Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Released June 23, 2002

Developed by Silicon Knights

Published by Nintendo

NWR Reviews: 9.5 - 9.5

Retrospective by David Trammell

A complex story spanning 2000 years of history, over a dozen playable characters susceptible to developing insanity as they encounter mind twisting horrors, a magick system allowing players to assemble an array of spells from runes, a state-of-the-art graphics engine, superb voice acting and over 50 hours of compelling gameplay were just some of the things promised to Nintendo faithful awaiting the release of Eternal Darkness. While Silicon Knights didn't completely deliver on these promises, they got enough things right to secure Eternal Darkness a solid place in the library of any serious gamer.

Originally intended to be a late-generation N64 title, Eternal Darkness was first revealed to the public via a brief mention in Nintendo Power about a month before its E3 1999 debut. E3 show goers were treated to a unique, psychological thriller with superficial similarities to Resident Evil (particularly a mostly fixed 3rd person camera and some zombie-like enemies). A year later Silicon Knights would become a Nintendo second-party developer. After a second E3 showing in 2000, little more information about Eternal Darkness was forthcoming until it was ultimately revealed that the title would arrive as a GameCube game. The N64 version would be retrofitted with a mobile camera, vastly increased graphical detail, pre-rendered movies, and another few years of general refinements. At E3 2001, gamers were promised Eternal Darkness as a GameCube launch title, but it was delayed and ultimately released about half a year after the GameCube launch.

The crowning achievement of Eternal Darkness is undoubtedly its story, which is conveyed via exceptional writing, voice acting, and carefully constructed environments. The story does indeed span 2000 years of history. Each of the game's twelve chapters takes place in a different time and features a unique character, setting, and weapons. Technically, the twelve characters each visit only one of four or five places, but the locations are generally expanded or altered significantly in each successive time period. The voice acting is particularly convincing. In support of the artistically brilliant environments, Eternal Darkness features a complex lighting engine, detailed animation, bump-mapping, and volumetric fog, all while running at a rock-solid 60 frames per second. Subtle environmental sound effects and cartridge-like loading times round out the excellent presentation. The only flaw worth mentioning is that the pre-rendered movies feature noticeable artifacts and are not displayed in full-screen due to lack of disc space.

Despite some other problems with the game, like the rigid magick system and somewhat tedious repeated plays through, the solid controls, intriguing story, beautiful graphics, and generally good pacing keep the experience enjoyable, allowing the great to outshine the mediocre. The trademark insanity effects are what really made the game what it is today, however. Don't lose your head!

Jon Lindemann: "Silicon Knights has long toiled in obscurity while being one of the best developers in the industry. You'd think that being one of NWR's favorite developers would have propelled them to superstardom by now, but strangely that hasn't happened. They're busy working on Too Human for the 360 right now, but if you want a predictor of the depth and quality of that title then look no further than the stellar Eternal Darkness. Originally a Nintendo 64 title, it looks nice but don't expect a graphical tour-de-force. What will impress you is an engrossingly dark storyline with impeccable attention to detail (what other game features voiceovers in Latin?), a great magic system that lets you create your own potions, and multiple endings. Don't believe me? Do yourself a favor and play it."

Mike Sklens: "The idea of getting a grand story through brief moments in history is a great one. I really loved this game. Some people think it's slow, and I agree with them. However, I think that only helps the game create a sense of time and really helps cake on the dread. Things are going so slowly but something could happen at any moment. Plus, the sanity effects are brilliant."

Stan Ferguson: "This game had me enthralled for the full week it took to beat all three times to see the special ending. If you haven't done that already...the "real" ending just isn't worth it. Sadly, this game hasn't aged well for me. I tried going back to it, and it just felt too slow despite an atmosphere thick with dread."

Mike Gamin: "The storytelling in this game is so good that my sister and girlfriend both watched me play the entire thing and loved every minute. We had to schedule times that we could all sit down for a while. Eternal Darkness is easily my most memorable GameCube experience."

Daniel Bloodworth "Like Mike, I had quite a few family members caught up just watching me play. The story is quite captivating, and while the sanity effects weren't as revolutionary as I had hoped, they added a lot of fun to the game. The big winner is the sound design. There's a great low-end in this game if you have it hooked up to a sub-woofer, not to mention women screaming, and sound effects specifically placed in the game to wig out your dog and/or cat."

Jonathan Metts: "I completely agree that the game is not worth playing through all three ways, but it is worth playing twice if you missed Mantarok the first time around. Despite the repetitive enemy designs and slow combat, I loved playing through Eternal Darkness. The part that sticks out most in my memory is near the end of the game, when you explore below the mansion and see the sprawling necropolis. The graphics for that entire segment are astounding."

Steven Rodriguez: "I believe Eternal Darkness has the creepiest moment in the history of video games. Every time I walked down a hall in the mansion, the busts turn their heads and watch you as you pass by. I still get chills thinking about that."

An interesting footnote in GameCube history is the number of games that ended up being ported to it from previous-generation systems. Silicon Knights may be the king of such ports, despite only releasing two games on the system. After porting and finishing Eternal Darkness, the developer continued work on Too Human, a game that originally began development as a PlayStation title. However, the Knights were interrupted to work on a port and upgrade of the PlayStation hit, Metal Gear Solid. Released in March of 2004 to some acclaim, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes featured a graphical overhaul, new animations, completely rerecorded voice acting and gameplay borrowed from the PS2's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Too Human was never to be finished as a GameCube title because Silicon Knight's second-party exclusivity with Nintendo ended after the release of The Twin Snakes. (Too Human is now an Xbox 360 title and is expected to be released in three installments, beginning this year.)

There are a number of other notable N64 to GameCube ports. The Rare-developed Dinosaur Planet was aborted and converted into the underwhelming, although jaw-droppingly beautiful, Star Fox Adventures. Animal Forest, released on the N64 in Japan, became Animal Crossing for GameCube on this side of the Pacific. Cubivore made the generational transition with only the barest graphical upgrades and almost failed to see the light of day in the States, despite it being developed by Nintendo alumni and published by Nintendo in Japan. (Atlus published the game in North America.) Capcom also envisioned Resident Evil 0 as an N64 game, but it too eventually saw the light as an exclusive GameCube release.