The Suffering

I've of course tried to get my fix from horror video games. Resident Evil, Clock Tower, Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, ect. I've played whatever the critics or fans recommended as scary. To be honest, I found most of them to be laughable and some flat out boring. Playing The Suffering was like hitting the jackpot.

Some things I recommend before playing:

1) If possible play on the Xbox in Dolby Digital with a good receiver and speakers.

The sound FX are what drive this game; they're second to none. Fighting the monsters isn't really scary. It's actually comforting. What's scary are the noises you hear coming from the shadows. Something clawing it's way through the ducts behind you and to the right. The sound of men screaming, shots being fired, then flesh being torn apart to your left. A monster trying to smash it's way through the door directly in front of you which you've just tried to open but found locked. The sounds in this game are phenomenal.

2) Adjust the brightness of you T.V. to a low level.

The game will ask you to do this before you start playing. It's similar to other horror video games. You really need to have dark shadows for all those scary sounds to be effective.

3) Play in first-person mode.

Third-person mode is easier. You have a wider perspective, which makes it easier to move and see around you, but that wider perspective feels like a buffer zone between you and the monsters. You feel like you don't have to watch your back because the camera is doing it for you. First-person is a little more difficult to move around but much more intense. You feel like your really there.

4) Play alone, late at night with the lights off.

You know why.

The game starts off with you in a cell on death row. You've murdered your wife and children but don't remember because you suffer from blackouts. Soon the lights go out and you hear the other inmates being torn apart. Something pulls your cell door off and your set loose into the prison. Eventually, your given a choice of paths to take. You can either be a good guy and work with other survivors or be a bad guy and massacre everyone. Of course, I chose to kill everyone (lets face it, what gamer wont) and soon found myself suffering from horrible, and frequent, hallucinations of my murdered family and other things. And the voices, oh those voices in your head telling you to kill; that the person standing in front of you is just a piece of trash and deserve to be slaughtered by you. Though, those voices are contradicted by the voice of your dead wife telling you not to do it. That she could never love a murderer. God this is twisted.

I guess this is a good point to mention that this is the most masochistic game I've ever played. I recently finished Manhunt (which I loved) and this game blows it away. Some deaths are vivid and brutal. Innocent guard trying to help you: butcher him. Guard locked in gas chamber: gas him. Man strapped in electric chair: juice him. Parents should also know that besides the violence and gore this game also has adult language. Including a four letter profanity used to describe a certain part of the female anatomy.

This game is not your typical survival horror game. Not only is it actually scary, it's also action packed. There are plenty of things to fight and you better move pretty fast or your dead. There's also a good amount of weapons for you to use. The gameplay is more like Doom than Resident Evil (epically in first-person). You will eventually be taught, by a ghost, how to go into psycho mode. After you kill enough things your psycho meter fills up and you can transform into a raging beast. In this form you can dismember your victims with one swipe of your hand.

What can I say? I loved this game. I've looked long and hard for something to be able to scare me again. Playing this game made me feel like a little kid watching a horror movie through my fingers. This mothers intense.


Best Horror game in a looooooong time   May 13, 2004
Mr. (Berkeley, CA United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I'm only halfway through with the Suffering but I can safely say that this game is something that other horror games are not: it's fun!

First of, the controls are very easy to work with; Unlike Silent Hill 2 and Alone in the Dark where the controls seems to work against you - and thus ruining the game experience for you.

Also, the atmosphere (great sound effects!) and the creatures are awesome. I really think this is one of my the better games in my Xbox collection. It action scenes are pretty addicting...

There are some bad points about the game that I have to point out though:

1. The movie sequence in the very beginning of the game is also the worst part of the game. The character models of the inmates do not look right and the voice acting is terrible in this section.

2. There are few bugs in the Xbox version. Sometimes the lead character, Torque, gets stuck between chairs and tables, etc.

3. There is a lot of swearing so its not recommended for the kiddies at all.

Overall, I highly recommend this game to all fans of the horror genre.

Sidenote: If you like this game, you may want to take a look at the "Thing" for the Xbox.


