The Suffering

"A great survival horror, but not for everyone."

First off, this game is published by Midway, and you know some of the great accomplishments they had in the past few years, yes they were not that great. Now forget about what I just said, because the suffering is quite possible Midway's best 3D game ever created. Now although I love it, it does have some differences from games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil that might turn you away, so be sure to read on.

Graphics- 9/10
They are good, and it matches the survival horror theme. They are dark, and you should get a scary feeling. Even the people don't look that bad.

Controls- 9/10
I was shocked to see how good the controls actually worked. They flow really nicely from going into battle with a big enemy, or just plain exploring.

Gameplay- 9/10
Now this is the best part about the game. Now in Resident Evil and Silent Hill games, a big focus is on the puzzles. Now in the suffering, a lot less focus in on the
puzzles. Now to balance that, the action has been improved. In most of the classic survival horror games, you can easily just go past a monster and not look at it again. Well the suffering is different. First off, it will be a lot harder to escape the enemies, because each room is not a separate area, and you actually get rewarded for killing the monsters. You see the more monsters you kill, your insanity meter goes up, and then you can transform into different monsters to destroy your enemies. By far the best thing is the ability to choose between first and third person modes. Your standard mode is third person, but if you are a first person shooter fan, you can choose it. In only a few cases you will have to be in third person.

Story- 9/10
Now you will not get a story as complicated as a Resident Evil game, but it is still pretty good. No complaints really about the story. A quick summary of the story is that you are in jail and bad things start to happen in the jail. Now it is a lot more complicated, but that is the bases for part of the story.

Lasting Appeal- 10/10
With four difficulties and extra endings, you will want to play it again and again.

Final Comments: I gave the suffering a 10 because it is one of Midway's best works ever, and everything is great. Now if you really want a lot of puzzles in your game than it is not for you. If you are looking for a great action/survival horror game, than I definitely suggest this one in a heartbeat.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 03/12/04

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