It is quite symbolic to begin this review with the lines of the work of the famous American writer, since today’s object of discussion, like Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, is imbued from head to toe with mystery and mystical charm. I bet that at one time many of you missed this game, and some were completely unfamiliar with it until this moment. Of course – an exclusive for the little-known Nintendo GameCube in our area, and in a genre atypical for this console. Well, I am determined to correct this misunderstanding and tell you about one of the most amazing and underrated representatives of “Survival Horror”. Are you ready to plunge into endless darkness?
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is that rare case when potential popularity, universal gamer love and cult status were prevented by just one platform… Nintendo GameCube. By no means the worst and, one might say, worthy console, many simply did not take it seriously – most gamers generally thought that there was nothing worthy to be found there other than children’s fun. In part, this attitude was not unfounded, because Nintendo positioned its multi-colored “cube” primarily as a means for family pastime, and only then for you and me – lovers of meat, hardcore and a dark atmosphere. Just look at the list of best-selling titles for this console – and the questions will disappear by themselves. But how wrong were these people and nervously gnawed at their elbows when they saw the then exclusive remake of the first Resident Evil paired with the creation of Silicon Knights. Oh yes, I didn’t tell you what kind of people they were and what they did..
A little historical note
The independent Canadian studio Silicon Knights, founded by Denis Diak in 1992, is best known for the fact that it gave birth to the fairly famous Legacy Of Kain franchise, releasing the debutant of this series in 1997 – Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain. In addition, she, together with one of Konami’s internal studios, took part in the development of a remake of the first Metal Gear Solid with the subtitle Twin Snakes exclusively for the same GameCube. And this was their last successful work – the subsequent Too Human, an exclusive Action-RPG for the Xbox 360, and a game based on the X-Men universe in the same genre, to put it mildly, did not work, leaving the Knights with nothing. In 2012, the staff was reduced from 97 to 5 people – unfortunately, the company could not get out of the financial hole, and in 2014 it finally went bankrupt.
The production process of Eternal Darkness also could not boast of a stable progress – the creation of an ambitious horror film started long before the appearance of the platform on which it appeared in its finished form. Back then, no one knew that the GameCube even existed and all the attention was paid to the Nintendo 64. It was on it that the “Silicon Knights” planned to roll out their project to the public, but, as often happens, something went wrong – the studio decided to reconsider priorities and transferred development to the next, “cubic” generation from the big N. At first, the developers did not strive for the goal of creating Survival Horror in its purest form – in early interviews, Denis Dyak, one of the key employees of the studio, stated that the initial goal was to create a psychological thriller with an emphasis on flirting with the human psyche, but later he and his comrades expanded the concept, turning Eternal Darkness into a full-fledged old-school survival horror, as it should be.
We’re All Mad Here
And yes, I did not attribute the term “Old School” for the sake of beauty. In Eternal Darkness you will often observe the roots of the classic Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Alone In The Dark – notes of the latter are felt from the very beginning, when the difficult one throws you into a large mansion full of all sorts of mysterious things hidden from ordinary eyes. However, Silicon Knights borrows the ideas of its genre brethren very skillfully, without slipping into outright derivativeness and parody – during 15 hours of pure gameplay, I never wanted to cry out that somewhere I had already seen something in other horror games.
You know, now it’s fashionable to stuff the consumer with unpleasant faces all over the screen, squeezing out a false feeling of fear, but in Eternal Darkness such hacky and obvious intimidation techniques simply don’t work. The very concept of “suspense” in the game is extremely subtle and it is achieved not by primitive methods, like the same screamers, but by many triggers and psychological situations, when the player himself begins to doubt whether what he sees before his eyes is real, or is it just another game design trick. The game, as it were, teases the gamer who dares to sit down for it, flirts with him, little by little introducing him into the labyrinth of his own subconscious, in which the most incomprehensible things can happen. And believe me, you will more than once catch yourself thinking that you are going crazy along with the virtual protagonist on the other side of the screen. It’s all about the so-called scale of reason (or in other words, sanity) – as you progress, you will now and then encounter various unpleasant circumstances, be it a gathering of monsters or sudden trigger situations that do not have the best effect on the mental health of the “protégé”.
