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The epic struggle
THE SUFFERING is without any doubt one of the most twisted, weirdest and disturbing games in the market. It is a surprise the game made it past the censor boards who are generally quite strict about their policies.
Warning: this is an M-rated game, so if you have children or younger siblings around you, don’t play it.
Storyline
The story begins when the protagonist — Torque, who is convicted of killing his wife and two young children — is sent to Carnate Island to a prison called Abbot State Penitentiary. The amazing thing about this is that it is a real place, which has a history of senseless killings.
The Carnate Facility (a mansion turned into a prison) is run by Dr Killjoy, who remains true to his name and is responsible for the random killings of the inmates. Torque is on the death row and soon he realizes that the island is slowly changing into hell. Literally.
He has to find his way off the island before he is killed by the demons that now roam freely and are killing inmates in gruesome ways. He will have to enlist the help of other survivors if he wants to survive. But this does not mean that he is not capable himself.
When he progresses through the levels, he will have to face his true fears and at the end discover the truth and the lies associated with them.
Gameplay
Despite all the gore, the gameplay is excellent. The game has very simple controls and you will not face any confusion while searching for the right button. You can also walk and run at a fair speed and can easily use the insanity mode with one touch of the button, whereas in many other games you have to push two buttons simultaneously in order to convert to a special form.
The insanity mode, where Torque changes into a monster, is temporary. But if the insanity bar runs out, Torque will die of insanity automatically. The bar itself can be filled by fighting with the creatures. The size of the bar can be increased if you use the insanity mode more. This will enable Torque to stay in the demon form longer before passing out. The insanity mode can be turned off as well.
You can navigate through your items easily like changing your weapons or using the items like grenades and flares. However, the game will not pause and when surrounded by enemies this should be avoided because if you run out of ammo for one weapon, you automatically hold the other weapons.
The best part is that you can play the game in first person mode as well as the third person one. You can switch between these with one touch of a button (Square on the Playstation 2 pad). Another asset is that when you encounter a new place or an enemy, it gets added to a journal and a notebook respectively. You can later view this and learn about the places and the enemies. The descriptions involve actual facts.
The players will experience some flashbacks of Torque’s past or about the place from where he started. In some situations, the flashbacks consist of a sudden appearance of a picture, which are quite scary. In others, the gameplay will slow down when the Torque discovers a new place and then afterwards returns to normal. You will know this when you hear a screeching sound.
Characters
There are loads of characters in this game but about 90 per cent of them play a negative role. The main good guy is Torque. The main bad guy is Dr Killjoy who uses the inmates on death row to conduct brutal experiments and to turn them into ugly monsters. He will only appear in form of projected images. In some areas he will revive the dead and in others, he will block the passageways which can be accessed by destroying the projectors.
Another guy worth mentioning is Captain Hermes Haight who is responsible for most of the executions. He appears in the form of green gas and you will fight him in the later levels of the game. He also foils attempts of the survivors to escape the island. There is another killer who will help you in strange ways.
His name is Horrace, in jail for killing young girls. You save him in a level and then later he appears in an electric form. There would also be additional assistance from fellow survivors that include both prisoners and guards. They will provide you with extra firepower.
The monsters, apart from the bosses are reincarnations of different people. For example, the first enemy you meet is the Slayer. He represents the killed inmates. They have two other forms as well.
Another enemy is Marksman, who represents the firing squad, Mainliner, who represents the inmates executed with lethal injections, Burrower, who represents the inmates buried alive, and Festers, who represent the slave-keepers and are the ugliest monsters around.
You will also be facing the Noosemen, who represent the inmates who have been hanged earlier. The last and the deadliest of them all are Inferna, the reincarnations of the convicted witches burnt alive as children.
Weapons
The first weapon you get in the game is a Shiv, which is a kind of a short sword. It is the weakest weapon and it takes about a minute to dispose of the weakest enemies. The next basic weapon is the .357 Magnum that is very, very effective against every type of enemy.
Later in the game you get to hold two revolvers simultaneously, which will prove twice as useful. This allows very quick reloading which itself is a good addition when surrounded by the enemies. Then you will get a shotgun, which can literally take a guy’s head off or convert their bodies into red berry pie. Works great at close range, but do not use it if an enemy is more than ten yards away. It also has a slow reload time so make sure you load it after you wipe a room.
Next weapon you get to hold is the Tommy Gun. It can rid you of many enemies in a matter of seconds. Browning M2 is another type of machine-gun you encounter. These stationary heavy machineguns are set up in strategic positions throughout the game, and you can’t pick them up to carry around. You also get an almighty Flame-thrower, which is only available very late in the game.
You will also find an axe and Flash Grenades that enable you to blind your enemies temporarily. Very good for making quick escapes or when the game gets scary. There are other grenades, along with TNT, Browning M2 and Molotov cocktails that can be found during the course of the game.
Items
There are various items available for you. There is the Flashlight that helps you see through the dark prison or the mansion. It runs on batteries that are scattered around.
Flares are substitutes to the flashlight. The only health item you can have is the Xombium bottles. You can carry a maximum of nine bottles, which are located at every level and are in ample numbers. Then there are the maps that will guide you through the scary places.
Location
The game is based on real locations. Carnate Island is situated 10 miles off the coast of Maryland, USA. It is owned and maintained by the Department of Corrections. The place was first inhabited by a group of Caucasian settlers in the late 17th century. But it could never be completely inhabited because no one was willing to live there for long.
Interestingly, it was once owned by a psychiatric, Dr Killjoy. The federal government purchased the island in 1930 order to convert it into a military base during the World War II. They formed barracks that were evacuated after the war.
A lighthouse was built on the island in 1834, and is in operation to this day. It is now automated, though it is plagued by frequent breakdowns.
The Abbot State Penitentiary has one of the highest homicide rates in the United States. With its harsh wardens and the dilapidated condition of the prison itself, this is hardly surprising. The sea air contributed to this decay. Maryland transfers only its highest risk and most violent inmates here, and the corrections officers struggle just to keep themselves safe.
The state carries out its death sentences at Abbott. Over the years, Abbott has employed a number of execution methods: the electric chair, the gas chamber and lethal injection, which is the only one still in use today.
Graphics
The graphics in the game are pretty basic. Although the manufacturers focussed more on bloodshed and the hideous characters, they did do a lot of research on the prison, the lighthouse, the mansion/facility. These are detailed and so you can easily get lost.
The blood has more of a realistic look and when the enemies burst, you can see their insides coming out. Some enemies keep on coming unless you blast them into smithereens.
Those who are interested and can stand the excessive violence should buy this game. It is a masterpiece by Midway, the creators of Mortal Kombat series and other games.
The writer is a freelance contributor
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