Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, released in 2002 for the Nintendo GameCube, wasn't a commercial success, but the game became a cult classic because of a clever time-traveling plot and the unique way it horrified its players. Instead of relying on the jump scare, Eternal Darkness would actively screw with player's heads, say by pretending that they had suddenly died a violent death, or even that their save file had been deleted if their avatar's sanity was in question. Now, after years of clamoring for a sequel, that cult may have its wish. IGN reports that a spiritual successor, Shadow of the Eternals, is coming to Wii U and PC... so long as gamers chip in.

Denis Dyack, former president of Eternal Darkness developer Silicon Knights, is acting as chief creative officer for this spiritual sequel, but he's working at a new company called Precursor Games, which is looking for $1.5 million in crowdfunding for the first episode in a planned 12-part series.

That doesn't mean the team hasn't already started work, though. Here's a trailer with the same foreboding music as the original:

Like Eternal Darkness, the new game's plot will also span multiple eras and locations in history, and the aforementioned "sanity events' are back. Here's a description of the plot that IGN confirmed with the company:

When Detective Paul Becker is called to one of the bloodiest gang massacres in Louisiana state history, only two survivors remain from a brutal conflict between two rival cults. As Becker begins his interrogations of the suspects, their combined recollections will uncover the truth about the ‘Eternals’. Featuring an ensemble cast of heroes and villains, Shadow of the Eternals will span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States. Players will question the perception of reality as they try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events to progress through the adventure. Shadow of the Eternals will take players on a memorable journey throughout time; weaving historical fact with disturbing fiction to create an experience unlike any other.

There are more alleged details too, discovered by members of NeoGAF at a leaked version of Precursor Games' website, but many appear to be out of date and the company tells IGN that some are innaccurate.

IGN says that the crowdfunding campaign will begin May 6th, and that it will have an interview with Denis Dyack and the first real gameplay footage from Shadow of the Eternals next week.

Update 5/6: The crowdfunding effort for Shadow of the Eternals officially launched today, and some new details on the project have also emerged. The game will span multiple episodes (the first is slated to arrive in 2014 for PC and Wii U). Plot-wise, things seem to match up closely with what we learned yesterday. For a deeper look at Shadow of the Eternals and the team putting it all together, check out the video below.