Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Eternal Darkness is a game that had a lot of promise, but squandered it through its cliched plot and poor battle system.

To put it another way, Eternal Darkness is like that goth chick that hangs out in a hipster coffee shop all the time. She seems like a cool person because she stands out from the crowd. But when you talk to her, you realize she constantly drones on about how horrible the world is. She's a 2D person in a 3D world.

Part of the allure of Eternal Darkness is that it is a 'M' rated game on a console known for "family friendly" games. If Eternal Darkness was released for a different platform, it would have been received with mediocre reviews. The much revered "darkness" of the game becomes a running gag: you come to expect every character you control to come to a horrible end, so the plot twists become predictable.

However, Eternal Darkness does have a somewhat unique non-linear plot divided into chapters. In each chapter, you play as a different character in a different time and place. In the beginning it appears as if the characters have little in common with each other besides their horrible end, but as the game progresses links between the chapters reveal themselves. You'll find yourself revisiting the locales of the game with a new character in a different time period, with the design of the level having been altered since the last time you visited.

The battle system in Eternal Darkness is the standard 3D hack-and-slash paradigm. The enemies amble towards you slowly, and if you get hit by one, you should hang your head in shame. Because of the ineptness of the enemies in the game, melee weapons are stronger than projectile weapons. You can kill the shambling undead more efficiently without having to make yourself vulnerable while reloading.

While the battle system is sleep inspiring, the magick system in the game is truly innovative. During the course of the game, you will find magickal runes that you can combine together to create spells. I'm always a fan of customization, and this little touch adds flavor to an otherwise bland game engine.

Most games have health and magic meters, but Eternal Darkness is the first game to my knowledge to use a "sanity meter." Every time encounter a horror of the elder gods, your sanity meter drops. To regain sanity, you must perform a coup-de-grace after you defeat an enemy. When your sanity meter passes a certain threshold, strange effects manifest themselves. I don't want to spoil them for you, since they are probably the niftiest part of the game, but some of the effects are really humorous and include simulated hardware failure and various other graphical and aural changes.

Eternal Darkness was originally designed for the Nintendo 64, and it shows. The origin of the textures are obvious even after they have been enhanced to the GameCube graphical standards. The graphics don't hinder the game in any way, so it really isn't a big deal. "Gamers" who play games only for eye candy will certainly be disappointed, however.

Silicon Knights made a token attempt to add replay value to the game by including a unique storyline for each of the three elder gods you can choose as your nemesis in the first chapter of the game. The storylines have little effect on the gameplay, and the only difference between them are slightly modified cutscenes. Various options can be unlocked once you beat the different storylines. Since you can beat the game in 15 hours or so, these are welcome additions to the game.

My verdict on Eternal Darkness is that it is a good concept that is executed badly. I'm a big fan of dystopian plots, but that is not enough to make me want to like this game. The mediocre graphics and gameplay offer the player nothing that hasn't been done before. The actual combat, the core of the game, isn't fun - it is tedious. The nice atmosphere (especially the sanity effects) of the game can keep you motivated to finish the game, but once you have beaten the game you probably won't want to play it again.

- Xiphas, October 13th, 2004