Let me start out by saying that this game is in no way whatsoever a Resident Evil clone. Eternal Darkness has much more depth, and is driven by its story, not by its horror (ala Resident Evil). Eternal Darkness is a “pick up and play” game, ED is a game in which you will spend hours playing. Eternal Darkness can be described as a “Philological Thriller.” The environments and the character animations are some of the best I have seen. Once in a while, a videogame is released that stands out from the rest. This game my friend, is one of those games.

Eternal Darkness’s graphics and visuals aren’t up to par with the likes of Resident Evil, but the animation is very fluid and fast, a quality that RE lacks. The backgrounds are totally 3D and very hi-quality. ED runs with 24-bit color and at 60fps, ED looks good and runs nice and fast. The textures are very realistic and detailed which is a nice addition to ED’s already beautiful graphics. Characters have 3,500 to 5,000 polygons and are very nicely done. The facial animations in ED are just simply amazing. Since the backgrounds are 3D, the camera is allowed to do some things that a game like Resident Evil can’t. The camera system was designed to be cinematic and give you complete control of the action. So far, the camera doesn’t interfere with the gameplay, which is a big plus.

Eternal Darkness supports Dolby Pro Logic II and is once of the best sounding games on the Gamecube. The eerie sounds of Eternal Darkness are some of the best ever heard in a game. The sound of your sword being trusted into an undead’s torso, or Alex mumbling to herself when she just can’t take it any more, sounds amazing. The voice acting is also top notch in Eternal Darkness. The narrator’s creepy voice over just adds to the already amazing atmosphere of Eternal Darkness. The music meshes very well with the current chapter. Once of the creepiest and best sound effects happen when your character begins to go insane; babies cry, you hear pounding on the walls, your character begins to mumble, ect. Nintendo and Silicon Knights took advantage of the Pro Logic II ability and made this game a nice one to listen to. Eternal Darkness is indeed one of the best audio experiences on the gamecube.

Eternal Darkness is a very deep game that requires some serious man-hours before it is completed. ED is a hard game that is not easily understood at first glance. It took me at least a half and hour to get established on what I was supposed to do. Eternal Darkness’ details an ancient evil that the Roivas family must fight over a span of 20 centuries.