Few things scare me more than the idea of having to go to prison.
I’ve seen the movies and heard the stories and I can say the justice system has worked
because the thought of going to that environment scares me into a good and honest life.
But as scary as the movies make prison out to be, nothing has scared me straight like
The Suffering.
This dark horror action game is the number one reason to steer away from a life of crime.
You play as Torque, a silent man who is in jail for murdering his entire family.
As he is in his cell, things start happening that are not the norm, even for a prison.
Demons have taken over the prison and have killed most of the population.
The game is a pretty standard third person shooter but what sets it apart from the herd
is the atmosphere.
The game has a great creepy feel that makes the game fall also into the horror genre.
It is a genuinely scary game, with the children crying over radio static and pretty gruesome
images.
Your hands will be sweating as you play through the story.
Anther thing that will keep you up at night are the monsters.
Each enemy represents a different way of execution.
With enemies that stab syringes into you to represent lethal injection while others hang
from the ceiling and drop down with a noose.
Each one will put images into your head that will be difficult to shake.
But Torque is not going to wait around to die; he escapes from his cell and starts to
fight back.
He starts off with a shiv, the standard prison weapon but soon he will upgrade to revolvers
and Tommy guns.
Torque is even more bad than the demons of hell and is more than willing to give them
a lethal injection of bullets.
And if Torque builds up enough he can release the inner demon and tear right through them.
And no it is not a gross as it sounds.
The graphics have suffered the same fate as portal cassette player; pretty cool and impressive
in its day but time has not been generous.
But doesn’t really matter because the game’s graphics were not suppose to impress with
high polygon counts or awesome textures but rather with art direction.
The game is very dark, not letting you see much outside your flashlight, but you will
see messages written in the blood covered walls and the remains of prison guards.
All this really puts you in the shoes of Torque, navigating through hell on Earth.
And your actions will determine whether Torque did or didn’t kill his family.
The morality system seems a little tacked on but works well enough.
The game tip toes the line between over the top action game and survival horror.
In the beginning of the game, when you just have your shiv and can hear the monsters all
around, your senses will heightened as you know everything out there wants to kill you.
You feel defenseless and scared but the game kinda looses this as you continue.
After mowing down countless enemies with a Tommy gun, I lost the fear and the game became
just an action game.
How am I supposed to feel nervous when I can turn into a bulking indestructible monster?
It is a small complaint and is only one of very few.
If you are mature enough, then I recommend this game.
And not only to keep you in school and out of the big house.