Reviewed: April 7, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Midway

Developer
Surreal Software

Released: March 8, 2004
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Mature

9
9
9
8
9.3

Supported Features:

The Suffering tells the tale of Torque, a man sentenced to deathrow for the murder of his wife and kids. Whether he did the crime is for you to find out, but the fact is you are in prison and the guards and your fellow cellmates aren’t too happy about it. Even less friendly are the denizens of hell that are about to be unleashed during a violent earthquake.

One by one, prisoners and guards alike are brutally slaughtered, spraying the floors, ceiling, and walls with blood. Bodies are mutilated or displayed in various poses of religious or ritualistic sacrifice. You’ll quickly forget the story, why you are here, or anything else other than the primitive need for survival and escape. If you live long enough you might just find some answers to questions better left unasked.

After the obligatory opening movie you are introduced to what would normally become a group of allies for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, there is little left that is identifiable after the initial attack of creatures so evil and so hideous that words can hardly describe them. The monsters in The Suffering are all demented creatures modeled after various styles of execution then twisted further by the creative minds of Stan Winston studios.

Each creature has a distinct look, which also affects their style of attack and even their AI. Monsters are numerous in variety so you are constantly forced to keep changing your tactics. Some creatures can climb walls or ceilings while others appear from puddles of water pooled on the floor. They attack with weapons, body parts, or weapons used as body parts.

As you make your way through the prison you will encounter several characters, most of which will die grisly deaths before your very eyes. Sometimes you get to team-up with characters, go on fetch quests, or fight side by side. There is a clever mix of exploration and minor puzzle solving combined with intense fighting.

With a press of a button you can change the view from first-person to third-person. While you can play the entire game in either mode, most gamers will prefer to switch since the first-person view is very well suited for combat while third-person is excellent for exploration. You have direct control over the camera with the right stick, but the game does a surprisingly good job of managing the camera so well you will seldom need to intervene.

To go against the awesome forces of evil Torque has a splendid arsenal of weapons at his command ranging from handguns, shotguns, and machineguns to grenades and explosives. Even more devastating is when Torque goes into his “rage mode”, morphing into a powerful beast that can rip demons into bite-sized chunks.

Despite the simple mechanics of the gameplay there is a complex story, or rather set of stories, going on in the background. While you are trying to escape with your life you will learn through cutscenes, flashbacks, hallucinations, and in-game narrative the source of the demonic infestation and even some useful information about your own personal situation.

The pacing of The Suffering is handled nicely with an intentional unbalanced mix of tense exploration followed by periods of frenzied combat. This offset balancing is just another tool to keep you on your toes and generally uncomfortable.

One particularly nice feature is the opened-ended gameplay where you are allowed to dictate your own future and ultimately arrive at one of multiple endings based on your actions during the game. At any time during the game you have free will to kill or torture almost anyone, friend or foe. These choices crop up all over the game and the culmination of these decisions will determine your fate.

The Suffering definitely favors indoor locales. The prison levels are nicely modeled and detailed, but once you make it outside things aren’t quite as nice. Textures are generally excellent with a wonderful blood-splatter effect that is treated as a secondary render pass so blood sprays and sticks to existing models. This means that if you hit a monster with a shotgun blast the blood that shoots from the back will realistically splatter the wall. Don’t be surprised when Torque, himself becomes literally drenched in blood.

The PS2 manages a respectable framerate during most of the game. There is some noticeable slowdown when multiple enemies populate the screen and the blood starts spraying the walls. The game also seems to have problems with water so when you activate the sprinklers or visit the showers you can expect some framerate issues but nothing so severe to interfere with the gameplay.

The music is rather limited, which actually enhances the gameplay by either keeping things eerily quiet or auspiciously loud with chilling audio effects. Environmental effects create their own haunting soundtrack, but when music is required it is there to enhance the moment.

Voice acting is also quite good starting with convincing hardened criminals reciting their scripted lines featuring more profanities than any two R-rated movies. Some of the acting is a little rough but so are these characters. The guards are surly with plenty of attitude and you can tell they don’t like their jobs or our hero. The deeper you go into the game the better the acting gets, and John Armstrong turns in a memorable performance as Dr. Killjoy.

Expect each pass to take anywhere from 10-12 hours, which seems to be the norm for nearly any video game these days. It’s definitely worth a rental and I have no problem recommending it as a purchase for anyone who enjoys a good scare.