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First Canada wins the Gold medal in Olympic Hockey and now we develop one of the absolute jewels for the GameCube; Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Quite the year for Canucks so far eh? Through Eternal Darkness, Silicon Knights have come up with a genre bending psychological thriller that incorporates a magical system, tones of weapons, creative and inspired enemies and a long story line that works seamlessly throughout the game play. In short, to call this game a Resident Evil clone would be an insult. It is a masterpiece of elegance via simplicity and function. And to top it off, it’s a wicked adventure for those of us over the Pokemon age bracket. There’s a lot to love about Eternal Darkness. Perhaps the most innovative aspect that sets the game apart is its use of sanity or lack thereof. The effects of going insane are incredible and will keep you on your toes at all times. It’s a wicked dynamic involved here and it’s great to see new and innovative ideas like this one. More importantly the concept is integrated flawlessly. I know that we’ve all been waiting for ED since the original Game & Watch first came out but in the end, this game is worth the wait. It’s a polished, well balanced and original game. What more could you want? Perhaps some full out frontal female nudity? Maybe in the sequel?!
visuals Travel through the Church as the monk and tilt your way through the church environment to see some spectacular design work. This is just one example of how environments play a role in the game’s progress. Some levels will be revisited by different characters thousands of years apart. Each time this occurs the level reflects the change in time. While the levels are well executed and functional, the element that brings them to life is the lighting. Once again, sit in the church and watch as lightning bolts cast an incredibly realistic light on the scene. Or travel down a hallway in Cambodia light by torches and watch the flicker of flame as it pops and crackles. While these graphics aren’t as photorealistic as Resident Evil they are much more alive. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t feel as if you’re walking on a still picture, these are real time environments and they are stunning. To top it off, the camera action is absolutely perfect. Other developers, take note…this has to be one of the best camera movements I’ve ever come across. You’ll never be stuck behind a wall or lost behind an enemy. The camera intuitively knows when to make its movements and when to pan and follow. Stunning. The characters themselves are very well done. They all have there own style like the Sharky’s Machine Burt Reynolds Clone Dr. Lindsey to the Monk and his flowing robe. Movements such as reloading and running all seem realistic. Not to mention that the enemies are all beautiful creations of evil, each with its own distinct effects. Once again, lighting plays a key role in bringing certain enemies to a whole new level of evil. To summate, the graphics are wicked. Buy this game.
audio Here’s a category that all to often is thrown aside for the glamour of the graphics. Well, she may look good, but what happens when she opens her mouth and makes a sound? Thank goodness that ED has a lot to say and all of it is brilliantly executed. Horrific screams as you go insane, flames crackling, a GORGEOUS soundtrack that fills the air with tension; minute details superbly executed, such as sword slashing, foot steps on various surfaces... ED’s audio sets a whole new standard of quality on the Cube -- it’s presented in Dolby 5.1 surround. Perhaps the best element of the game is the voice acting. This isn’t a quasi-porn cast of popcorn commercial rejects busting this out. It’s obvious that Silicon Knights hired top shelf actors to lay down the storyline and fill some horrendous screams. You just have to listen to Resident Evil to know the significance of how shoddy voice acting can sink the immersion of the game. All of the dialogue in ED is well crafted as well, and the voice acting delivers the script perfectly. To summate, a whole new level of audio excellence. Buy this game.
gameplay The most interesting element of the game is the insanity aspect. You have to manage your insanity meter which is dropped every time that you’re seen by an enemy. As the meter drops, iniquitous screams haunt the character; and the further he descends into madness, some mad crazy assed s*it starts happening. From bleeding walls, to your body being contorted to entire rooms being spun around. You’ll definitely want to go as crazy as Alan Alda in the last M*A*S*H episode just to see what insanity triggers next! Aside from the insanity meter you also manage a health meter and a magic meter. The magic meter is tied into runes that collect and combine to create different spells, each integral to your success. Managing and utilizing these spells isn’t a chore like in RPG titles; actually, once you get the hang of them they really provide a deep game play element. The storyline spans centuries of evil spun or countered via the Roivas family. Each of the twelve characters joins the struggle, in his own way and for his own reasons, to stop the Eternal Darkness from encompassing the world. The plot plays along as the present day Roivas searches for her grand pappy’s murderer. You flash to characters in the past as the girl reads through the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Be warned: if you like your Digimon extra fluffy, this game may not be for you. Eternal Darkness is a mature game in the most authentic sense. The combat system is awesome. Let's say you’re in a room full of enemies. You can pick one off at a time limb by limb! Enemies can be targeted out of the group, and your attacks are futher pinpointed to heads, limbs, cyclopean eyes, or whatever else your weapon can hit. If things get too crowded, you can just hack away melee style. Very nicely done -- it allows you to be as precise or wild as you like. Not to mention you have the option to “finish” your kills: Finishing not only looks cool, but recovers some of your precious sanity. All of the weapons and fighting styles are historically accurate. To summate, the attention to detail in this game is breathtaking. Buy this game.
multiplayer Sadly, there is no multiplayer. I’d love to pick apart a friend in a battle mode. Considering the effort the single player mode required (and the space it occupies on the disc), I can forgive Silicon Knights. However, a multiplayer battle mode would’ve been great.
overall Brilliant, stunning, the best thing on the GameCube since I dropped my soiled undies on it two months ago before I went to bed. Seriously -- this game does one thing that I love… it pays attention to every single detail possible. It’s that attention to detail that makes me feel this game is truly a work of love. You can tell that the people at Silicon Knights love their craft and their game. Nintendo, ink these guys to a nice fat Christmas bonus. The older gamers who are loyal Nintendo fans will thank you for it. This game is just what they needed. Forget anything that you’ve read before, this game breaks all the moulds. It blows Resident Evil out of the water. If you’re old enough to buy cigarettes or if you’ve thought that Santa Claus has been nailing the tooth fairy on the side, you should first seek professional help and then you have to buy Eternal Darkness. This game is awesome. End of story.
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