1. This game is good. Buy it.
2. You can always get your money back by selling it on Ebay. Hell, you might even turn a profit.

Picked this up at EB this afternoon and have put an hour and a half in it so far and have been very impressed.

The graphics are nice. Very solid frame rate and animation. Not as impressive as Resident Evil, but that is prerendered FMV with static camera's where as this is real time 3D being generated in real time.

The camera is very impressive. As far as I know you can't adjust it, and I haven't even wanted to move it once so far. It's always followed me perfectly.

The fighting system is great to, hold R to lock on an enemy, hit A to whack it in the torso, press up then A to hit it in the head, and left or right then A to lop of an arm.

The Sound is very impressive, even in regular Pro Logic. Great, eerie music, and excellent voice acting. Maybe the best voice acting I've heard in a game.

The Story is very interesting, even the little I've gotten through so far has me very curious to continue playing just to find out what is going on and what will happen.

The insanity effects are pretty neat, but I see them getting old fast. Some of them sort of take away from the immersion of the game.

However, these are very minor gripes and this is definitely a must buy if you have a Gamecube. If not I'd consider getting one for this game (along with RE and all the other big games) if you're a fan of adventure games.

Just don't go in expecting Resident Evil, as this is really nothing like it. The only thing it has in common is the "fear factor' and similar puzzles. This is much more of an action adventure game than RE. The characters move quickly with "Mario 64 style" control, and you usually want to kill things rather than run as killing them refills your sanity meter.

Great impressions Josh! Here is another great review of ED from Gamers.com. They gave ED a 9 and had similiar impressons:
source: Gamers.com

Planet Gamecube gave it a 9.5, calling it the best GCN game yet.

"This game is, quite simply put, a masterpiece. The craftspeople of Silicon Knights have woven an experience that is new and innovative, yet borrows heavily from a variety of influences. It’s every bit as mature and engrossing as it was hyped up to be, and is very likely to give people nightmares. It’s a game that should not be played by the weak of heart, and certainly not for children. Eternal Darkness is by far the best game for the GameCube right now, easily outdoing games like Resident Evil in terms of atmosphere, and besting other mature titles with a storyline that isn’t insulting in its heavy-handedness. Anyone complaining about the lack of mature titles for the GameCube as the main reason for not owning one just ran out of stalling time."

I particulary liked the part of the review pasted below, as it sounds like the game is pretty long and the three paths through the game are pretty different. That's great as it gets tedios doing basically the same game two or three times to unlock stuff or get the best ending ala Resident Evil.

"The game will likely take an experienced player around 20-25 hours to complete on their first run through, including reloads (not counted on the game clock). Casual players may find up to 40 hours of game play as they try to figure out some of the trickier puzzles. But that’s not the end of the game … to experience Eternal Darkness at its fullest you can play through each path and receive a special ending just for being persistent. You don’t just get new endings either … the game is different in a variety of ways on each path, including some different cutscenes and modified puzzles. The game encourages you to play through multiple times, as not every question is answered after one run through."


Every review of this game has been great so far. Looks like the Gamecube has another Killer App.

Gamespot's review is up. They gave it a 9.4. Here's their final comments:

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...872284,00.html

Looks like we have a winner.

Gaming Age: A/A
IGN Cube: 9.6/10
Planet GC: 9.5/10
Gamespot: 9.4/10
Gamers.com:9.0/10

Congratulations Silicon Knights!

Definitely a winner. I just logged another hour and have been even more impressed.

I'm up through chapter 3.

The graphics were very good in the first 2 chapters, but they were great in chapter 3. It's a more open area and you which introduces some great real time lighting effects.

The story continues to get more interesting, and I love playing with a different character in each chapter. They all handle a little different, and use different weapons, which keeps the game play fresh. I definitely will be playing through all three paths in this game.

The puzzles are nice and they are very logical so far, and pretty easy to figure out if you're used to dealing with logic puzzles in games like RE or Zelda.

It has the typical Nintendo learning curve, where as you pick up new items, new commands will be available in the subscreens and it will pop up a brief tutorial telling you what it is and how to use it.

I also got my first taste of the magic system which looks to be very cool.

The insanity effects are getting pretty neat and freaky too.

Another cool thing in chapter 3 was

I'm just blown away so far. I was a little skeptical and never thought the game could be this good. It's just a blast.

This is definitely a mature game, rather than a immature m-rated game just using blood and tits to appeal to teenage boys.

Put frankly, the game just delivers in every area. It's fun to play. The graphics are great. The sound is amazing, especially the super voice acting. The control is spot on. And best of all, it's innovative. There's never been a game like it. It's not the same old stuff rehashed with a slight twist like 95% of the games on the market.

For a tentative early review I'd rate it as follows.

Graphics: 9
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 10
Innovation: 10
Control: 9.5

Overall: 9.5 (not an average)

im already stuck, i am in the first chapter, and i got hte clock to 3:30. but i have no idea what to do with the mirrors, and i got the dresser key and broke the other key

doh! i suck at puzzles :P

So far I'm liking it but I hope the games chapters last longer. Each part seems rather short.

Overall though, I like the game. Again, definitely not Resident Evil, kind of a cross between Silent Hill and an adventure title. Glad I picked it up. I may need to get myself a memory card 251 though as my 59 is already getting rather full(and I only have saves from 4 games).

