Developer Silicon Knights ' psychological thriller Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem has been in development for a long, long time. The title, which travels gamers through the depths of time and challenges them to complete quests using a dozen different characters, began its life as an N64 game, but was cancelled and switched over to GameCube as Nintendo's next-generation console matured. Nintendo and Silicon Knights worked on the project for two years more, enhanced it considerably, added new elements, tweaked and fixed controls, blew out graphics, sound and other aspects. All of this while gamers eagerly, and sometimes impatiently, waited.

Gameplay

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Graphics and Technology

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But the wait is finally over and the good news is that it's all been worth it. Eternal Darkness is the truest testament to proper development time and commitment. The game grabs hold of players and doesn't let go, captivating with its brilliantly crafted storyline, its mesmerizing visuals and scenery, its character development and more. These details are only equaled by the title's polished controls, combat system and beautifully conceived magick system, which will bait and hook gamers beyond anything else. Add in the element of surprise through "insanity effects," one of the title's more interesting exclusives, and a long and satisfying adventure and the result is something very special.Resident Evil, this game is most absolutely not. What it is, however, to dedicated players who fully explore its length and intricacies, is one of GameCube's absolute best games, and indeed one of the greatest titles we've ever played.Keep reading to find out why in our nearly spoiler free review of the game.Eternal Darkness is not a game to be entered into lightly. Players expecting to jump into the title and reap all of its benefits within a half hour are in for a disappointment. On the other hand, committed gamers will be treated to a long, epic adventure filled with surprises, unpredictable twists and turns, scares, and a magnificent sense of accomplishment, both from a completion sense but also from a character development standpoint.The story follows Alexandra Roivas, a young, beautiful woman whose grandfather's body has just been found in his dark and moody mansion, bloodied and torn apart, his head missing. When she learns that the local police have been unable to uncover any clues regarding the obvious murder, she decides to take matters into her own hands. It's when she arrives at her deceased relative's mansion to investigate that the tale of Eternal Darkness truly begins.We're not going to give away a single plot development. But there are a couple of facts about the game players should know. First, the storyline and related quests span time itself -- a period of some 20 centuries to be specific. Players will take on the role of 12 different characters through the ages, from a Roman Centurion to a priest during the period of the Inquisition, a hunter and collector in the 1980s and even ancestors of the Roivas family line. Each character in the game has a point and a place relative to the overall storyline, which slowly unwinds and unravels as players make progress.At first glance, players may shrug Eternal Darkness off as a Resident Evil clone, a prejudgment that couldn't possibly be further from the truth. Sure, the two franchises share a third-person view in common, and admittedly Silicon Knights' title also features some zombies, but beyond these similarities the efforts are surprisingly different. Eternal Darkness delivers a much deeper experience than Capcom's survival horror series has ever conjured in any of its games. Control, which coincides with true 3D worlds versus 2D pre-rendered ones, is undeniably tighter, enabling gamers to run and turn swiftly and accurately without worry of the robotic limitations associated with Resident Evil. But beyond this, players have access to much, much more, including weapons and items, of course, but also a wide assortment of magick, which we'll detail below as it's so important to the adventure. It's all intertwined flawlessly and as a result the play experience feels much more polished.The combat system, one of our biggest gripes with early builds of Eternal Darkness, has come together fairly triumphantly. Players can equip their characters with all sorts of destructive weapons, from historically correct swords and blades to real guns, crossbows, blow-guns, pistols, shotguns and countless others that we couldn't possibly detail. The sheer variety is impressive, but perhaps more so is that each weapon affects not only the enemy, but also the player differently. Bigger swords, will, for example, slow the swipe of a small character's swing down, and so on. Some weapons may also conflict with walls in closed environments so players will have to wisely choose which sword to use in certain situations. It all becomes a part of the game's strategic element, a pulsating, tangible thing that is hard to miss. Further improving on the combat aspect of the game is the ability to target specific body parts of foes, something that players will also learn and need to do properly to remain a success. Immediately targeting and slicing a zombie's head off, for instance, will immediately render the beast a non-threat, as it will be unable to see or find the player afterward, and will instead walk around the immediate area aimlessly. Some monsters take more