Eternal Darkness is one of the few non-RPG games that makes the story the most important aspect of the game. Eternal Darkness’ story encompasses nearly 3000 years of human history, following the exploits of several different characters locked in a struggle for humanity’s survival. The game starts in the present day with Alexandra Roivas, who gets a call about the death of her grandfather. She goes to the family compound and soon finds there was more to her grandfather’s life than what seemed to be.

Silicon Knights’ first offering for Nintendo excels in many aspects, including graphics. Character modeling is fairly good, but modeling on the architecture is exceptional; best exemplified by the cathedral in Amien, France. The texturing work is also some of the best work in this console generation. The overall design of the game goes along way in setting the mood and immersing the gamer. Some locations seem entirely different when visited in different time periods due to excellent art design.

Eternal Darkness’ sound is also worth mentioning. As with the graphical touches, the sound is very important in the gamer's immersion into the story. The music ranges from ambient orchestral tracks, Middle-Eastern rhythms to gothic chants. The sound effects are also very effective. Whether the sounds are from a Heckler and Koch combat system, a flintlock pistol or ethereal dimension warping-all are very convincing. Voice acting is particularly effective as well. From Roman soldiers speaking in Latin to the demonic denizens of Cha’turr’gha, the voice acting is excellent.

Gameplay in Eternal Darkness is fairly typical for an adventure game. The game manages to provide a tight interface both with melee combat and with ranged weapons. Thinking about how you fight is much more important than the fighting itself. The choices of where to stand and fight and what weapons to use in a given situation are paramount. The most powerful weapon isn’t always the best one. The game focuses on solving puzzles and solving problems, most of the puzzles being fairly interesting and some quite clever.

The magic system in the game is based around runic combinations. There are three main sources of magic (there is also a fourth secret power), and one holds dominion over another in a circle. Then there are other runes that describe the way or means in which the magic works. At least 3 runes must be combined to cast a spell, a source rune, an object rune, and then an effect rune. The system is full of potential and players can begin to create their own spells before they have actually learned them.  The game limits the actual combinations of the runes and so the full potential is never realized. That said, in the context of the game the magic does allow the player opportunities to be creative in problem solving and magical combat.

Eternal Darkness cannot be discussed without mention of the sanity system. Along with the life gauge and magic meter, Eternal Darkness also has a sanity meter. Each character in the game has a limited amount of sanity, differing from character to character.  The same is also true of life and magic. When your character encounters shocking events, such as the minions of evil -- or various other happenings -- your sanity drops. As your sanity level approaches zero, strange things appear to happen. The sanity effects range from cheesy to brilliant.  It’s almost worth the trouble to let your character go nuts just to see what happens next. Much like the magic system, this sanity system shows much potential and would be interesting to see in a sequel.

In the end, Eternal Darkness' combination of several aspects forms a cohesive whole, brought together by a fascinating story and immersing the gamer in a world both familiar and distant. The game also begs for a sequel -- not to finish the story but to continue an adventure in a living breathing world created by the game.

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