Suffering for PlayStation 2

The Suffering is a horror action game from Midway reminiscent of Resident Evil. The game has two main characters: Carnate Island, a prison island owned by Maryland's Department of Corrections, and Torque, a death-row inmate convicted of killing his entire family. Both have secrets that are revealed in the game through flashbacks and clues. Carnate Island, as in Steven King's "The Shining", is a place that has come to life because of the history of atrocities that have taken place there. Some have happened in an asylum, some in an army base, some within the walls of the prison itself. The game begins as the evil erupts into being – overrunning the prison with various creatures. Players control Torque, and it is Torque's goal to get off the island alive and keep/become sane. Keep in mind the latter goal – Torque is a candidate for psychoanalysis – he has blanked his past and his journey off the island is closely tied to his search of self – oh sorry, I'm rewriting my master's thesis.

In addition to hordes of creatures, the games also a few major bad characters – individuals that have surrendered to the island's evil. One is psychiatrist, one an executioner, one condemned prisoner. They are richly developed in the game – each with a past that Torque will gradually uncover. Frankly, this character development is what sets the Suffering apart from other action/horror games. These characters have motivations, both good and evil, that affects how they interact with Torque.

More on the hordes of creatures -- the game features six types of enemies – and a couple of evil major characters. They are well animated and fun to watch (from a distance). The enemy intelligence is decent. They are fast to respond, and I never found one that was oblivious to my presence. They are not team players, however, so one will not drive you into another. There are a few disagreements among them too – so be alert to opportunities to get them to fight each other.

Early game previews speak of the game's fear factor. To be honest, it is more creepy than scary. The environments are always dark, dank, and eerie, but the game is primarily an action game, so there isn't the suspense built in a game such as Silent Hills. The pacing is fun, but I can't help but feel that some scare opportunities were lost in environments such as the penitentiary's basement and the abandoned asylum. Perhaps the almost limitless supply of ammo and health provides too much bravado – how much doubt can a player with a loaded arsenal feel?

The levels are complex and full of secrets, visual candy, and sounds. Rooms often reveal their dark histories in the form of whispered audio or flashes of haunting pictures. Players have the option of rushing through a level, but if they do, they will miss a lot of what the game has to offer. The level designs aren't as linear as one might think, and there are rooms with stories to tell.

The objectives are pretty straightforward. Kill the guy in front of you, find the button that opens a door, etc. One feature you will hear about in the game is that game provides a player with opportunities to make a moral choice of killing some of the inmates and guards. Over time Torque can become quite the outstanding citizen (for one convicted of killing his entire family). I'm unclear as to the end affect of choosing good or evil. This demands some replay. However, spared characters can often help Torque by tagging along and providing help killing the creatures or giving Turk some good advice.

Players may choose between a third or first person view. Both have their advantages, but the game favors third person because it gives a better view of the enemies that attack from all directions (including above & below). The camera views in third person are great – you seldom need to change the default choice in a scene, although it is easy to do if necessary.

The choice of weapons is the usual lot: a hand tool (shiv), shotgun, pistol, and machine gun. They are well weighted and you'll find yourself switching among the different weapons in combat. There is ammo aplenty in this game. The main character is an unusual weapon himself. Turk is able to transform into a beast of rage for very short periods of time. A rage meter builds up as Turk kills his enemies, and when it gets high enough, he can make the transformation. A few nice touches on this talent: Even when transformed, Turk can still be hurt and the more Turk kills while in beast mode, the more effective his fighting becomes while in the beast mode.

The sound is very good. In particular, the voice acting is the best I've experienced in a video game. The music never got in the way, and the sound effects were just fine.

The controls are responsive and the layout is logical. You have a few controller setups to choose from – but you can't individually assign actions to the buttons. Here's a tip: choose the configuration that gives you quick access to the flashlight. You'll want to be able to easily turn it on & off to conserve batteries.

I've seen some complaints about the frame speed, but honestly, I detected it only a few times when outside. It never affected combat or my experience of the game.

The Suffering isn't a long game – you can get through it in a weekend. But players that make it through in record time have likely missed the visual and audio treats that the game has to offer. That translates into replay value, making the Suffering a fun sojourn for the money.