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Who's Suffering? I was when i tried the game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 23
Date: March 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

good thing i rented it. i'm not saying it is a totally bad horrible game but the game is pretty much mediocre. it controls like nearly identical to max payne but more sloppy. you can compare the violence to manhunt yet manhunt does it in good taste. you can compare the controls to max payne or hitman 1 and 2 but the controls can sometimes be dull and sluggish. sometimes it' not fast enough when you want to turn left or right.

the monster model is created by stan winston which i don't consider that scary. the sounds are ok but the scare factor or the nervousness that came along with silent hill, residne evil, and fatal frame games lack in here.

if you played nightmare creatures before in playstation then the game is pretty much like that as well. the graphics or average too and the environement is pretty flat and look the same. same layout as nightmare creatures as well.

losts of swearing doesn't make the game appealing. you pretty much spend all the time trying to find the door that opens aside from the doors that are lock. what you can do is collect some weaopns like tommy guns and revolvers and shoot alot.

some of the character models look goofy and retarded. but in conclusion, this game is maybe a renter but for 50 bucks US it ain't worth it buying this game.

sadly the only thing entertaining about the game is the documentary of the haunted prison on the dvd extras. other than that, the game will get dull and boring after 20 minutes.

i can honestly say that i wouldn't even buy this game in greates hits. the game lacks substance. flat and sluggish controls and mediocre graphics equals the score i give it.

one more thing. the xbox version of the game has slightly better control and graphics. but still it's pretty much the same game.

Who is really suffering here? Probably the gamer.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 19
Date: March 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I saw the box for this one and thought it looked like it had potential. I mean, how can you go wrong with a cool title and a haunted prison? I soon found out.
Your character, Torque, has just been condemned to death row, and as the game starts you find yourself checking out the comforts of your new cell. After lots of cussing from the other inmates, the power goes on the blink and then everyone starts getting killed. I thought the violence and profanity was over the top; it seemed painfully obvious the makers of this game were going hard for the "M" rating. Anyway, you then start on your quest to get out of this haunted prison. Problem is, the gameplay suffers tremendously from sluggish controls and bad camera views. I got bored with it within about a half hour---most of my time was spent roaming around finding flashlight batteries and looking for the one door out of 5 that was unlocked. Oh yeah, you hear monsters moaning in the background too. Yawn.
Long story short, just skip this one. I don't think I would even rent it. The only redemption on this game is the documentary on haunted prisons found in the extras/bonus section.

Okay Game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 26
Date: December 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

My favorite genre of games are survival horror. This game isn't as good as Silent Hill three. Plus it won't sell good because many parents won't let their kids buy this game. The Suffering is also scary, but not like Silent Hill 3. The graphics aren't great and it's too gory. Their is a lot of pointless gore. They tried to make it like a Grand Theft Auto with more Gore. If you want a better game check out Fatal Frame 2 or Silent Hill 3. These are better games.

Gruesome Monster-slaying fun.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: January 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought The Suffering while waiting for something I really wanted to come out, but I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of effort and detail that has gone into this game. Be warned though, it's dark and horrific, and the game seems to really revel in showing all the gruesome ways people can be sliced up, mutilated and tortured. You play Torque, a man imprisoned in one of the harshest prsions ever built, and it's up to you to make sense of what is happening when staff and inmates alike start getting mowed down by bloodthirsty supernatural monsters which appear seemingly from nowhere. The story hits the ground running in the first few minutes of play, when your character suddenly finds his cell door open and the prison in total chaos. Once out of your cell, it's a matter of making your way through the prison, and outside, hoprfully to freedom.

The thing that struck me while playing was the attention to detail present in the locations. Many of the rooms have working telephones, light switches, taps, lockers etc, and even though interacting with them sometimes proves to have no effect (flushing the toilet for example!) it's a great and realistic addition to the game world. Of course many of these things are important to the action, such as unlocking doors or finding supplies, so it pays to explore just what you can do in every new location. A word of warning also, be alert or else some parts of the game will pass you by. Some pathways and rooms containing supplies and even weapons can be completely bypassed if you are not thorough in exploring, so it pays to be cautious. This, of course, is only possible once you have cleared any areas completely of marauding monsters, and it's here that the meat of the game lies.

