The Suffering

Since the release of Capcom's seminal survival horror title Resident Evil, many developers have attempted to emulate the formula. Some with great success -- like Konami's Silent Hill games -- and others (who shall remain nameless) falling flat on their faces with lame knockoffs. Midway throws their hat into the ring with The Suffering, a survival horror game that relies less on running scared, and more on massive firepower and a high shock-value spook show. Does it succeed? Actually, it pretty much doesЕ.

As the game opens, you'll find yourself inhabiting the role of Torque, a convicted murderer (according to the story you may -- or may not -- have killed your wife and two children Ц heck, you'd think one would remember something like that). As you're led to your cell in Abbott State Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on a remote island, an earthquake hits, the lights go out, and suddenly hideous creatures raging for human blood surround Torque. Of course, you must now find a way out of the prison and off the island. Easier said than done.

You'll control Torque from a third person point of view, with the look feature mapped to the right thumbstick, and movement to the left. You'll attack (both ranged, as well as melee) with the right trigger, and use the left to throw objects. The X button is context sensitive, and acts as the use feature. A is jump, and B is used to reload the currently equipped weapon. The white button puts you into a first person view mode, and the black button is used to restore health (bottles of pills can be found scattered about the areas). Finally, the Y button is your "Insanity" trigger. By hitting it (and having a fully charged insanity meter) Torque is transformed into a huge beast capable of tearing most any opposition to shreds. An interesting play mechanic to say the least. Overall, it's quite responsive, and controlling the character quickly becomes second nature.

As previously stated, the game relies heavily on combat, so instead of tearing ass away from the danger, you'll find yourself with plenty of weapons, and ammo, with which to dispatch your foes. In light of this fact, you'll take most of the creatures head on, which is viscerally exciting and pretty thrilling, though eventually it degenerates into pretty repetitious work. In addition to dual revolvers, Torque will also have access to a Thompson submachine gun, a pump action shotgun (great for close range splattering), grenades (flashbang and shrapnel), and TNT. In addition, Torque can use Shivs or Molotov Cocktails, and is equipped with a flashlight for searching out the dark corners of the prison. You'll need to keep an eye on your battery power though, and be on the lookout for replacements as you move through the oppressive environments.

Speaking of which, Abbott State Penitentiary is one creepy place. While much of the game takes place in the prison itself Ц various cell-blocks, guard areas, and medical facilities abound Ц you'll also find yourself outside, exploring the island that surrounds it. Climbing gantry towers, slowly plodding through gated fields and outlying buildings is great fun, and quite suspenseful as you wait for the next attack. The game takes a Clive Barker approach to its horror themes as opposed to say, Peter Straub. In other words, it's gore and shock value over a more traditional ghost story, but it works extremely well. The prison, and the surrounding island are perfect settings for this type of twisted tale, and twisted it is! The creatures are truly nightmarish and well designed, which makes sense when you realize that Stan Winston created them. Huge hulking beasts with chainguns on their backs, scuttling abominations bristling with glowing hypodermics, and Slayers: foul, screeching horrors that have long knifes in lieu of arms and legs who attack from all angles, including scurrying up to the ceiling and dropping down to decapitate or eviscerate. It's pretty intense when you're surrounded by the aforementioned creeps and commence to blow them away while you run for your life. Torque is caked in blood and guts after each encounter, which adds to the eerie atmosphere and stomach churning terror. In addition, you'll find dead prisoners and guards everywhere you go, and it's obvious by the pools of blood and missing body parts that they didn't die peacefully in their sleep. You'll also encounter ghosts of long dead prisoners, as well as hallucinations that will have you questioning your sanity. The first time that creepy little girl ran by me crooning "You can't catch me." I almost lost it (well it was 2am, and I did have all the lights out). In every detail, this game simply drips with atmosphere.

Graphically, The Suffering looks excellent. While not up there with the best of what the Xbox has to offer visually, it looks damn good nonetheless. The character models of Torque, as well as the creatures, are nicely detailed, and the environments look great also. Weapons fire and explosions look wonderful, and the creature's location damage helps immerse you in the battles at hand very nicely. The lighting effects are decent (save the flashlight effect, which looks very good) and the texture work is solid, if unspectacular. The sound is fantastic, and the voice acting, as well as all of the creepy ambient noise, is implemented quite well. Make no mistake Ц The Suffering earns its mature rating. Besides the obvious gore and violence, F-bombs are dropped liberally throughout the adventure. In fact, it probably has the most vulgar soundtrack I've yet heard in a game, but it never really feels gratuitous. It's pretty obvious that prison inmates being besieged by horrific monsters would be cursing like drunken sailors. "Fiddlesticks, that will leave a mark!" would be entirely unrealistic given the setting.