The Suffering

The Suffering comes together as a remarkable survival-horror game. I used to write reviews with a breakdown of components in the game (graphics, audio, interface, etc.). But The Suffering integrates all elements so well into the final product that I hardly thought about that sort of analysis. With satisfactory graphics, outstanding audio and acting, involving mystery-like story, smooth gameplay mechanics, The Suffering moves to the top ranks, joining such titles as Clive Barker's Undying and Eternal Darkness. If you can deal with (or maybe enjoy?) the grisly setting, monster bashing and rough language, the game comes as highly recommended—an essential purchase, Gold Star level.

The Suffering obliterates the rules of terror and even common decency to deliver a delightfully twisted horror game that will scare the fearless and chill the spine of the bravest soul. It was a great ride on the consoles and it's just as good on the PC. Play it…I dare you.

It may not be the scariest game ever made as the ads make it out to be, but The Suffering is sufficiently dark and creepy to keep gamers on edge and entertained throughout the duration. Even more important and notable is the fact that yes, The Suffering is a port of an Xbox game and yes, it’s actually a decent port. The main characters strength and durability as well as the bountiful ammo makes the game feel much more like an action game than anything else, which is in start contrast to games like Resident Evil or System Shock where you must make every bullet count and occasionally evade combat rather than take it head on.

You know you wanted to get it, but for some reason, you smelled Resident Evil all over it, didn’t you? The thing about The Suffering is that no one has really given it a chance since it comes off as another Resident Evil clone. Not to say that there are no instances that would remind you of it, but The Suffering, with its deep story and many surprise elements, is far from any RE game or clone you may have played. And to be honest, this game puts more on the table than most other games of its genre.

The Suffering is a great game, with a story that is interesting, great sound and graphics. It is, not unlike Doom 3, a good game to play with others around in a dark room. The music and action combine for a scary gaming experience. The last 6 months have brought us many great FPS games and The Suffering is definitely there with them. When you have had enough of Doom 3 go buy The Suffering, you won't be disappointed!!

Prison is hell, this is the slogan that the accompanying documentary flashes before the screen and, once you start playing The Suffering, these three words couldn’t be truer. Imagine yourself as an inmate in a dimly lit dilapidated prison with cracked walls and corroded drainpipes. A place that not only screams madness and death but whispers it constantly into your ear. And now imagine this place giving birth to monstrosities that can’t wait to carve you into pieces. Survival horror fans, Midway has brought us a game that dares you to play it with the lights off . . . all alone.

The Suffering ist sicher kein Spiel für jedermann, aber wer sich darauf einlässt bekommt viel Action, Blut und eine Gänsehautgarantie. Außerdem ist die Grafik und der Sound mehr als überzeugend und auch das Gameplay weiß zu gefallen. Es gibt zwar kleine Schwächen im weiteren Verlauf des Spiels, aber es bleibt ein spannendes und atmsphärisches Spiel. Ein perfekter Mix aus Max Payne und Silent Hill.

In a genre that's overrun with sequels and lame attempts at horror, The Suffering is a breath of fresh death rattle. The action is intense, the creatures are actually creepy, and the story does not shy away from truly macabre elements. One cannot say enough about the horrific world that's been created here. Everywhere you look, every little thing you do, has been placed there to ratchet up the suspense and put you in an eerie state of mind.

The Suffering is a great addition to a genre which raises the bar in action and horror. You won't be disappointed if you pick up Midways horror gem. Get ready to be on the edge of your seat, indulged in the unfoldings in The Suffering.

As if prison weren't bad enough, with hazing in the yard, shanking on the row and brutality in the shower room, imagine having to put down a horde of monsters from the bowels of hell in your spare time. That's exactly what you're charged with doing in The Suffering, a brand new title from Surreal Software and Midway Games.

Midway, a company recognized for their stable of arcade style games and over the top sports titles, tries their hand at something completely removed from their current library of games with The Suffering. The Suffering tells the tale of Torque, a man condemned to die by lethal injection for the “alleged” brutal murders of his wife and two children, who’s destined to spend his final days at Abbott State Penitentiary, located on Carnate Island, a small island off the coast of Maryland. As can be expected with a game of this nature, Carnate Island, as well as the penitentiary, have unique histories rife with tragedy and of course, E-V-I-L.

As if prison weren't bad enough, with hazing in the yard, shanking on the row and brutality in the shower room, imagine having to put down a horde of monsters from the bowels of hell in your spare time. That's exactly what you're charged with doing in The Suffering, a brand new title from Surreal Software and Midway Games.