The creatures invading the prison are pretty gruesome and relentless in their attempts to kill you. Some very Silent Hill-esque creatures inhabit this world, including agile metallic creatures with blades instead of arms and legs that just love to leap at you from the ceiling, and crawling mutants who like to pull loaded hypodermic syringes out of their skin and throw them at you like darts. Early on in the game you will be hard pushed to come through fights unscathed, so it's a blessing that healing supplies are scattered liberally throughout each stage. However, just when you find the best (in my opinion ) firearm - the shotgun - and start cackling with joy as one or two close-range blasts send the creatures flying in a hail of body parts, the game ups the challenge and starts sending wave after wave of critters at you, some of which respawn endlessly. It sounds unfair, but it's not really, as in these cases the game is either telling you to get the hell out of there, or find a way to plug up the seemingly endless stream from it's source.
In several ways, the game reminds me a lot of the similar PS2 adventure "Ghosthunter", in that you have to run around whilst manually aiming, and things seem to be far more capable of dashing around the screen than you are. But, in a great additional aspect, you can also switch to first person view at any time, and still run around, attack and jump, etc. So that's almost two games in one, if you prefer to play it that way. Plus the weapons are a lot of fun...when I found the fire axe it was definitely playtime, heh heh...

As for the plot, it's very minimal, with escaping alive being about the only important issue here. There is a sub-plot involving Torque's memory of his wife and children and what has happened to them and him leading up to to the current situation, but it's very much a peripheral issue to the main action of the game. I found Torque's constant flashbacks and visions to be rather pointless after a while, as the script doesn't give Torque any personality whatsoever (he never speaks or changes his expression during the entire game), so it's impossible to feel any sympathy or even tell what emotions he's supposed to be experiencing!

The gameplay improves further once Torque gets outside of the actual prison, as the repetition of cells and offices gives way to a variety of forests, roads, rivers and cliffs, and the freedom to explore is pretty impressive (or maybe I should say that the disguising of the restraints the game uses to stop you going where it doesn't want you to go is pretty impressive!). Towards the end of the game, you'll also make it to a delapidated asylum/residence, a shoreline complete with shipwreck, and a clifftop lighthouse, and the graphics of these locations is wonderful, well worth waiting for.

So I recommend this game. It's challenging, although some of the killing can be avoided if you just want to run past everything. Still want more? Well, actions such as your willingness to help other survivors (even when they might be actively hostile towards you) will change the ending you receive, or open up extra goodies if you keep certain NPC's alive long enough - pretty tough to do in some cases. And there are several situations featuring puzzles and traps to test your problem-solving skills. There's also an "insanity" meter which, when full, allows Torque to transform into a super-strong monster himself and dish out insane damage....to find out how and why, you'll have to play the game. It's definitely worth a look

Pretty Solid fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Suffering is another action game by Midway. It has great gameplay, good action and some really nice music but overall the game is just average. The Suffering has some really awesome game elements and some really creepy atmosphere. The games story is simple. You're sent to death row for a crime may have or may have not done and do not remember any of it except that you're heading to death row. Soon the character "makes some friends" but sadly they all get slaughterd by these unknown beings. To make matters worse once you are free from your cell cops, prison mates are getting slaughterd and torn apart by these things that you still have no clear are. Now the tables have turned and you must escape this prison and find the truth of what happend to your wife and kids. The game is great and has a great storyline too.

The game features some really cool weapons that you get through advancing in the game on your journey to find out what really happend to your wife and kids, you meet up with some prison gaurds and inmates. This is what is really cool about it. You have the choice on helping them out, leaving them there to die, OR killing them which will trigger what ending in the game you get. There are 3 endings in the game what the choices you make are the consiquences you get which triggers what ending you get. The game is chuck full of monsters and cool bosses which will give you hints on about you and your past. The game also features a meter inwhich all the things you inflict will cause the meter to go up and you can trigger a sequence in which you transform into a demon monster and you can slash and tear anything that gets in your way in a limited amount of time. It really doesn't do much for you I just killed anything that got in my way with my shotgun.