Since we’re talking about using the sanity scale, it’s worth noting that our guest today is far from the first attempt to bring this element directly into the gameplay. The mental state of the game character, as an element of the gameplay, dates back to 1985 – then the pioneer of this idea was the game based on the film franchise “Friday the 13th” from the Domark company, developed for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC platforms, in which several game characters were under control, and the player had to not only defend himself from Jason Voorhees, that same dangerous maniac in a hockey mask, but also monitor the hero’s mental state. As the protagonist sees more and more terrible events, the chance of running into hallucinations or Jason himself increased, and if the fear scale was increased to the maximum, the character would die altogether.
A bit of gameplay [Beware, jump scare in the first seconds]
This idea was developed in later projects, for example Clock Tower 3, Haunting Ground (the ideological successor to the Clock Tower series), Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and games from the Swedish studio Frictional Games, including the first parts of Penumbra and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Each of the above used the sanity meter in their own way and added extra immersion to the game mechanics, but it was Eternal Darkness that did it best.
Oh yes, you will hear this damn phrase all the time if you don’t keep an eye on the sanity scale and promptly increase its indicator with tasty finishing moves or special spells, which I will tell you about a little later. But I warn you in advance that passing Eternal Darkness using such methods is quite boring and trivial, because local Sanity effects – that’s what hallucinations are called in the game – happen, as expected, at the most unexpected and inconvenient moments for the player. Let us remember, for example, Amnesia – there the negative consequences on the psyche were limited only to sound and visuals, such as internal voices and cockroaches running across the screen, respectively. There were, of course, slightly more fatal outcomes – sometimes the hero can simply fall and lie like a vegetable for a couple of seconds, and then go on as if nothing had happened.
In the case of the creation of Silicon Knights, the degree of absurdity is brought almost to the maximum – sometimes the level of psychedelism becomes so off-scale that it begins to literally break the fourth wall, and virtual glitches go far beyond the scope of ordinary hallucinations and can sometimes put the player into a stupor. Remember which video games are still capable of turning off the image or sound right at the most crucial moment?? And notify about a controller connection error while you are being hacked to pieces by terrible creatures? Well, where would we be without the ubiquitous screamers – only here they are very specific. In the sense that no one will throw a scary joke at you all over the screen, but the blue screen of death is welcome. Surprisingly, unexpected traps await the player even in the most seemingly harmless moments, such as wandering around the game inventory – while you are picking up the right item or reading a note, your protagonist can easily lose his arms and legs. Or even your own head, when you raise it, an unknown voice will begin to quote “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare.
However, this whole hellish carousel https://wilberforceinstitute.uk/uk-arbitrage-betting-sports-betting-systems of madness and surrealism pales in comparison with the simulation of deleting saves from the memory card of your GameCube. If at 7-8 years old instead of the first PlayStation I had the aforementioned GameCube and a disc with this game, then I would have faced the process of puberty with a couple of gray hairs on my head.
Usually I’m always used to starting a text with a description of the plot wilds, but in the case of Eternal Darkness I want to be as brief and uninformative as possible, since it is much more interesting and deeper than it might seem at first glance. With its intimate presentation in the best traditions of the genre, it manages to tell us an epic and large-scale story spanning 20 centuries, and such a large time spread is logically structured, making it even more interesting to watch what is happening, and the player will not have unnecessary confusion in his head.
The number of heroes is also atypical for Survival Horror – there are as many as twelve playable characters here, and each of them is dedicated to a separate chapter, taking you to a particular time era, be it ancient Rome or the First World War. The characters themselves fit the diverse setting and everything is perfectly matched – here you have a Persian prince trying to get the love of a beautiful lady, a Frankish monk who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even a kind of caricature of Indiana Jones. Moreover, the characters differ not only in their external features, they also control differently – one deftly wields an ax, another is fragile and relies solely on cunning, and someone is completely clumsy, but easily endures enemy attacks.