Survival horror games were once a big part of video gaming. Games like Resident Evil, Carrier, Silent Hill, and others were once big deals. Everyone always clammored for the newest Resident Evil and the big question was always "what platform will Capcom make it for?" But somehow, the survival horror genre has taken somewhat of a downtick. Silent Hill 3 came and went with little fanfare, and Fatal Frame 2 came out and you almost didn't know it hit shelves. Midway wanted us to begin to relay the message to the gaming community that they want to get the revival of the genre going. Well, today Midway can come through on that very promise and has brought us The Suffering. Midway was betting that The Suffering would turn some heads. It got my attention!

Survival horror games were once a big part of video gaming. Games like Resident Evil, Carrier, Silent Hill, and others were once big deals. Everyone always clammored for the newest Resident Evil and the big question was always "what platform will Capcom make it for?" But somehow, the survival horror genre has taken somewhat of a downtick. Silent Hill 3 came and went with little fanfare, and Fatal Frame 2 came out and you almost didn't know it hit shelves. Midway wanted us to begin to relay the message to the gaming community that they want to get the revival of the genre going. Well, today Midway can come through on that very promise and has brought us The Suffering. Midway was betting that The Suffering would turn some heads. It got my attention!

The atmosphere is intense, with inhuman sounds, alarming percussion, and eerie lighting that convey a sense of danger and foreboding. It's like walking through a haunted house - perfect for Halloween. The surround sound is so effective that you can even use it to locate the source of noises. I'm glad I didn't miss out on this. If you're over 16 and can stomach the gore, The Suffering can be a pleasurable experience.

It’s been said that war is hell, but whoever made that observation probably hadn’t ever been imprisoned. I’m talking about having someone thrown in a maximum security prison with a number of murderers, rapists and other fiends of society for a long time while trying to live a somewhat normal life. For most of us, we’ll thankfully never experience this nightmare that is, unless we decide to incarcerate ourselves with Midway’s latest contribution to survival horror, The Suffering. I hope you’ve boned up on your Oz episodes, because we’re going inside the walls of one of the worst prisons to have ever crossed a TV screen.

Mein Gott ist das krass! Wen stört es bei so viel Spannung, dass The Suffering nicht gerade zu den optischen Perlen gehört? Selten habe ich eine so fiese Atmosphäre gespürt. Mit etwas mehr als zehn Spielstunden fällt die geschnittene, deutsche Version auch nicht gerade üppig aus. Eine längere Psycho-Folter hätte ich aber auch nicht überstanden. Freunden der derben Unterhaltung kann ich nur empfehlen, in den nächsten Laden zu flitzen und sich das Teil zu holen.

The Suffering delivers a surprisingly coherent survival/horror package. It could be the perfect alternative for those seeking a faster-paced Resident Evil. There’s a difficult balance to strike when you’re making a horror game: Resident Evil has the scares, Silent Hill has the atmosphere and storytelling, but neither one has yet to nail the gameplay side of the triangle; the developers seem to think that clunky and plodding controls are worth the trouble if they make the game more scary. Maybe they’re right: The Suffering is a worthwhile horror game that nails the action stuff but doesn’t quite get under your skin the same way those other interactive dances of macabre do.

Even though The Suffering does most things right for a survival horror game, it sadly lacks more replay value and is just too damn short. It's still a hair-raising and very fun experience, but I suspect many people will be discouraged by how quickly it all ends. Those of you looking for an intense action/horror experience should still pick it up though; you won't be disappointed.

The Suffering has a lot of good stuff going for it - scary creatures, fast-moving gameplay, and a good story. It also has enough flaws that anyone who's grown tired of the genre will likely be unable to look past its faults. However, if you're someone who's sole reason for not liking Resident Evil is that it's too slow paced then The Suffering might be right up your alley, though I'd suggest renting it first.

Though The Suffering tends to rely more on startling you with visual effects and sudden attacks than on actually trying to scare you, it's still a pretty refreshing take on horror-themed games. It's also a bit longer than you'd expect from a straightforward action game, though the increased length is offset by an overall lack of variety. More monsters, more ways to do them in, and perhaps some slightly more-involving puzzles would have probably made the game feel more in-depth. But even taking this into consideration, The Suffering is a fun action game that fans of the genre will get a kick out of.

