|
 In
the sequel to The Suffering, the violent, creepy monsters
that were confined to the island are now walking the
streets of Baltimore - the hardest thing is telling
them apart from the local human population.
Okay
people of Baltimore, don't write any angry letters
or send any nasty emails. That was just a joke - and
besides - you're not very good spellers and your syntax
stinks. Just what the hell did you learn in school
anyway? Certainly there can't be that many jobs for
welders in your city?
In
The Suffering: The Ties That Bind, our hero Torque
manages to escape from his hellhole prison and winds
up in Baltimore, along with a number of special guests.
These "guests" are a collection of grotesque,
undead monsters - a result of human experiments gone
awry - not to be mistaken for city council members.
The scientists responsible for this gruesome research
belong to a giant corporation that wants to keep the
data secret. Torque will do battle with both the undead
and the corporation's army to uncover who killed his
family and what has happened to him.
Why
Baltimore? I'm sure I'm not the only one to ask that
question. Well, it appears that Torque has had some
past dealings with the city that are revealed through
flashbacks. The story is a little more involved than
the original as it attempts to explain just how Torque
wound up imprisoned in the first place. There are
various diary pages and letters to be found that will
advance the storyline. Hope you know how to read.
Otherwise this review might just look like this to
you ghkasdfkibafbj afj afbouafgaalbln *&#^3% a^%@^#((%#*((#)#?@)*%&39823479872oih
soh wo !!!!
 But
don't let all of the reading spoil your fun bookworm,
this is an action-packed game loaded with violence,
blood and horrors of horrors. The monsters in this
game are preserved at the moment of their death and
their strange powers mirror their style of death.
You will also deal with the inner-city machinations
and those humans that have succumbed to the street's
dark lifestyle of guns, drugs, violence and poverty.
Torque will also battle his inner demons while his
inner demon literally battles with the rest of the
world. Killing enemies boosts Torque's rage meter
which will release a fearsome creature that has a
pendulous blade for an arm and grappling chains that
spring from his back. This monster character is an
excellent weapon. There are times when you will be
outnumbered where releasing the rage meter is the
only thing that will help you.
Speaking
of weapons, you can still expect dual pistols, hand
cannons, semi-automatic rifles, assault rifles, submachine
guns and a host of grenades. What you might not want
to hear is that you can only have two weapons at a
time, although you can have all three grenades at
once. There isn't a lot of extra ammo lying around
so you have to be very frugal. The gameplay follows
a cycle of easy difficulty that unexpectedly increases
to insane levels where you're literally overwhelmed
by enemies. Areas are very linear and scripted so
you'll have to replay some of them many times, paying
attention to safe havens, ammo, weapons and the location
of key enemies that you should concentrate on taking
out first.
Warehouses,
dark alleys, slums and compounds comprise most of
the urban environments. The immovable obstacles force
you down the path. Ambient-wise it's not very scary
when the monsters enter the realm of the living. It
was a lot scarier in their environment where anything
could happen given the mysterious and unexplained
circumstances.
 As
with most sequels, this is just a continuation of
the original. Neither the graphics nor the gameplay
has been altered which is still a good thing since
the original was a very solid game to begin with.
The control system is responsive and accurate. The
graphics still illustrate some spine chilling scenes
and disturbing animation of the undead characters.
This game is almost guaranteed to give you nightmares.
Even the sound is scary, and I defy anyone to listen
to it, even without playing the game, in their house
when it's dark and empty. The voiceacting is supplied
by professionals but it can still get a little cheesy
at times.
The
Ties That Bind may not be the best game to start with.
If you haven't played the original, that's where you
should begin. If you don't like it, you won't like
this one but fans of the first one will revel in another
visit to that old familiar hell.
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Midway
Games Inc., a leading interactive entertainment industry
publisher and developer, today announced The Suffering:
Ties That Bind, sequel to the genre-defining and award
winning action/horror game, The Suffering. Developed
by Midway's internal studio, Surreal Software, The
Suffering: Ties That Bind is scheduled to ship for
the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the
Xbox videogame system from Microsoft and PC in Fall
2005. 
The
Suffering: Ties That Bind is a revolutionary action-horror
game that emphasizes the disturbing terror of its
predecessor, with new twisted creatures and a few
familiar faces. Set in the unforgiving streets and
prisons of Baltimore, the player once again controls
Torque as he seeks revenge against the mysterious
grand manipulator Blackmore, a man somehow tied to
the death of Torque's family. Players will explore
the tough inner-city, with poverty and urban injustices
trapping people just as effectively as a physical
prison. The unique morality system returns, as players
delve into the perverse world of Torque's sanity to
discover his past and struggle to control his future.
Features:
MASTER
THE RAGE: New multi-leveled insanity mode is
tied directly to players’ actions, creating
the most deadly weapon in the game - Torque’s
inner demon. This giant, horrific creature goes
from normal to brutal and bloodthirsty depending
on the moral path that players choose to follow.