However, who is the main character, you ask?? And he is the pretty student Alexandra Roivas and the plot unfolds around her. From the first frames, her session of nightmares is interrupted by a sudden call from a police inspector, who reports an even more unpleasant incident involving the heroine’s grandfather, Edward Roivas. The girl flies to his estate, located in Rhode Island, where she finds the tortured corpse of Mr. Roivas and the perplexed inspector. The law enforcement agencies tried with all their might to figure out what happened, but things are still going wrong – a long search for clues did not lead to anything, so the inspector, in bewilderment, decides to close the case, as if it never happened. Filled with anger from the unexpected tragedy and the helplessness of the police, the girl firmly decides to reveal the reasons for the death of her relative and, by solving a simple puzzle, Alexandra discovers a secret room, where she finds a certain “Tome of Eternal Darkness” – a kind of Pandora’s box, having acquired which the owner is endowed with extraordinary magical skills. This volume looks like a vinaigrette of skin and bones, which should have scared the heroine away, but instead she enthusiastically begins reading, from where she learns about its previous owners. This is where I will finish the description of the plot, since any further word carries a serious spoiler.
Unfortunately, the writers were unable to keep up with the number of characters, which is why their quality suffered somewhat. Don’t expect subtle and well-developed personalities for each character – for the most part, they are cardboard and even stereotypical. The main antagonist is a villain without fear or reproach, building his insidious plans to enslave the world, and the heroine turned out to be somewhat empty and faded. It seems that she has the beginnings of courage, but in general it is extremely difficult to call her charismatic. These plot miscalculations of Silicon Knights are compensated by the non-linearity of the narrative, however, an important choice of path for further progress can be made at the end of the very first chapter – there are three such paths in total, and if you overcome them all (that is, complete the game three times each path), then a tasty treat awaits you. I won’t say which one, it’s a big secret!
Let’s get back to the gameplay. Like I said, it’s classic Survival Horror with all the trappings of a fixed camera, tight spaces, and hit-and-run combat. But there are also significant differences. There are no save points, so you can easily go to the pause menu and make a save, but there are some restrictions – you can record progress only in moments that are safe for the player, when there are not a couple of opponents next to him in the same room. A list of various bladed weapons and firearms is offered as means of self-defense. The second category, as it should be, is forced to use it carefully and not throw away what you have acquired in vain, since there is a catastrophic shortage of cartridges.
True, there is some crookedness in the combat system. Sometimes a character does not want to do finishing moves, instead focusing on some item. The fact is that the B button on the Kubovsky gamepad executes the command for both finishing off and a detailed examination of any places or objects. Sometimes it was annoying when, in critical situations, instead of desperately slashing at the adversary with a sword, the hero carefully examined the table or vase. Aiming also messes up where it can and cannot – the game likes to highlight the wrong enemy that you would like to kill in the first place, which leads to uncomfortable situations, especially in those rooms where one of the opponents also uses magic and can summon a whole horde of enemies.
Well, now the sweetest and most unusual part of the combat system is magic!
To activate certain magical gadgets, it is necessary to collect scrolls containing spells, but they will not work until the player finds magic runes and a code that allows them to understand the language of these same runes and, as a result, read the spell in the scroll. Basically, runes fall out when killing certain enemies, and since the further path will be blocked by golden barriers and you will need a certain rune to suppress them, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to miss any of them. With scrolls and codexes it’s a little more complicated, but it often turned out that I combined the runes I found and got the spells much earlier than I found them in the scrolls.
The set of spells itself is quite diverse – here you will be allowed to summon your own little demon and conjure protection for yourself, restore health, destroy an enemy magic barrier or create your own, detect hidden objects, and so on. Most of the witchcraft skills are important for the plot, but a couple of spells still feel superfluous and their presence is more likely to cause confusion than something useful and necessary. Probably, the authors simply did not have time to properly fit them into the main plot, but the work was still done excellently, since the local spell mechanics are interesting to study and do not look far-fetched. Using magic will require the player to have mana, which is restored while running, which looks somewhat strange, because from time to time there will be cases when you need to cast one of the spells, and the mana indicator is empty – in this case, only a two-minute circular marathon will save you. But as for me, this is just a small drop of ointment in a barrel of ointment.
However, this is not without pitfalls, since some opponents or power barriers require the study of other elemental elements that symbolize fire, water and earth. They work on the “rock-paper-scissors” principle – the blue element of magical power gives in to the green, which, in turn, gives in to the red, and the red element is weak in front of the blue. There is also a hidden purple element, which the author of this article (that is, me) shamelessly missed, but judging by the successful completion, it acts as an additional cherry on the cake than necessary. It is worth noting that any spell requires time to activate, during which the player must stand completely still and not make unnecessary movements. If you move a little to the side or are caught by an enemy, the game will punish you with a spell that didn’t work and with a lost part of your mana. This forces you to act carefully and teaches you that magic is not a toy after all, and it must be used wisely.