The Suffering has something that I really loved about this game...Creepy atmosphere. The game had some really awesome game atmosphere and the very first level in the prison is a perfect example. The game has a perfect creepy atmosphere and a really great music score. The game is really great on that. The game is also very, very, very Mature. It has extreame profanity and lot and lots of extreame gory violence. One part in which you see a man whith nothing but his stomach left but the rest of his body is torn off and his just sqealing like dead fishes..it's really disturbing and if you shoot him and put him out of his misery you acctually earn a good Deed point!..Very disturbing sequence also..

Good
-Great Visuals
-superb atmosphere
-good storyline
-Very creepy score..

Bad
-the game is too short
-some levels look too identical which really ruins the mood of the game
-the game doesn't have much of a side story and that is pretty lame
-It seemed kind of like a SH rip off but still is a great game..

The Ugly
-get the good ending....Poor Torque

Overall this game is one of Midways Finest yet but it fails at all of things that midway could have attempted to fix but didn't. Other then that the game has a great story, Fine Controlls, Great gameplay with lots of fast paced action and some cool atmospheric gameplay with lots of monsters....Overall with all of its pros and cons I gotta give this a

3.9 out of 5 stars....

Good Game overall..

Lates

Almost...but no cigar!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: May 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My thoughts on this game is that the game isnt truly that scary to be honest. The only "true scare" would be the "flashbacks" that Torque has through out the game, which, i can understand because it catches you off guard.
The good thing about this game, is that you have at least enough ammo and guns and medicine to live, which is good, because some games dont offer that. The game has cool graphics and not to sloppy controls at times. However, this game does have very poor camera angles that makes it hard to hit your target at times. It has good gameplay, a nice odd story line and its bloody (which now kids today are going for). However, it is refreshing that there are no "zombies" which is true, but, the game with no "scare" cannot be in the same section as say Resident Evil or Silent Hill.
The creatures to where somewhat lame. For example, here are my veiws on the creatures:
1. Horace- sometimes helpful..but only towards the middle of the game
2. Hermes - Very cool villian
3. Dr. Killjoy- "Killjoy"?..what a stupid name for a villian
4. Inferna- Very cool creature, but can be a pain in the butt to kill
5. Fester- Lame creature, it looks like they "rip it off" from another game
6. Burrower- Another lame creature, but, tough to kill at times.
7. Nooseman- Very, very lame creature..why didnt they just call it "Spiderman"?
8. Mainliner- Very hard and very fustrating creature to kill.
9. Marksman- Very cool creature and are very easy to kill.
10. Slayer- Very lame, very boring, easy kills.
11. Torque- Why does he look like Wolverine???
Anyways those are my veiws on the game. If you want the game i would rent it first, if you like, then buy it. To Midway, almost..but no cigar!.

Right...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: May 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First of all, i live and breathe Silent hill. And the main thing I've been seeing in these reviews are people knocking SH. Stop it!

Secondly, this game is not all that. And the flaws go well beyond comparing to RE or SH, it goes to the controls. Which suck. To turn around to face a creature behind you takes far too long for a vid game of this Genre, even when you turn the sensitivity to the max level.

Now, let's talk about the length. Now SH2&3 also were very short games. But they provided memorable characters with real emotions and disturbing twists. This game offers you characters which talk about how they wish there were in the hood other than this prision and curse farrrrrr too much for a survival (or action) horror game.

Last is the good. Which is the atmosphere. This game lives and breathes it. And of course the action, which is stylish, but yet sadly enough I never found myself wanting for anything more than the duel revolvers.

