, collapse, or modernization. You will take different routes and find different things, but still see that you are in the same place.
Being an adventure/role-playing type game, you have the typical health meter and magick meter, but Eternal Darkness introduces a new feature creating a whole new genre - the psychological thriller. In ED there is the addition of a sanity meter; each time you are sighted by an enemy, your sanity will drop slightly. The only way to regain it is through a magickal spell once it is attained, or by finishing off the creature with a blow once you have felled it. As your sanity meter drops, so does your character's sanity. The screen will tilt and shake, you will hear voices, your character will start whimpering and sweating; all things typical of a real sanity loss. In addition there will be some strange effects like blood dripping from the walls or ceiling, exploding torso when you try to cast a spell, loss of head that hovers and quotes Shakespeare, shrinking, growing, deletion of your save file, and many more. It may freak you out when it happens, but don't worry, you flash out of it in a second and return to the game. (The deleted file and spontaneous combustion aren't for real, it's just a joke the programmers pulled to actually drive you the gamer insane) If your sanity meter is completely depleted, it will start drawing from your health, so learn to finish enemies and keep it up.
The normal gameplay may seem a little reminiscent of Resident Evil, but don't be fooled, it's the complete opposite. You don't just go hacking zombies and the like, there's a confusing, detailed plot entwined in the madness. It is revealed to you bit by bit, allowing you to piece it together as you dive further into the game. Another major difference is the complex magickal system (yes, that's magick with a K, the way it should have been according to arcane sciences and literature). As you progress through the game, you gather magickal runes that allow you to build spells of recovery, defense, attack, and the like. There are 4 different alignments possible that give the same spell a different effect. For example, if you cast a Recover spell in a Chatur'gha alignment (red), it recovers health, Xel'lotath (green) recovers sanity, and Mantorok (hidden purple) recovers both. The Ulyaoth (blue) becomes ineffective, restoring the magick you just used. Besides all the runes and different alignments, there are Circles of Power, allowing you to increase the power and potency of your spells with the use of a Pargon (power rune) added in multiple times. You start with a 3 point, later find a 5, and finally a 7, allowing you to cast the strongest, most difficult spells. Now this is now easy task; you find runes hidden in enemies, under debris, or after completing a puzzle of sorts. To identify them you have to find a codex, a stone tablet that gives its name and use. To actually construct a spell, you find a spell scroll that tells the runes needed and its effect. It is very time-consuming and difficult but has a huge pay-off in the end.
This is no easy game mind you, you have to use all your skills together, enchanting your weapons to make them stronger, finding the weaknesses of the monsters, and massive exploration and completion of puzzles. As one character you can autopsy your enemies and find their specific weaknesses to be recorded for later use. Your magick is carried through the Tome to every character you play as, so you don't have to rediscover runes or spells. The creatures do get increasingly stronger but your experience allows you to beat them much easier. Overall, the mechanics of the game are great; tight controls, awesome graphics, ambient background music to add to the eeriness, great magick system, and even an added bonus if you beat it three times with the three different alignments. You get jump to game (level select) mode after the second time, and the third is...well, that would be too much of a spoiler. I guess you'll have to buy it yourself and find out - it's well worth it.
~Squeaky