And finally, a few words about something that any self-respecting old-school horror film definitely cannot do without—puzzles. As many might have guessed, they are tied both to finding various kinds of objects and ways to use them, and to magic itself. However, the level of complexity of the riddles here is approximately at the level of elementary school arithmetic – by the middle of the game you will already intuitively feel how to act in this or that tricky situation and what object or spell should be used.
***
Eternal Darkness is a magnificent adaptation of Lovecraft’s myths in video game format, distinguished by the qualities of true handicraft – originality and a bunch of fresh ideas. It’s immediately clear that Silicon Knights did not try to follow the beaten path, trying to create their own personal take on the established genre. Sometimes, in the process of passing, the spirit of Silent Hill, the mood of Alone In The Dark, pieces of Resident Evil and something a little from adventure films will emerge in your memory… But how is it mixed together?! Thanks to the interesting combat system, which is a kind of fusion between hand-to-hand and magical fights, an enticing and well-presented plot, and the situations that the developers present, you can go through the whole thing without boredom or the desire to put the game on the back burner. But it is not recommended to rush with it, since Eternal Darkness is far from a dish that should be swallowed at once. It must be carefully savored, chewed and not rushed. My advice to you: go through the game thoughtfully, carefully examine your surroundings and don’t try to “run ahead of the locomotive”, otherwise you risk not catching the right mood and even truly unique suspense situations will fly out of your memory along with the plot.
Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks – some chapters turned out to be quite drawn out and full of repetitions, the design of the enemies is boring and cannot be compared with the same Quiet Hill, the low difficulty towards the end a little destroys the sense of responsibility and fear for your virtual life. Yes, and I personally didn’t have enough bosses at all, although there is a possibility that when choosing alternative routes, the boss fights will also change. However, in the ocean of advantages and original features, this is a small drop in the ocean, and even the disadvantages are a stretch – you can always find fault with any aspect or gameplay element, but is it necessary??
Alas, not every good gaming product remains popular for many generations. Now Eternal Darkness looks more like an exhibit from a red book than a cult classic – it seems to be treated with respect, but is mercilessly drowned in ocean oblivion. Don’t ask any of the “connoisseurs” of the genre – most just shrug their shoulders and ask in bewilderment what kind of fruit this is and what they eat it with. Of course, the exclusive status for the Nintendo GameCube played a role in the low popularity and scared off the potential fan base, but the light did not converge on it.
I sincerely hope that this article has encouraged you to get acquainted with Eternal Darkness and, more pleasantly, to go through it in its entirety at least once… It doesn’t matter where exactly – on a PC with an emulator on board or on the original console. Because you need to know such games if your gaming horizons are much wider than the promoted dummies and an endless series of second-rate shooter shooters. Because they deserve much more than they actually have!
Good luck with your dives into darkness and don’t forget that diamonds are hidden everywhere – even where no one is looking for them!
In 2013, the authors of the original game, including the screenwriter, as well as project manager Denis Dyak, gathered in a small creative team Quantum Entanglement, and announced Shadow Of The Eternals – the spiritual successor to the good old Eternal Darkness with an episodic distribution model. The authors tried to go to Kickstarter and raise the required amount, providing players with an impressive teaser on the CryEngine 3 engine, but… They couldn’t. The fundraising campaign suffered a resounding fiasco, but still did not ruin the project – in 2016, Denis Dyak published another teaser hinting at ongoing development. Only now all the work is done by another studio, but consisting of the same employees.
Isn’t this a reason to think about who we’re giving money to and why such creative and truly interesting experiments remain in the shadow of low-grade slag??
Thankful postscript: Thank you, visitors StopGame.ru, for reading my blog and leaving nice comments. This is very motivating and gives strength to continue working on articles better and better. Of all five blogs (including this one), two have already made it to the main page as “best reviews of the week”. Let’s push it a third time – let people discover another great game!
Plaintive post-postscript:
Hey, why is there no page with this game on the site?? I ask the editors to mend this annoying gap.
FeedBack (0)