One
word I would use to describe The Suffering is disturbing
- but in a good way. If you're looking for a horror
survival game that can fill the gap left by the Silent
Hill and Fatal Frame series, look no further.
Besides
"disturbing", other words I would use to
describe The Suffering would be "chilling",
"nightmarish," "macabre," "gruesome,"
and "horror-ific." Unlike Fatal Frame, The
Suffering does show plenty of graphic images. There
are images of suffering, torture, rot, decay and blood
- which does nothing to diminish the psychological
suspense. This game is not for children unless you
want to spend a fortune on therapists.
Events
in the game take place in a rundown, maximum security
prison. It's huge, with lots of strange and foreboding
areas to explore. Torque is the anti-hero of the game.
He's imprisoned for the slaughter of his family. Trapped
in this hellish penitentiary he finds he is able to
move about the facility in search of answers. He would
have been better if he just stayed in his cell.
I
don't want to give too much away but the way you play
the game will affect the outcome. You will be faced
with several options such as how you treat other prisoners
that you come in contact with. You can help them,
ignore them or slay them - the choice is yours. Are
you really a psychotic murdered? Or are you a victim
of circumstance? There are several endings to the
game. The storyline seems to raise more questions
than it answers as you never seem to get closer to
the truth just further into the bizarre.
You
will encounter several bizarre creatures such as one
that has sword blades for appendages in addition to
one that injects needles filled with lethal toxins
into your body thus draining your health. Another
creature called Fester opens his rotted stomach cavity
to unleash a swarm of pestilent rats. Weapons in the
form of guns and explosives turns the action into
a shooter as you try to send these demons back from
whence they came. A rage meter allows Torque to literally
freak out as he transforms himself into some kind
of crazed, superhuman monstrosity capable of tearing
some of the creatures apart with his bare hands. This
may sound kind of Game-Boy-ish but it has some bearing
on the storyline.
Navigating
through the darkness, your only sources of illumination
are a flashlight and some flares. The flashlight is
limited to a cone of light which only allows you to
see your immediate area. It runs on batteries and
if you let them run out you'll have to play in the
dark. Flares are also limited but they will illuminate
a greater area. Encountering the creatures in near
or total darkness adds to the creepy atmosphere. Often
you'll hear them before you see them.
You
can change from first to third-person perspective
on the fly. Third is better for using weapons and
first is preferred for exploring. The mouse allows
for more precise aiming than the console controller.
Visually
The Suffering looks a little bit better than the console
version but the unrelenting darkness often obscures
the graphic details. The environments are dreary and
create the perfect ambience for the horrors you are
going to witness. The creatures are very imaginatively
conceived
and rendered, far more disturbing than McFarlanes'
monsters. The music will give your goosebumps a head
start as it sets the tone perfectly with a dynamic
score of tension, terror and release.
Shooting,
exploration and puzzles are all well balanced. The
gameplay is unpredictable and challenging. You don't
have to be a fan of the horror survival genre to realize
that The Suffering is one hell of a good game.
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