So, rent it for a weekend and you'll be more than pleased

Better than most of the garbage being released...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 19 / 20
Date: March 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Suffering is a decent game. It's not absolutely amazing or groundbreaking, but it is definitely more entertaining and worthwile than most crap-action titles being released right now. With dime a' dozen shooter games hitting the shelves en masse, The Suffering mixes things up a bit. It couples intense horror sequences with satisfying shoot em'up action, creating a well balanced blood soaked blend. And it is indeed well balanced. This game puts its best foot forward as a melting pot effort, combining massive amounts of gore and profanity with a decent story, and some good ol'fashion disturbing imagery. I felt that if ever the shooting and fighting grew a bit repetitive, the game's freaky/disturbing context prevailed and pulled the game through. As much as you run around chopping up demons and blowing them full of holes, the 'darker' backbone and theme of the game is always right there making itself known. Like I said, it's a mixture; You never feel too overwhelmed with the bulletfest or the brooding story elements. The graphics are run-of-the-mill PS2 quality. Nothing to boast about, but nothing to really gripe about either. The control interface is nicely done and the ability to switch between first and third person view at any time is excellent indeed. There are four difficulty settings - Easy (for your little sister)- Medium (for wusses like me)- Hard (for people who like to get aggravated and swear blood-vengeance on their PS2 - and Insane (for people who like getting splattered thoroughly and quite often.) The game's difficulty is balanced well, and the medium setting provides a challenge without overwhelming or enraging you. Also: weapons and provisions are well supplied throughout your adventure. - It isn't one of those action-horror titles where you have to be sparing with your loot. If anything, this game encourages you to hose down everything in sight, as there is always plenty more ammo to be found as you progress. My next topic of discussion is The Suffering's use of decision based story progression, and how it ultimately determines the ending of the game. Put simply: You run into people during the game (officers, inmates etc) and you are faced with choices - You can either choose to help them and follow the, dare I say 'light' path - or you can choose to be evil and cut them down and continue on your way. One nifty element the game designers have employed here is the use of voices that your character hears inside his head when faced with such decisions. One voice is his dead wife, urging him to do the right thing... the other voice is the voice of insanity, urging him to go Scarface on everyone. It is a neat little perk and one of the game's more memorable and fun features. And the choices you make regarding people who need your help will determine how the story ends for you, as the game features multiple endings. The demons/monsters you face in the game are pretty cool and some are definitely on par with the grotesque freaks found in Silent Hill. The voice acting is well done and very entertaining at points. On a similar note, if you play this game all the way through you're going to hear the F word about 300 times. - As well as some other choice phrases that helped The Suffering earn its well deserved M rating. So I guess that's either a boon or a disappointment depending on your tastes. In closing, I recommend this release. Fun if you like blazing guns action play, and fun/intriguing if you're a horror game fan. If you have the cash to spend, I'd say go for it. There's replay value and some great action/horror elements that make this title a satisfying stand-out. And let's not forget the blood... buckets and buckets of blood. ;)

one good horror game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is the best horror game I have played since resident evil 2. I love to get spooked but most horror games are about scaring you by giving you no ammo and running as your tactic to survive. Now don't get me wrong that adds to the spook factor but it gets hard to pick up time after time. Well, for the past several months i have been looking into The Suffering as a possible rental on a dark weekend when it came out. Just recently I played the demo and it blew me away as one of the best horror games ever.

Let us get to the point that made the game fun. You could fight. Thats it, you could fight back and actually have a chance to survive without spending ever bullet with regret. On top of that you still feel as if you are still on the brink of death as the story and monsters surround you. Now that is awesome when it comes to horror games.

Now the gore factor is a little much, even for a 18 year old guy, and the language is ridiculous but I got past that and saw what the game was like underneath. This is no kids game at all and if you are a parent looking into this for a child 16 and younger forget the game. Anyone else have fun. It is well crafted and good for a night of peeing you pants.

Solid, horrific fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Suffering, Midway's much hyped about survival horror game, is solid, horrific fun from beginning to end. Playing as death row inmate Torque, the newest resident of an island prison, he is one of the few survivors of an attack by some horrific monsters in the prison. From then on, you take on a horde of ghastly creatures, while finding a few surviving inmates and guards as well; your choices determine one of the game's three different endings depending on your actions. Torque has plenty of different weapons to his disposal, and as his insanity meter rises, he can transform into his monstrous alter-ego. Besides a bit of a sloppy frame rate and some minor control and camera issues, The Suffering is a fun game, and does offer some replay value with the three different endings. It offers less on puzzle elements and more on bloody action than other games in the genre, which can be both good and bad depending on the gamer. Besides it's third person perspective, the game can also be played in a first person perspective, but that is practically useless when you have to see if something is attacking you from behind. The monsters are varied, albeit repetitive, and are designed reasonably well, while the graphics are solid PS2 fare. The sound is where The Suffering shines; with plenty of shrieks, screams, and everything else that makes survival horror games enjoyable. Be warned however, the game earns it's Mature rating as it is exceptionally violent and contains some of the harshest language to ever be found in a game (then again, considering this is a game revolving around prison inmates, is that a surprise?), but despite it's shortcomings, The Suffering is worth checking out for fans of the genre.

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