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The Suffering: Ties That Bind Review
The original suffering was released to some generally positive reviews. The game was undeniably creepy and the action was competent. When news of a sequel broke, it wasn’t exactly clear through previews and screenshots what was actually going to be different in the game that hadn’t been done before. To confirm that now, the sequel isn’t all that different from its originator, but luckily that has little effect on how enjoyable the Ties That Bind can be. The main character you play is Torque, a man who was accused of murdering his family and sent to prison. In the original game you managed to escape after fighting off hundreds of mysterious creatures that haunted the facility. At present, Torque is in prison yet again and it seems that the creatures are far from done with him. Not long after the game starts, Torque will be thrown into the city streets of his old home and the urban areas is where most of the game seems to settle. Along the way you’ll meet a creepy investigator, an even creepier psycho voiced by Michael Clark Duncan and then what would a horror game be without a mad doctor? Well the game has that too.   What makes The Suffering universally appealing to the general action game fanatics is that it doesn’t force you to stick with one perspective. Not only does the game act as a good third person shooter, but it also works well as a first person shooter, and you can switch between these two views at will. I found myself sticking mostly to the third person view even with using a keyboard and mouse as I felt more in control of the character. Torque will face many monsters from the original game along with a few new faces. Enemies tend to vault across ceilings, charge at you, or crush you with their bulk (some of the enemies can be a bit large). These enemies won’t win any awards for being the best AI killers out there, but they can provide for some pretty intense firefights. Often times combat is initiated when one or more enemies try to scare the crap out of you, but you can find a few stray baddies every once and awhile. In comparison to other games in the horror and action genres, The Suffering isn’t particularly excellent because it can do better in a few places but at the same time its still a good time. The action can get repetitive at times, the final boss by some would be considered a joke and the whole experience is short and generally linear. Yes, you are allowed to take on the role of good or bad, and it can have some effects on the story and a little bit of what you do, but generally the game doesn’t change all that much. One could complete The Suffering in a weekend if they stuck to it and aside from trying out the other alignment, there isn’t much to come back for. Kudos must be given to when you are able to mutate into a particularly nasty creature for a limited time. The game basically turns into a slaughterhouse as you plow through the enemies as if there was no effort involved. The good and evil rage abilities help to break up the sometime repetitive straight up shooting and anyway it’s pretty cool to see Torque go crazy when his whole mission is to prove to everyone that he’s not. How about that?  Torque’s world is gritty, bloody and of course gory. Surreal Entertainment has once again crafted a creepy atmosphere that seeps death at every corner. Its texture work is generally good, although up close things become pretty muddy. The enemy models look great and definitely sharper and shinier than their console counterparts. Torque’s character model is detailed although his animations sometimes feel a bit robotic and since some play the game for the third person action, its not cool to see your main character looking as if he’s reading from a stunt script. The use of lighting is excellent although not as robust or extensive as some other recent titles. It’s a bloody world, but it still looks pretty good. Voice work is provided by the likes of Six Feet Under’s Rachel Griffiths and The Green Mile’s Michael Clark Duncan. Both do a great job at acting out their parts even if the actual game story can be a bit confusing at times. The sound effects and ambient sounds are sharp and since this is a horror game, expect to hear plenty of screams and things that aren’t there.  It’ll be nice to see how The Suffering series fares on the big screen or even the next generation consoles, but for now we have a good sequel that simply falls short of presenting anything sparkling new. It’s a simple action shooter with a horror twist and you may find yourself creeped out by some of its scares and visuals. Its pretty short and it still has a lot of areas that could be fine tuned just like the game before it. Lastly, the prison idea was great and that’s why the original worked so well, the urban streets idea is getting to be tried and true and the feeling of isolation wasn’t as strong as the original, but it still had a lot to offer. Pick up The Suffering: Ties That Binds if you’re interested in a short but sweet action title that has a few scares up its sleeves.
Written by Joseph Bennett. Posted year 2005.
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Released on
September 26, 2005
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