damage in specific spots, and gamers will slowly but surely learn these weak points. Indeed, one character is able perform autopsies on the enemies after they are killed to discover their weaknesses, another example of Silicon Knights' overwhelming attention to detail.That's not to say that the combat system is perfect though. Some collision gap problems still persist, though they are not nearly as troublesome as they once were. By this, we mean that when a player slices an opponent with a sword, there is the occasional error in which it does not look as if the blade really connected. Worse still, when some enemies are killed, they drop to their knees and fall down, and occasionally they actually fall through the body of the player. This serves to take the gamer out of the universe, even if momentarily. These collision problems are not an issue as they are not commonplace, but a notable drawback all the same.The combat system is totally connected to the use of magick, or spells and enchantments, in the game, which are every bit as important, if not more so. Basically, as players make their way through the adventures, they acquire runes that form various magicks. That is the very simple explanation of how it works -- it's actually much more complex, but for the purposes of this review we'll keep it slim. There are three primary colors of magick: red, green and blue, or (RGB) if one prefers. Red spells work against green spells, green take out blue, and blue conquer red. It's this formula that is the base for the amazingly detailed and satisfying magick system. Gamers can perform just about any spell they'd like, from enchanting a sword or gun so that its more powerful to shielding themselves, putting up magick walls that enemies can't walk through, dispelling these same types of enemy walls, and more. It's possible to cast a spell to transform into a trapper, a small scorpion-like beast that shoots out a ray of energy, and then take the animal to spots on levels that the regular character might be too big to go through. Similarly, players can cast magick to turn into a zombie. Or cast a 'See Invisible' spell to make a secret door hidden in a wall suddenly appear. It's also possible to cast magick to restore health, sanity, or magick even, all of which are measured in bars on the item screen. Players must also learn to balance their magick resources with their health and sanity, a task that is integrated into the strategy of the game, and very well so.But there's more to the magick system still. The differently colored magicks must be learned and applied correctly to different beasts. Some weapons must be enchanted a specific color in order to trigger events. The magick system runs even deeper though. Players will eventually be able to make their own spells. It's a language. The runes symbolize nouns, verbs and adjectives, and if gamers can correctly complete a magick sentence, a unique spell will be born. Different gamers will be able to conjure original spells. According to Silicon Knights, even members of the development team who have played through the game several times have been amazed at the different spell formations they have been able to construct each time through. There are, in fact, several instances where players will be challenged to form the correct magick sentence in order to conjure a spell needed in a particular spot. The level of satisfaction after correctly doing so cannot easily be measured. Indeed, the magick system as a whole is one of the most intuitive and comprehensive we've played. Brilliantly done.There are other elements to Eternal Darkness though. There are puzzles, of course, and a great many of them. Some are incredibly easy to figure out and others require the use of magick and some careful item retrieving and placement, and therefore are more difficult. But none of the puzzles are so stupidly designed as to totally baffle players. Rather, if one thinks about a puzzle long enough, the answer will present itself in a logical manner within the context of the game universe. Unlike the semi-retarded puzzles in the Resident Evil series, in contrast.There are insanity effects -- hallucinations that have a major role within the game. Players will not get specific examples from us. But if a character's sanity bar drops too low, strange things will begin to happen. Very strange things sometimes. These occurrences are sure to set the dark mood of the adventure and have an impact on the play experience. Going insane too much can create unwanted obstacles for players and in doing so may also endanger one's health and magick supplies. Some of the insanity effects we've encountered have proven very disturbing. Some even attempt to pick at the mind of the player outside of the game universe. A few of the effects are overused, and one or two of them aren't as scary as they might sound on paper, but overall this element of the game is very welcomed, and players will absolutely adore the crazy things that transpire.And speaking of transpiring, the big question: exactly when does Eternal Darkness end? How long is the game? The adventure is epic, we can assure gamers of that. We estimate that the skilled gamer will have at least 20 hours of play time with the title, and the average one up to twice that. With a gargantuan, unpredictable storyline to boot, and three branching plot paths available to players (each with different outcomes, not to mention altered play mechanics, different monsters, and more), the replay value is equally unprecedented. Eternal Darkness