"It's always darkest just before dawn..."

Here I am,reviewing what I consider one of the greatest games of all time,Eternal Darkness.The gameplay,scope of story,music,replayability,art and overall polish of this game earns it the title of ''GK's second greatest game of all time'' from me!

Story/Plot 10/10

An ancient evil

Long before humanity graced the universe,our planet belonged to another species-an ancient species bound by neither physics or nature,purpose nor ethic. Through the passage of time,against the relentless advance of ice and the continental plates,and for other inscrutable reasons,these Ancients were driven deep into the recesses of our world. There,they lie imprisoned until the conditions are right for their return.

Betrayers of humanity

Hungry for dominance and the favor of the Ancients,secret organizations seek to restore the Ancients to their former station.For eons they have schemed and plotted in the darkness,attempting to bring these evil entities into our world through arcane magicks-blood rituals,worship,and sacrifice.Of these sects,little is known:those who learn their secrets perish swiftly at their hands. Their scheming works to bring the Ancients return-and humanity's extinction-ever closer.

A Light in the Darkness

Yet not all hope is lost.The fate of humanity depends upon the actions of a chosen few.They are average people,unprepared for heroic deeds,but the responsibility is theirs nonetheless.Even as their lives are torn apart by unseen evils,they must show courage in the face not only of the enemy,but also of their own fears. These poor souls teeter on the brink of insanity,tortured by the horrors of the Ancients.

A secret war is being waged on the periphery of humanity's perceptions-a war wreathed in shadows and deception.The darkness comes...

The story is grand in it's ambition.This monumental story is not told by one person,but from the view of 13 individuals chosen to combat the darkness being perpetuated by the Ancients.This story is not your typical cut and dry hero wins in he end nonsense.This is a story about how 13 ordinary people stand and fight against evil,and when that happens people die,the story reflects that reality.The story is indeed the main part of the game and the rest of the gameplay is shaped both deeply and subtly in the story.(The reason I'm being so vague and not naming actual plot details,is that I find the story to be one of the best plots for a videogame that I've ever seen and I would like anyone who reads this to experience it for themselves.)

Gameplay 10/10:The gameplay I really admire for it's ingenuity and originality.The combat is divided into 2 parts,physical combat and magick ability.

You can pick up many different authentic weapons,all true to their timeline.From a mace and crossbow,to a double edged sword,to a grenade launcher and French pistols,the weaponry is very diverse.And to add to that,the reload times are all realistic to their weapon,so don't think that you'll be able to fire that elephant gun without facing enemy retaliation while you reload!

There are many spells that are learned through finding esoteric scrolls and runes throughout dark places in the game.The spell system also offers many defensive and offensive enchantments to shield yourself for so many hits,befuddle your opponents and make your ammo that much more destructive.When combined these runes create spells according to each runes power,like force fields,healing,creature summon,magickal attack and many others depending on the way you combine the runes. Later on you are able to combine runes triply or by 5 and even 7 times to increase the effectiveness or change the spell entirely.Did I mention that as you progress and become more powerful,you will be able to rival your unseen adversaries and summon the very creatures that you fight against?Very cool.

The ''sanity'' system is one of the cooler little things in the game.The more weird unnatural things that your character sees,the more he/she begins to lose a grip on sanity,hence the sanity gauge.The more your sanity gauge goes down,then really strange things start to happen,like bleeding walls,statues turning and looking at you,the volume being turned down on your tv...etc,makes for an increasingly disturbing atmosphere as you explore.

The thing that I find most interesting is that the gameplay revolves around such an awesome story and still manages to be entertaining and fun to play,which is just awesome.

Graphics 10/10:The graphics are incredible. A lot of the story is told through FMV and cutscenes,while the detail to the background and environments is quite impressive.You will notice that everything,especially the Roivas estate seems amazingly articulated and just so beautiful that it creates a feeling of immersion that I haven't seen since the Myst series.One thing that I noticed was the faces of the characters in the game,there is unmatched facial detail,with inexplicable attention to every little wrinkle and facial individuality that makes things realistic,even on a extremely small scale.The shadows,and lighting are state of the art as I haven't seen anything better to this date,and it runs at an extremely solid framerate,making movement look fluid and natural.The coloring is also very well thought out,and even authentic to the times that you'll visit. I remember a quote from a Silicon Knights graphic artist saying that every single thing was researched for complete historical accuracy,from the roman headdresses to the curtains in a Persian princess's bedroom.That's a commitment to graphical excellence!

Control 10/10:Eternal Darkness has an extremely innovative combat system that complements the Gamecube controller almost perfectly.To lock on to an enemy,you press and hold R.The neat thing is that while you're locked on,moving the c-stick will allow you to target certain body parts of your opponent allowing you to disable it temporarily.

Sound/Music 10/10:The sound effects and authentic musical scores are just the icing on an already delectable cake.Each era has its own distinct tune and rhythm to it,such as a flute and violin symphony for 1770 Massachusetts,or Christian hymns and such for Oublie'cathedral in France.The sound effects are ultra real sounding,someone once said ''I can actually feel how heavy that armor must be when I hear it scrape the floor.''

The voice acting is an all star cast from the world of gaming,with great professional actors from both Metal Gear Solid and Legacy of Kain series,the way conversation is carried between individuals seems more authentic in this game than other games with voice acting.

Overall 10/10:Overall this is one hell of a game.It is fantastic in every single aspect of what can be rated in a video game.The polish that this game has on it is great,replayability is tremendous because of the unlockable modes and notes that are obtained by playing it on each ''alignment.''I'd guess that the average gamer would get about 50-60 hours of play out of it. I rate this game a 10/10 for being one of the best games I've ever had the privilege of playing,and for setting the bar higher not only for videogames as a pastime but as interactive art.This game is a must buy for anyone who owns or plans to buy a Gamecube.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/02, Updated 02/06/03