Customer Reviews
Be prepared for a different concept in gaming... - By: Snowy3, 04 Jul 2008 
I'm surprised that more people havent rated this game? it was very popular at the time & seems to be hard to come by second hand now that people know they can play Gamecube games on the Wii.
Ok so where do we start...ive bought this game (again) after getting my Wii as sometimes you just want a bit of retro gaming! saying that this game holds up quite well on the graphics side of things. The game is an adventure with typical puzzles e.g. setting the time on a clock. The different concept is the 'Santity meter'. As your santity drops (as you see strange things & monsters & such like) the game play changes. As the characters santity drops the character starts to see things like statues moving to watch you around the room & as it drops even further stranger things happen to you as the player! i dont want to ruin it but i had some instances of error messages coming up saying my memory card was corrupt! just as i was panicking i realised it was the game giving me a fake error message!. Very strange! but added a new dimension to the game.
The game follows a story through which you play several different charectors so there is always something going on & lots of places to explore.
If you like adventure type games give this one a go - if you dare play at night with the lights off! creepy!
Definitely one of the best survival horror titles and will be talked about for years to come. - By: Passionate about entertainment!, 28 Oct 2007 One of the first handfuls of games to be released on the GameCube, Eternal Darkness (ED) promised an epic storyline & gory gameplay, & so kept many players eager to get their hands on this next-gen title. Its theme of horror & the supernatural made ED take a firmly mature stance as a game in contrast to "family-friendly" Nintendo titles. Originallly conceived as an N64 title but cancelled, it was exclusively re-developed for the GameCube by Silicon Knights, the makers of the Playstation hit RPG Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Fortunately, ED lives up to many of its expectations; however, there are a few minor issues with the game. But these don't prevent it from being an outstanding GameCube title & an innovative horror classic.
The premise of ED is of an epic pschological-horror-adventure & one that is, for the most part, in the mould of survival horror titles such as Resident Evil & Alone in the Dark 4 (AITD). The principle character in the game is Alexandra Rovias, a student who becomes rapidly drawn into a supernatural mystery following the gruesome mutilated murder of her Grandfather, Edward Rovias. Without spoiling the plot too much, she delves into the chapters of a book callled the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Upon reading the chapters, she learns of how other people throughout history have encountered the Tome & the ancients who persistently seek to destroy humankind. The great part of the game is that you get to play a diverse range of characters as you progress through the chapters. But I'll come to the gameplay later. The storyline, though, is one of the most successful aspects of ED. The plot is absorbing & its mature horror theme is very welcome considering the target audience of other GameCube games. The supernatural theme of the story is drawn from horror writers such as H.P. Lovecraft & Edgar Allen Poe, & there's plenty to show for it. With well thoughtout characters, detailed backgrounds & historicallly authentic scenarios, ED's concept triumphs as a hybrid in the survival/ horror/ adventure department.
The narrative is well executed through ED's visceral gameplay. Warning: this is not a game for the faint-hearted! You play in third-person perspective through many spine-chilling environments. You'll encounter a number of grizzly foes from the dead, mostly the ever-familiar zombies. The combat system in the game works great. Chopping up zombies' limbs has never been as fun whilst a quick shot to the head with a rifle will dispatch them easily. The adventure element is over-simplified, puzzle solving is simplistic but a more unique aspect of the game is the spell system. You can collect runes & codices to create & decipher spells that can be used for a myriad of vital functions. Some create a personal shield, others reveal hidden doors, some create magical attacks & others can even let you possess & control enemy creatures. Effective use of spells is the key to mastering this game. But many puzzles dissolve in actions no more complicated than pushing levers or placing objects in position to open secret doors. This I found to be a disappointing aspect of ED, more original puzzles would have set this game truly apart from other survival horror titles. Given the intellectual framework of the game, puzzle design should have lived up to it & also one that is enhanced with the RPG-esque spell casting elements. Also brilliant is the sanity meter. Keep you're sanity level high by quickly dispatching monsters. Otherwise you'll halllucinate & see yourself mutilated, shrunk, standing on the ceiling & even have your T.V switched off! Very original & tremendous fun!
The graphics of ED are perhaps its second strongest facet for its time, with meticulously detailed environments & lush texturing. The GameCube is pushed to the limit at many points with gorgeous lens flare & coloured lighting effects. But certain character textures are well done & others of lesser quality. The weapons & item details are good, so are the environmental details of the game's locations. These range from a grandiose & creepy Rovias mansion to underground tombs, cathedrals, also a jungle-infested temple complex in Cambodia. ED is a globetrotting adventure that subtly alters the games locations as they are revisited by characters from ancient times to the modern world. I do have one moderate gripe, though. The game could have had more varied locations rather than just levels that are a collection of tunnels, corridors & `box rooms'. Some outdoor locations would have added greatly to the expansive approach of ED. The main location is the Rovias mansion; packed to the brim with `haunted house' style secrets. Despite minor inconsistencies in the graphics & visual presentation, ED does a very good job in the `looks' department.
A key factor in survival-horror games is audio. Mess up on the sound & your horror game is nothing more than a tacky ghost ride. Thankfully, the aural experience of ED is punchy & stark, greatly reinforcing the gameplay. There is a rich variety of music, ranging from tracks that draw from chants of Franciscan Monks to a Middle-Eastern/ Arabian theme. Music is atmospheric & brooding but not highly original. It very much serves as `background' rather being used in a dynamic sense during gameplay. But some tunes are again, rushed through in creation. Sound effects are, for the most part, strong. Monster effects & weapons' sounds are audibly graphic & tangible. Little details of fire crackling & footsteps are very immersive. However, some effects have been blatantly attached from stock libraries, but this a minor criticism of an experienced gamer that has spent far too much time in game worlds! This only slightly diminishes the authenticity of the rest of the audio presentation in the game.
