Video Game Review: Eternal Darkness

Eternal Darkness is one of the most popular video games for the Nintendo Gamecube. The game has been deemed as a psychological thriller, and it's compelling storyline will take you on a 2000 year journey to help twelve different characters play out their part to stop an ancient evil from escaping into their universe.

The story begins with Alexandra Roivas, a young, spirited girl who receives a phone call from the police informing her of her grandfather's murder. Wanting answers, Alex begins to explore the Roivas mansion and uncovers the dark secrets of her grandfather's home. Alex doesn't know what she's getting into when she finds more than she bargained for, and must now aid in the fight to save the world from eternal darkness.

What makes this game stand out is its impressive gameplay mechanics. Players must keep in check their characters' life, magick, and sanity meters, especially since each is vital to the game. The game's innovative sanity system allows players to kill monsters to gain sanity. If a character loses too much sanity, the player will start to experience some sanity effects, such as the character's body parts falling off or entering a room upside down. Other sanity effects are geared towards the player. Some players will be fooled by the game's antics as they see all the items in their inventory disappear or see the game's startup screen.

The game's graphics are somewhat impressive. The character models can't compare to the new Resident Evil games, but the game's graphics certainly cannot be described as mediocre. Eternal Darkness also has an intelligent camera system that adjusts the view depending on the situation. In most other games, players will find themselves stuck behind a wall and unable to find their character, but not in this game.

Eternal Darkness is packed with many spectacular effects to keep players entranced as they play the game to its stunning conclusion. With twelve playable characters and three different ways to play the game, this game will certainly have players coming back for more.