Warning- WILL give you nightmares   February 6, 2004
ChrisDark (Carnateabbott... Penitentiary...)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

By playing the demo and the demo alone, I have spent sleepless nights playing all difficulty leavels and examining the area. This won't be your normal, "stuck-in-a-house/mansion" horror with the undead... you'll be facing the ghosts of those who have died in this prison, from lethal injection to being gassed, these ghosts will use items related to their deaths to seek vengance... but are they really trying to kill you, or are they trying to get you to do something worse...? The plot will keep you stuck in this game, you WILL have nightmares, and you won't stop playing until you finally get all the endings... trust me, it'll be worth it. So, move back in with your parents.. the only way you'll sleep through this one is with someone in your bed. And even then.. that won't stop the nightmares... Wait.. my cell's getting really dark... What the... IT'S IN MY CE-

On the CD-O-meter, this game ranks a...:
10/10


Best Survival / Horror Game I've Seen In Quite A While   March 14, 2004
kurlebj (Hackettstown, New Jersey United States)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

"The Suffering" - Now here's a game that came out last week (nearly under my radar) and I picked up on a whim the day after it was released. Very excited to play it after the helpful guy at the gamestop by my house filled my head with anticipation of the "creepiest" and/or "scariest" game I've ever played - and you know what, he might have been right.

Looking a lot like the "Silent Hill" games (but better) and playing a lot like the "Max Payne" games, this game truly is the scariest I've ever played. The visuals are shocking and timed perfectly. The sound really adds to the ambiance of the game and the foul language and graphic violence only adds to the realism. The storyline is good too as it keeps you wondering if "Torque" (the character whom you play) is really guilty of his accused crimes. But is it fun?

Damn straight it is. A lot of fun. The controls are pretty easy to pick up, the learning curve is maybe a half hour to get used to it, but vets of this type of game should have no problem at all. You never know when the next time is, the game will make you jump and what's around the next corner. The game is very dark so it will be hard to see things most times. (And sometimes you might think you saw something, but did you?) And let me tell you, it's a lot of fun to blast away at your enemies utilizing several common place weapons, such as: Tommy Gun, Twin Revolvers, Shotgun etc. Also, you have full use of grenades, Molotov Cocktails, etc. There's a lot of action to keep you from getting bored. Don't worry about that.

There is also some puzzle solving aspects of the game, but they are usually not to difficult and are easily figured out within a few minutes of logical thinking.

Now for a few minor downsides. The game is pretty short. You're looking at around 8 hours or so to beat it. (But there is some incentive for replay value since you can achieve 3 different endings) Also, there is not much variation to the creatures that you fight. There are only around 4 different variations of commonly seen creatures in the game. Could have used a bit more variety there.

In conclusion, this is a fun game that happens to be one of, if not, the, scariest game I've ever played. I highly recommend you pick it up, especially if you're a fan of the horror-genre.

Roundup: (I have it for Xbox)
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Storyline: 4/5

Overall: 4/5


Prison truly is HELL   March 26, 2004
Omar Centeno (Duarte, California USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I've been waiting for this game to come out for quite some time and now that it's here, I can say that it was worth the wait. One thing for sure this game doesn't disapoint from literally scaring at any moment. From the vast numbers of enemies that pop out of nowhere, to the disturbing flashbacks and gruesome images that our main character Torque experiences. All the enemies represent various forms of executions, from firing squads to lethal ejections to beheading to even being buried alive. This game also has high replay value, considering the fact that there are 3 endings to choose from: Good, Neutral and Evil and I have to say that the most disturbing of the 3 was the Neutral ending, but I won't spoil it for you. The only real downside, which other reviewers have already mentioned is that this game is pretty short. It doesnt take too long to finish this game but because it's alot of fun you'll be playing this game over and over. As far as content goes, this game is really violent and gruesome and the language is pretty extreme and falls into the category of other gruesome but really fun games like Manhunt and Roadkill. Be forewarned that this game is NOT FOR KIDS. Parents be aware.