Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

A definite must have for any gamecube user! I bought it off ebay for next to nothing just for something to try and realised i'd stumbled on something awesome. It was a little slow to start and a bit annoying having to go up to every single item in a room and find out what everything does but stick with it and you'll really enjoy it.

It's a complete mix of puzzle, strategy, action and just plain violence at times. I particularly enjoyed the character set up where you move around through different eras of time with a wide range of characters who are all vital to the plot of the story. Also, rather than just have a health meter you have a health, magic and sanity meter. All three of these components have to work well together for you to get through the game so you can't just rely on braun you need brain too! Uncover runes to make spells to outwit your enemies and harry snotter.

I enjoyed revisiting levels i had already played with a previous character, noticing all the changes to the setting over time, the new challenges with the new characters and gaining access to previously unaccessible areas. (I'm a nosey bugger)

The eerie music and creepy design of buildings and rooms were great! I definitely had to equip myself with the biggest weapon i had at times before i'd venutre around a corner or into a room to see what lurks...don't kid yourself guys you'll do it too!

The only thing that disappointed me about this game was the ending. It was a sort of a, oh... is that it over? moment. But don't let that put you off by any means! There's also a relief from completing the mammoth game. Phew. Controller down and time for a well deserved cup of tea.

There's definitely enough content to keep you glued to your telly box so get stuck in.

Eternal Darkness is often touted as having one of the best dark and mature storylines of any game out there. While the subject matter is dark - investigating a murder and dipping back and forth in a timeline through multiple narratives - it's just not interesting enough to grip your attention.

Furthermore, the game is not very scary - standard zombies and skeletons along with some more grotesque monsters seem to be what developer silicons knights scare people.

This is by no means a bad game. One unique feature of the game is the the sanity meter which when depleted can have varying effects on you as a player - the game will pretend your save files have been deleted, your characters limbs will fall off or the game will turn the volume down by itself. While this is a novel and interesting feature, it is not scary and only adds to remove you further from any immersion in the storyline.

I rented this game as it's frequently listed as one of the best Gamecube games out there... sadly, I was very disappointed.

In its day this may have been a gaming opus of excellence, but I was faced with quite empty, boring environments to explore - a very dull soundtrack and no real compulsion to play on.

The voice acting seemed good, and I'm sure that once you've invested the time there may be the desire to want to see the game through (all of the 50 odd hours worth of game play!).

I think this game is probably best left to fond memories of when it was played in the past, than picked up today and compared with modern day exploration/adventure games.