Player 1 Start: Review: The Suffering [Xbox]

Developer: Surreal Software
Publisher: Midway
Rated: M for Mature
Released: March 9, 2004
Completed: October 9, 2017

When speaking of survival horror, two names synonymous with the genre are usually the first to be brought up: Resident Evil and Silent Hill. It’s not without merit. Both franchises redefined horror games in their own way, and are deserving of their praise. The unfortunate side effect is that many other excellent games got lost in the shuffle. Tecmo’s Fatal Frame received multiple entries here in the west, and a handful of spinoffs, yet hardly anybody ever talks about it. Even lesser known is Midway’s The Suffering. That’s something of a travesty because while The Suffering leans heavily into action, with less of an emphasis on the survival aspects, it’s still a spooky good time.

The setting is Abbott Penitentiary, and if that weren’t already an appropriately grisly place for a horror game, wait until I tell you the prison sits on Carnate Island. You play as Torque, a silent protagonist accused of murdering his wife and children, but who claims to have blacked out and remembers nothing of the event. As you’re led to death row during the game’s opening cinematic, chock full of hysterically bad voice-acting and copious over-swearing, a supernatural force rocks the prison walls and begins making mincemeat out of the condemned.

The Suffering brings a few unique twists to the horror genre. It features a morality system, but it’s not explicitly laid out before you. Every time you meet a survivor, Torque’s inner demons will try to convince him to murder the poor sap while the voice of his wife appeals to his humanity. It’s up to you how you react, but there’s no big menu choice presented. Should you spare the poor souls, they will often help you, although the companion AI is pretty lackluster and sometimes gets in the way. In addition, Torque can unleash the beast within – quite literally transforming into a giant hulking monster – but the more you rely on it, the worse your ending will be.

The most distinctive characteristic of the game are its monster designs. Designed, at least in part, by the late, great Stan Winston, The Suffering’s freakshow ghouls will make your hair stand on end. As metaphors for execution methods, they’re a little on the nose and lack the subtlety of Silent Hill’s natives, but they get the job done. There are enemies that represent death by hanging, firing squad, good old fashioned prison justice (e.g. – getting shanked), and horror-of-horrors, lethal injection. The latter particularly creeped me out because of my strong aversion to needles, which they have COMING OUT OF THEIR GODDAMN EYE SOCKETS.

Also unique is the ability to switch between first and third person views at any time with the push of a button. I found myself playing in third person exclusively because it offered a better view of my surroundings, and where enemies were in the environment, but first person is a perfectly viable way to play the game.

Which brings me to my next point: The Suffering is definitely more of an action game than its more famous brethren. Resident Evil relies on jump scares and the early Silent Hill games relied on psychological horror, but The Suffering doesn't do either of those things particularly well. It's very generous with supplies, be it ammunition or health pickups, and there isn't an option to run away or avoid enemies due to the game's linear nature. In fact, the final stages are a constant barrage of enemies as you fight your way to the final boss.

On the flip side, the focus on combat is what sets The Suffering apart. All three franchises offer completely different horror experiences. The Suffering is the least outright terrifying of the three, but it's still creepy in spots and the action is very enjoyable. Dodging monster attacks and blasting them with your shotgun is a lot of fun and the responsive controls make it easy.

I was also really impressed with the boss battles, which all feature some puzzle elements instead of brute force. In a battle with an electrocuted ghost, you have to shut down the electric chair before you can damage him. Another boss requires you to funnel his poisonous mist-like spirit into a furnace. These were the moments where I felt the game really shined, and I just wish there were a few more.

The graphics have held up fairly well. Character models are expectedly blocky, and their mouths just open and close like anime characters, but they animate well enough otherwise. The monsters still look fantastic, and the environments are... whatever you'd call the inside of a prison and the surrounding woods, catacombs, and whatnot. The color scheme is lots of drab browns and grays, but again, it's not a trip to a theme park. I especially loved the blood splatter that covers Torque after each encounter. It gradually dissipates, but after each battle his face, hands, and clothes are soaked in gore, which fits the mood of the game very well and looks cool.

The audio has also stood the test of time. Some of the voice acting is awful, but there are also a couple of really exceptional performances - mostly from the game's antagonists. The weakest part of the audio package is the music which, honestly, I couldn't tell you what, if any, there was. I wanna say there was some hard rock and metal guitars during some of the big combat moments, but it's so generic I can't remember.

I'm not saying The Suffering is on par with the likes of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or even Fatal Frame, for that matter. As horror experiences, all three of those franchises are superior. However, The Suffering is an overlooked and mostly forgotten gem that does something different with the genre, and it does it very well. What it lacks in scares, it makes up for with pure entertainment value. The combat is fun, the puzzles aren't as obtuse as the competition's but they're solid, and the story is fairly captivating, even in spite of some suspect voice acting. Both Suffering games are available on the PS2, Xbox, and PC for next to nothing, so do yourself a favor and check them out.

The Suffering was completed on a real Xbox with no cheats.