The Suffering: Ties That Bind

"Though still fun, it's technical flaws are too annoying."

Gunslinging inmate Torque has returned, and he's about to deal with some more suffering. It's the sequel to the great prison survival horror game, and unfortunately it's not as scary or fresh as the original. But it's not horrible. So let's get into it.

STORY
Taking place right after the first game, our protagonist Torque has broken out of the monster infested prison, and he gets captured by some special forces who lock him up for questioning. Before any important information can be asked, the facility gets attacked exactly like the prison. Strange evil creatures with hungry appetites keep killing everyone. As Torque finds his way out he realizes that he's in Baltimore, the home of his troubles. And it's filled with chaos. Wanting to know more about his past he rushes in guns ablazing, and he's in for an interesting ride. And depending how you play, the story will change to reveal what Torque really is. Unfortunate man? Or dangerous psychopath?

GRAPHICS
The graphics are exactly like the first game. The characters look a little blocky, but they do have nice detail. I love how much blood Torque can get on his clothes with the more monsters he kills. You'd think he was swimming in it. Monsters are really scary looking as well, complete with blades for arms and other deformities sure to shock you. The game's environments and cutscenes all do a great job as well. It's disturbing, and that's a good thing.

SOUND
The audio is astounding work as well. The new villain of the game is voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan. He's also the voice that congratulates every evil deed you perform in the game. He is the epitome of awesome, and he makes this game sooo much cooler. Monsters sound scary, the voice acting is top notch, and you'll genuinely love listening to this game. Though it lacks music I will say that.

GAMEPLAY
So does the game live up to it's predecessor? Not really. The game is a survival horror game where you use guns, melee weapons, and grenade type stuff to fight off scary evil monsters and progress through the 18 levels in the game. There will be minor puzzle elements to solve and a nice interesting story to guide you through. Depending on the choices you make in the game, Torque can be a good or evil character, and the storyline and dialogue will change to your actions. And if you have a saved file from the first game, you can use it to start this game off from which ever ending you beat. I liked that element.

And another thing that's neat is that you can transform into a monster yourself and hack at the enemies. If you've played the first game you know what to expect...and to be honest that's all to expect. The game hasn't really improved all that much. It feels like a nice expansion pack, but it can be mistaken for the first game easily. Oh well the first game was great right? What could be wrong with that? Unfortunately the game has a lot of technical issues that weren't present in the first game. And these aren't tiny issues. The game has a lot of glitches. There were too many times I had to restart my PS2 and redo old progress because the game froze after beating a level.

I warn you now, if you play this game you must save and save often. There are certain situations where you cannot progress unless you defeat all of the monsters, and the final boss was one of them. Many times creatures would stop coming and halt all progress as I knew it. After long periods of waiting I knew something was wrong so I restarted the level. I try it again and no waiting. I played and beat this game in a weekend...these glitches happened too often! This is a buggy game, and that really kills the experience.

The game has camera problems as well. You're always running through these tight narrow buildings, and the camera always seems to get stuck in between them all. It's too damn close to Torque. At times the screen will be looking at his back and not the action in front of him because it's trapped between the walls. And that is really frustrating. Especially since this game is really hard! Much harder than the first game, creatures come out of everywhere and they are relentless. Even on easy mode I found dealing with the enemies was really challenging.

And my last complaint will be with the endings...I don't wanna spoil them but I will say they aren't worth the effort of completing the game. The game is still fun to blast enemies though, and the story will keep you hooked, making you wonder how shooting that drug dealer in the head will affect your game as Michael Clarke Duncan applauds your psychotic behaviour.

IN THE END...
It's a decent game with great presentation....but it's technical flaws are the real suffering. I'd say if you loved the first game, give this one a rental and see if you like it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/06