Game Review: The Suffering

Game: The Suffering
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Surreal Software
Release Date: 9th March 2004

When I first picked The Suffering up I wasn't expecting much of out it as a game, due to the almost comical cover art and the fact that it was published by Midway, one of the least inspiring publishers of the modern age. I was surprised to find one of the most genuinely scary and fun to play horror games on the Playstation 2, despite some cliched themes and locations within the game.

Players control Torque, a prison inmate who is able to make an escape from Abbot Maximum Security Prison during a large scale monster attack. Although its never explicitly explained why these enemies appear, they're based on forms of torture that have been used at Abbot's facilities (including an asylum) over the years. Some of the time the monsters will conveniently take out members of Abbot staff to aid the players escape, but aside from this small piece assistance they provide, they're the main enemies of the game.

Players have the choice between first and third person viewpoints, controlled with the Square button. Personally I stuck with the third person view for much of the game, but its nice to have the choice. The d-pad controls the inventory of weapons and items, of which there's a nice variety of firepower, throwing weapons and a few melee options too. The right analog stick is used for aiming, while R1 and L1 are used for firing guns and thrown weapons respectively. The X button is used for actions, such as opening doors, flipping switches and turning valves, amongst other things.The circle button is used to consume Xombium, which increases the player's health bar (as long as they have some on hand), and R2 is used to jump.

An interesting addition to the game is an insanity meter which fills as players make kills. Once the meter is full, players can press the triangle button to transform into a monster-like creature themselves and do an extreme amount of melee damage with their hands to enemies. Using this mode too much can affect which ending players get however, as morally it seems to be questionable.

Torque's backstory is slowly explained through a series of hallucinations, imagined phonecalls, and images which briefly flash up onscreen at certain points. All of these contribute towards the overall scare factor of the game, and unless you're playing in the middle of the day with people around you, it should be pretty scary. The locations and areas inside of the game also add a lot to its atmosphere; the insides of the prison and asylum are often decrepit and blood stained, while the outside areas are misty, and keep players on edge.

There are 20 chapters to the game in total, which follow Torque from the beginning of his prison break to the end. Chapters are often used to change setting, and can vary in length and difficulty. With 3 game endings based on how players perform morally there's a little replay value, although I doubt many players would be willing to go through the entire story again for a slight difference in ending cutscene (even if the implications of the cutscene are wildly different).

While there's a lot of shooting and killing monsters in the game, a lot of chapters also feature puzzles of some sort which involve moving and manipulating objects inside of levels to achieve a goal. This changes up the pace of the game every now and then, and allows players a break from the constant threat of attack. On the whole the game isn't particularly difficult (although there are multiple difficulty settings), and it's easy to restart from checkpoints in the event of the health bar being emptied. My only complaint here is that it's possible to get stuck without any health or ammo items after a checkpoint, and have to restart in a bit of a sticky situation.

Graphically The Suffering is impressive on the whole; some textures and characters can look a little blocky when compared to the graphics of modern consoles, but once players are immersed in the experience, it doesn't diminish the experience at all. While there's not a lot of music to accompany gameplay, the voice and soundclips used in the game add a lot to its ambience and give it a true horror feel.

Overall The Suffering has some pretty scary stuff hidden under its almost budget looking cover. If you're after the deepest psychological horror, then this game probably isn't what you're looking for, but if a few jumpscares, weird enemies, hallucinations and a generally creepy setting sound like they're up your street, then this game is definitely something to check out. There's a sequel too, called The Suffering: Ties That Bind, which I hope to play before too long.

If you've got a PS2 and you're without this game, I'd honestly recommend picking it up; it's not too rare, it provides a lot of enjoyment and horror based action, and it's probably the best thing Midway's ever published.

Rating; 81/100
Grade: B