is a game that flows in such a way that players will be drawn to complete the adventure. Plus, hardcore gamers willing to play through the story all three times will be treated to a special uber-ending.Eternal Darkness presents players with phenomenally beautiful scenes at points and just pretty ones others. The title runs on a slick engine that draws indoor environments, some very large and open, with highly detailed textures and architecture, fantastic lighting effects, radiosity light maps, ray-traced light maps, volumetric fogging and more, all running in 24-bit color. Silicon Knights' game supports progressive scan mode, thank you very much, and 16x9 widescreen mode, again thank you very much. Players will be happy to know that even with multiple polygon monsters on-screen at once, particle and lighting effects in full force, and vast engine-drawn architecture rotating, the framerate never drops -- not even for a moment -- from its 60 frames per second fluidity. How's that for polish?Some of the environments are much prettier than others and the engine seems to lend itself on indoor areas versus outdoor ones. As Pious Augustus travels through a desert scene in one of the cinemas, gamers will see crisp textures, some wind particles, and more, complemented by the well-animated and designed character, of course. But it's also possible to spot texture seams and some overall polygonal-squared background objects, a problem that is less noticeable during indoor exploration.One of the best examples of the game's beauty is a cathedral level roughly halfway through the adventure. Here, a priest explores the gigantic religious structure, which is surrounded by a dark night, rain and thunder, and is flawlessly presented. From the bump-mapped texture work on the walls, to the pristine stained glass windows, or the lightning flashes that momentarily illuminate the church -- it all looks outstanding. Many of the other levels are similarly inspired, composed using realistic architecture appropriate for the time and very atmospheric.Player models are a mixed bag. The art style for these characters is realistic and gritty, and in most cases jaw-dropping. Each animates with a different style and uses weapons with a realistic fight stance and attack local to the time period, which is very impressive. In one stage, a character that has been injured badly changes his stance to shield his eyes from the flames of a torch, a very nice animation addition. The persons are fast moving and loose -- none of that stiff, robotic nastiness from the Resident Evil series. Constructed on the norm using 3,500 to 5,000 polygons, according to Silicon Knights, they however sometimes lack skinning, which is particularly noticeable in up-close cut-scenes. These characters still look very good, but not incredible.The game's camera system is somewhat of a godsend. It is supremely cinematic. As Eternal Darkness runs in full 3D, the camera can pan, sweep, zoom around corners, slant, rise over rafters, and basically shoot the action from any direction -- and it does. When players go insane, the camera will shift to the side and shoot the game from a slanted angle, which is very disorienting and, after awhile, plays into the mood. But more than that, when a corner is turned, the camera switches positions to follow the action, almost always angling the play from the perfect position while remaining stylistic and atmospheric. Only rarely -- very rarely, have we encountered problems with it, and they have been very minor. If every third-person game of this nature featured a similar camera system, the world would truly be a better place.The particle effects are beautiful at points and slightly disappointing others. When casting magick, runes appear around the character and drop to the ground, at which point a barrage of fantastically colored particles kick into motion and illuminate the immediate area. It looks amazing. On the other end, though, some of the effects for blood, particularly that made after a sword connects with an enemy, is not as realistic as we might have hoped.All in all, though, a beautiful, moody game -- one of the prettiest for GameCube.Eternal Darkness delivers one of the best audio experiences to be found on Nintendo's next-generation console. First, it supports and runs in Dolby Pro Logic II for players with capable receivers. We hooked it up to our setup and it blew our mind -- perfect surround coming from every speaker, crisp and clear, not to mention moody and frightening. But of course there is more. The game also brings gamers close to five hours of in-game speech dialogue, which is wonderfully acted and sounds great. On top of that there are well-composed musical scores, from a Gladiator-like soundtrack in Augustus's level to an intentionally offbeat, nervous track during Dr. Roivas' battle for his sanity. Really, the title features some truly amazing music.Some of the music tracks are used too much though. One of them, a "thump-thump" of a gong mixed with background whispers and other spooky noises, seems to be featured in many of the levels, and players may grow tired of it. Also, while many of the sound samples are excellently used, especially for insanity effects, some of the one-liners characters utter are similarly overused. When going insane, for instance, the line "This can't be happening to me!" is often repeated. In the end, however, the good far outweigh the bad and horror fans will be delighted by some of the atmospheres realized through audio alone in Eternal Darkness. Hats off.