I’m sure this has happened to all of you out there at least once. You bought a game, and played it, it was really good, and at some point later on, a long time later, you bring up the game in conversation to find that nobody has even heard of it!
This happens sometimes, a really great game just flies under the radar, misses most of it’s target audience, and eventually is picked up in the 2 dollar bin a year after it was released leaving the person to wonder why on earth this game isn’t a best seller.
I’ve decided to take a peak at some of these odd ball games and let you guys know what some of the better ones are. If you know a good game that fell into obscurity for reasons unknown and you’d like me to review it, let me know and I’ll try to give it a play when I can get my hands on a copy.
Now this first one may not be too obscure, it did get featured in gaming magazines, but though it came out proud right with the gamecube, and in quality out shined most other game cube games of it’s time, most people had never even heard of it until more recently when word began to spread around about it. Many are waiting impatiently for silicon knights to finish up with the Too Human story so this game will get a sequel.
Eternal Darkness: A game that really screws with your head. You play as Alexandra Roivas in the present, investigating the mysterious and gruesome death of her grandfather. As you explore his mansion, Alex discovers the Tome of Eternal Darkness.
As she reads each chapter, you play as a new character, each with unique weapons from their time, as well as their own personal health, magic, and sanity meters. You heard me right, Sanity meters.
As you play the game, the horrors you face drain the sanity of your character, causing them to hallucinate, which is not limited to simply ingame effects. Without spoiling too much, expect to have strange things happen to your own TV or system, before returning to normal, half the time seeing all the different effects is just as fun as playing the game normally.
As you play through history, the Tome finds it’s way between several locations, some characters later following along the same footsteps as another did hundreds of years ago, seeing the area aging and crumbling, or altered completely to modern times. As you play, there are several instances of direct continuity, where the optional actions of previous characters, or items are passed on to the next traveling the same area.
Being a horror game, combat is not the main focus of the game, but it does not lack at all. Each chapter has unique weapons, from swords to guns as time continues on. When equipped with a melee weapon, you can target various body parts to dismember. Armed with a ranged weapon you can make targeted shots, in order to behead your enemy before it can gaze at you, reducing your sanity.
There are a few boss fights, I can think of three off the top of my head, and each of them is different depending on which ancient you are facing off against. While their names are hell to spell and worse to pronounce, they are color coded for your convenience, and work in a rock-paper-scissors style, which the game will remind you of every ten minutes in case you forget.
Overall, it is a great game, and very good quality for it’s age. It has high replay value, and a good story. It also has a sequel planned for when the Too Human trilogy is finished. So, if you see this game in your local game store, and you have a Gamecube or Wii, you really should pick it up.