So far, ED has more or less delivered on areas of graphics, audio & gameplay to quite a high standard but there are other notable areas of the game that don't feel as well produced. Firstly, there is the clunky inventory. This is perhaps the most deplorable aspect of ED. It is reminiscent of Resident Evil & AITD & alll those annoying `Mix' `Equip' & `Combine' options that you had to choose just to fire a gun! It has simply been tacked on with very little thought, straight from yesteryear Playstation games. It is outdated, outmoded & does the opposite of creating a smooth gaming experience. Nowhere is this felt more than in the cantankerous spell system! The inventory & menu system could have been refined a lot more & many screens could have been rid of altogether. Secondly, despite the evolutionary advance in console technology, games as a form of interactive art have not progressed beyond the `B'-movie scripting & voice acting. The dialogue is at some parts strong but in others mediocre. The voice acting varies in quality, & the dramatic tone is non-existent in the roughly edited cut scenes, occasionallly reducing the game to a 2nd class horror experience.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem seems to be one of the most ambitious game projects ever. The scope & breadth at which it tells a supernatural tale is broader than many other games. But there are many inconsistencies throughout ED. Several areas of the game truly shine but others simply seem `hashed together', like the weak level design. Also, a few additions such as a first-person view & a moveable camera would have helped in giving more player control. The re-play value is supposed to be high. You need to play the game through three times in effect to destroy alll three gods but I merely saw this as subjecting gamers to repeat déjà vu experiences. The difficulty is set on the easy/ intermediate side, & is not too draining on the reflexes or the cranium. ED is unique in many welcome ways but fallls short due to graphical & audio cutbacks, a lamentable inventory system & mixed dialogue & voice acting. Overalll, I enjoyed the game to a large extent & it is definitely a must try & a possible must own, for many open-minded GameCube gamers.
Quick Reviews! - By: carlosnightman, 02 Oct 2007 One of the most impressive early games on the Gamecube, successful because it offered a genuinely scary alternative to Resident Evil, but has sadly been overlooked. Graphicallly the game is not so impressive, as it was originallly intended for the N64 & has in places just been adapted to suit the Gamecube. If you are a fan of horror games, Silent Hill perhaps more than Res Evil, then you should try this out as it has a brilliant atmosphere throughout, & is unique in a few ways. Blending survival horror with RPG & action, Eternal Darkness is a very big game with a great plot & style.
Alex hears that her Grandfather has died, & visits his huge mansion. There are still a few servants about, many mumblings odd things about death, monsters & insanity. Alex soon finds a book which recounts the past events of her family & its involvement with an interstellar & apocalyptic evil. We are sucked back & forward through time as the story unfolds, playing as different characters, each with individual powers. By the end Alex must face the evil herself.
The insanity meter is the main piece of ingenuity here: when you encounter a bad guy, your insanity level drops. This leads to strange things happening in the game such as flies appearing on the screen, & limbs fallling off to name two out of many. To mention more would spoil it. Rather than being distracting, it works brilliantly, adding greatly to the atmosphere. Some of the average bad guys are not great, but the ones which appear out of your servants are pure evil, & will leave you cursing at the screen. The boss fights are good, although the final seems a little underwhelming. But the tension never lets up, & even smalll things like loud knocks & floating books will get jumps out of you. The voice acting is the best i have heard, the music is extremely good, & the use of weapons & magic is well-executed. This is not an easy game, & not one for kids. Anyone who sees games as childish should play this alone at night- it will change their minds. The WWI, church level is one of the best 'levels' or parts of a game i have ever played. For real shocks at, now, a cheap price, this is ideal.
Insanity is fantastic!! - By: Ellie, 21 Jun 2007 
This is one of, if not, the best horror RPG game out there.
It has everything a player wants.... smooth controls, awesome graphics, creepy music, puzzle solving & a very interesting storyline to boot.
Eternal Darkness is definetley up there in the ratings with Resident Evil 4, despite the difference in age (2002 for ED & 2006 for RE 4) it still has what it takes to be equallly as good in it's own right as RE4.
(In my opinion Eternal darkness is way better than the first 3 RE's & alll of the Silent Hill series).
If you enjoyed The Resident Evil series, Silent Hill series etc , you'll love this!
It totallly messes with your head in a fantasticallly insane way!!
Addicted to going mad!! - By: Louise Weetman, 20 Dec 2006 The title of this post says it alll reallly, once you start to play the game it quickly becomes addictive even when your sanity is slowly being removed. This is what me & my friend found when 'borrowing' someone's Gamecube we couldn't put the game to rest until some ridiculous time in the morning.
When I first started playing it seemed so reminiscent to the old PC game Phantasmagoria, the ideas on where things were kept & where secret passages were came across as being very similar.
The concept behind the game is good for me because you have no major time limits when puzzling out the next stage of the game. The only problems that arise are the fustrating times when you are low on everything & don't have the option to save, which more often or not meant you died & had to go through it alll again. The other slight snag we found was that the further you progress in the game the longer it took us to figure out what & where to go next - cue frantic searches on internet for help.
Other than that the game pulls you into it so well with alll the tricks to make you think you are going insane as well that you find you are constantly trying to figure the next stage out.
I would recommend this game for anyone who likes a puzzling challlenge & doesn't mind having their world turned literallly upside down.
