The Suffering (Video Game 2004)

A death row convict must fight his way to freedom when nightmarish monsters invade the prison.

Director:

Alan Patmore

Writer:

Richard Rouse III

Stars:

Mark Berry, John Patrick Lowrie, John Armstrong

Cast

Cast overview:
Mark Berry	...	Dallas / Luther (voice)
John Patrick Lowrie	...	Hermes Haight / Sergei (voice)
John Armstrong	...	Dr. Killjoy / Horace Gage (voice)
Ross Douglas	...	Clem (voice)
Mark Dias	...	Ernesto (voice)
Bhama Roget	...	Inferna (voice)
Earl Alexander	...	Jimmy (voice)
Meg Savlov	...	Consuela (voice)
Rafeedah Keys	...	Carmen (voice)
Todd Licea	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Brandon Whitehead	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Chris Wicklund	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

A man known only as "Torque" is sentenced to death for the murder of his wife and two sons, an event he can remember nothing about, and is soon locked up on death row at Abbot State Penitentiary, the toughest, nastiest prison in Maryland. Torque has little time to lament his fate, as Abbot is suddenly overrun by strange monsters. As guards and prisoners alike are cut down by the creatures, who seem to embody different methods of death, from be-headings to lethal injection to being buried alive, Torque must battle these beasts (with guns, improvised weapons, and even an adrenaline-fueled rage ability that almost literally turns him into a monster) if he hopes to get off Carnate Island alive. Along the way, he'll learn more about Carnate's sordid history, including the restless spirits of a former prisoner, a former executioner, and a psychologist who's not quite right in the head himself. He'll also encounter friendly faces along the path to freedom, and whether he chooses to help ...

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Plot Keywords:

prison | monster | death row | convict | murder | 

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Taglines:

Prison is Hell

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

M

Details

Official Sites:

Midway Surreal Software

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2004 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Surreal Software

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A running in-joke in all Surreal games: it is possible to obtain a chicken as a weapon.

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Quotes

Loading Screen: Take away a man's light, his clothes, his food, his friends, his air, and you leave him with nothing but himself. And for most, that is not pleasant company.

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Connections

References The Shining (1980)

User Reviews

It gets the job done as a horror game, but the action can get repetitive. Fans of the genre should be pleased. Final Grade: B Minus

"The Suffering" plays like "Max Payne" meets "Resident Evil". It's a shooter that mainly consists of blowing away the same five monsters every few minutes. The main character is Torque, a death row inmate, who was convicted of killing his family. As luck would have it, an earthquake occurs in the middle of the night, freeing Torque from his cell. Unfortunately, monsters modeled by various forms of execution invade the prison.

This is where the player takes over. Your job is to help Torque escape the haunted prison. In the process, you can either help the guards and fellow prisoners or kill them. What you decide will dictate one of the game's three different endings. Your arsenal consists of 10 firearms, a shiv and flashbang grenades. At times, you also have the ability to transform into a giant, rampaging beast, "Hulk"-style. And you can switch between first-person and third-person perspective at any time.

The best aspect of the game is the cutscenes, hallucinations and flashbacks that propel the story forward. There done in a cinematic way which brings back memories of "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" and the 1999 remake of "House on Haunted Hill". It's pure horror. I only wish there was a bit more challenge. This is a straight-forward action game with a little exploration to be found. Yet, it's a fairly enjoyable lengthy adventure.

"The Suffering" is not for the little ones. It contains non-stop blood and gore, constant profanity and the words scrawled onto the prison walls are as profane as well. The DVD also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the game and a documentary-like special entitled "Inside a Haunted Prison" covering an early time of the American penal institution. Horror fans should buy this, it's a well made title of the genre.