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Eternal Darkness Preview
Mark Simons
00/12/0000
We take a hands on look at this scary GameCube title FROM Silicon Knights
When it initially appeared on the N64 Eternal Darkness looked like a rather good Resident Evil style game. Creepy camera angles and nice graphics made the game look like it would be a good swansong for the console. Since it has been ported to the GameCube it is obvious that Eternal Darkness has the potential to be one of the best games on the system. Innovative gameplay features that were in the N64 version will now be seen, and hopefully enjoyed, by many more people given the expected sales of the GameCube.
Given just a cursory glance it looks as though Eternal Darkness is another survival horror game in the Resident Evil mould. This is most definitely not the case, whereas most games of this type are B-movie schlock it is clear that Silicon Knights are aiming for something more. A psychological thriller rather than a shocker as it were. With a plot spanning 2000 years and thirteen playable characters it certainly does seem that this will be an epic title.
The plot revolves around the ancients who once ruled the world but now lie dormant, until pesky secret societies wish to revive them in order to take over the world. These secret societies are around in different time periods and use magic and other means to try and summon the ancients. The ancients are all powerful ethereal beings who are not limited by form or even time. This makes it rather hard to beat them, especially if you are just a human.
Going up against the ancients and the societies trying to bring them back are thirteen chosen humans. They must, in their given time period try to stop the ancients from being brought back to rule the world. The problem is that they are just human, and the forces they are fighting are â“ initially at least â“ much stronger. Silicon Knights are exploring the possibilities of messing with reality, or the perception of reality. As well as the issues of going up against insurmountable odds and even failing in your mission. It seems that not all of the characters are going to survive the game although; whether this is going to be down to the player to control we donât know.
We recently got to spend some time with Eternal Darkness at the Nintendo Show in London. Unfortunately we could not spend that much time with the game so we could not get completely wrapped up in it or experience some of the more outlandish effects. Gameplay initially feels on a control level very much like the Resident Evil series. The GameCube pad is well used, the A-Button attacks with whatever weapon you have to hand, rapidly pressing this button will result in a weak but fast attack. For more specific attacks you can use the R-button to target specific parts of enemies bodies, which can be rather handy for disabling them. One of the things we quickly learnt is that you must remember to finish of your foes with the B-button, a quick stamp, stab or shot makes sure that they wonât be moving any more.
Camera angles and the controls make moving around a charm and rather soon into gameplay we realised that Silicon Dreams are being rather realistic even in the fantasy setting. For instance you can run with the Z-trigger, but unlike most other games you cannot keep running indefinitely. Your character will slow down and eventually become out of breath and need to rest for a few seconds. So whilst it may be tempting to rush around the levels you need to learn to be patient and only run when you have to.
When you need to interact with the environment or use an item you need to use the B-button. It is context sensitive however and a little icon appears when you can manipulate objects, which is quite handy. The puzzles that we got to try were rather intuitive to solve rather than being quite obscure. This bodes well as even those who may not be fond of the Resident Evil games should be able to get into this quite easily.
Whilst we did get to see three markedly different levels with a Roman soldier, a level set in an Egyptian tomb and a contemporary level with guns and set in a large mansion, we did not get to see any of the insanity effects. Silicon Knights are understandably trying to keep the best bits under-wraps but they have shown and talked about the insanity features of the game.
Essentially this aspect of the game is designed to mess with your head. For instance you are wandering down a corridor all fine and dandy then your head will fall off, or something equally bizarre. Naturally you will be quite shocked at this, but you need to get a grip and try to work out what is happening to you and what isnât. Trusting your instincts and keeping a grip on reality is the key to this game. It will be very interesting to see these features in action and they do seem very innovative and one hopes that in practice it all comes together.
For a title that has been ported from the N64 in around the time span of a year Eternal Darkness looks quite stunning. Certainly it is better than Starfox Adventures and up there with the best of the GameCube. Textures and lighting are superb with highly detailed environments and characters than animate wonderfully. Effects such as fogging and bump-mapping really just up the overall level of graphical shine to provide a stunning experience. Throw in a wide-screen mode and youâve got a great looking game that will show of the GameCube.