Chapter 3 was longer than the first two. I imagine they get longer as you go on. One of the reviews I read said most of the chapters are around 2 hours for the skilled gamer.

I got stuck there too...

I believe he's past that point.

If I remember correctly you need to pick up the big book on a table and that will start the next chapter.

I believe it's in the room with the mirrors. I don't think I did anything with the mirrors to advance, as I couldn't seem to figure them out.

I could be remembering wrong though, as I spent a decent amount of time screwing with the mirrors and was getting a little frustrated.

No, the big book is in the secret room opened by the clock. I'm not sure you can do anything in the mirror room this early in the game.

If he really did set the clock to 3:30 instead of 3:33, maybe that's his problem?

I made it to EB today after work, and asked the clerk if I could get a copy of ED. After looking at me for a second (he looked like he didn't want to give it to me for some reason), he retrieved the game and said "You got the last of the copies that weren't reserved". I heard a very loud "SH*T!" behind me, and all I saw was this 20 something year old guy storm out the store and literally run down the steps, while screaming furiously into a cell phone. The clerk watched the guy until he could no longer see him amazed, later admitting that ht had never seen anything like it. I giggled to myself, and got my copy. I've played enough to know that it is seriously going to challenge my ranking of RE as game of the year (and I haven't played a whole lot yet).

Here are my personal impressions if any of you would care to read them (I've been sending this to friends):

There is no comparing RE with ED. They're totally different game styles, and I much prefer ED's. The story is absolutely first-rate and I think that more than anything drives you to keep playing. The voice acting that carries the story is superb, with a lot of talent from the former game with best voice acting ever: Metal Gear Solid 2. And while the story is probably the biggest incentive to keep playing, that's not to say the gameplay isn't great too. I hated conserving ammo and running away all the time. You're encouraged to kill in ED and the mechanism that allows you to choose which body parts to attack makes it much more interesting than in other games. I really enjoy trying to find out how to best destroy each enemy. I've become a zombie decapitating machine!

I'm about 3 hours in. Puzzles so far are simplistic, though I'm stuck right now and everyone says that they get much more interesting down the line. In fact, people say EVERYTHING improves as you progress, which is an old-school philosophy to game-making: save all the best graphics and whatnot for the end of the game. I only have 2 spells, but I like how magick (for some reason, they spell it with a K in this game) is used in solving puzzles and stuff. Graphics so far are inconsistent. Some places are beautiful, with bump-mapping and volumetric fog while others are low-polygon. My biggest complaint is that the FMV is super-grainy because it's so heavily compressed. I don't even know why there's FMV. It would look nearly as good if the cutscenes were done with the game engine. Sound is the best in a video game ever. If you have a Dolby Pro-Logic receiver, use it. Surround is the ONLY way to go. Insanity effects? I don't want to spoil anything, because alone late at night they can DEFINITELY add to the eeriness.

Overall the mood of the game is delivered beautifully. The artwork and sound all come together very well. I was VERY creeped out, but maybe that's because I'm a wuss. But again, this is where I prefer ED to RE. I like being psychologically screwed with rather than shocked into fear.

People say the game is too short because it only lasts about 30 hours. Well, that's quite enough for me. I don't have much time to play (3 hours in one night will definitely be the exception rather than the norm). As such, it would take at least a couple weeks of daily playing for me to finish it.

There's a lot more I want to say, but it would require some time and more cohesive thinking on my part.

So with a Pro Logic receiver what should i put the sound set up to: stereo or stereo surround? Thanks.

stereo surround I believe. That's what I have it on and it sounds great

ok now im stuck in the cambodia part with the chick, i put

SPOILERS

dont know how to do the black thing so here goes nothing

i put the bronze necklace thing on the statue and got to the other side
what do i do with the candles??

I finally got this game (ended up getting it locally and not ording the playcentric) and from what I've played (about 2 and a half hours) I've been really enjoying it! Right down to the creepy intro screen the mood is very nicely set. What really surprised me was the quality of the voice acting, it is ridiculously well done and really draws you in.

The way the game/chapters are setup was is quite unique, I don't think there's anything like it out there and it really shows that they spent a long time planning out the story and game. The insanity factor is really bizarre. Some are downright freaky, and there are some really mean ones too. They're the kind of things that make you go WTF?! and keep you thinking about it long after you've turned off the game.

This game was definitely worth the delays, they've taken the extra time to make it very polished and it shows (thank you for the wonderful camera Silicon Knights!). I can't say enough good things about it, buy it!

I'm barely into the game (just started Chapter 3), but I'm quite impressed. The control system is reminiscent of the N64 Zelda games, with the added bonus of being able to target body areas. You can recreate the "Black Knight" sequence of Monty Python and the Holy Grail if you so desire.

The graphics aren't perfect, but they get the job done. I really like the smooth transitions from illustration in the book to the cinematic to gameplay. The game seems a little dark, but I can always turn up the brightness if I need to.

The different time frames and characters is a nice twist. I'm enjoying the storyline as well. The Lovecraft inspiration is obvious, and welcome.

Oh, those insanity effects! The best so far:

That one was funny, and likely an intended jab at Microsoft.

IGN Cube's excellent review is now unlocked.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/363/363071p1.html

Planetgamecube has a second review up. This reviewer gave it a 9.5.

http://planetgamecube.com/reviews.cf...profile&id=134