The modern horror game is one that sticks pretty close to the blueprint laid out by Capcom's 1996 release Resident Evil. Slow pacing, methodical puzzles, and scares centered around things that jumped out of the darkness were the order of the day then, and since that time, games have roughly based themselves on this concept. Midway's new game, The Suffering, goes for the horror thing with creepy monster design and startling visual trickery, but it also ditches most of the ammo-conservation and slow pacing found in a majority of horror-themed games. The end result is a much more action-packed experience that might be a little too straightforward in spots, but it does make for a solid action game.

The modern horror game is one that sticks pretty close to the blueprint laid out by Capcom's 1996 release Resident Evil. Slow pacing, methodical puzzles, and scares centered around things that jumped out of the darkness were the order of the day then, and since that time, games have roughly based themselves on this concept. Midway's new game, The Suffering, goes for the horror thing with creepy monster design and startling visual trickery, but it also ditches most of the ammo-conservation and slow pacing found in a majority of horror-themed games. The end result is a much more action-packed experience that might be a little too straightforward in spots, but it does make for a solid action game.

Hoewel The Suffering het vooral moet hebben van visuele effecten en onverwachte aanvallen, en minder van de horror die je de stuipen op het lijf probeert te jagen, hebben we hier toch te maken met een verfrissend horrorgame. Ietsje minder actie en een beetje meer puzzels oplossen en het spel had nog meer diepgang gekregen. Desondanks is The Suffering een leuk game dat de horrorfans zeker zal aanspreken.

Die Atmospähre von The Suffering hat mich sofort in ihren Bann gezogen. Spärlich bewaffnet, nur eine Taschenlampe zum Leuchten und unheimliche Geräusche aus allen Ecken - da fühle ich mich angenehm an Aliens vs. Predator erinnert. Die Story ist lasch. Allerdings vergesse ich das schnell, denn die zahlreichen geskripteten Ereignisse und Dialoge erzeugen eine nervenzerreißende Spannung. The Suffering definiert das Genre nicht neu. Aber Erwachsene, die einen harten und spannenden Horrorfilm zum Mitspielen suchen, sind hier genau richtig.

The Suffering is een beklijvend actiespel waar de horrorliefhebbers nog ettelijke uurtjes plezier aan zullen beleven.

Dès votre plongeon initial dans cette mare poisseuse et infestée de miasmes macabres, vous serez happé par l'ambiance immersive et malsaine se dégageant de ce titre, et à juste raison. Évènements bien amenés, tension décantée patiemment et intelligemment, progression incertaine, tout est mis en place pour vous plonger dans un ravissement horrifique. Cependant cette dimension change quelque peu avec l'arrivée d'armes lourdes et fort meurtrières, accompagnées d'une maniabilité parfois hésitante, faisant balancer le soft du côté des jeux d'actions nerveux. Un petit revirement dommageable, mais qui ne doit pas occulter le fond intéressant. Un dernier détail, un remake de la Vache et le Prisonnier à cette sauce serait le bienvenu.

Although The Suffering will inevitably wind up lumped with Resident Evil and Silent Hill in the 'survival horror' category, in actual fact it feels more like an 'action horror' title when you get round to playing it. In games like Resident Evil, risking the last half an hour's play every time you take an uncertain step arguably does just as much to promote tension and accentuate every fright as a mutant dog leaping through a window. And while The Suffering is heavy on the otherworldly sights and sounds, it dispenses with the slower pacing and inventory juggling of 'survival horror' titles and throws in a pretty comfortable checkpoint system to boot.

Un jeu vulgaire et violent, doté d'un scénario presque à la hauteur d'un Resident Evil, qui séduira sans aucun doute les fans du genre. Il leur faudra cependant fermer les yeux sur son gameplay un peu limité, hérité de la console.

If you're picking a version between this and the PlayStation 2 offering, choose this. The particle effects are much more impressive, there's better lighting (but both games suffer from repeating textures and bland environments), there's 480p video output for those wanting to count all the bloodstains on the walls in non-blurro vision, but both use Dolby 5.1. However, if you've just grabbed the PS2 build, don't fashion a shiv to use on yourself; there's very little else to differentiate the two titles. In fact, either version of The Suffering warrants a two-day play through. It's the perfect weekend rental for those craving an awful lot of offal in their action romps.

Starting your magazine advertisement campaign with a decapitated head stuck down a prison toilet splattered with fecal matter? This can be the handiwork of only one company. No, not Nintendo; we're talking about the schlock-and shock-peddling superstars of interactive entertainment: Midway. This time though, there's the intact skeleton of a great game waiting there, under all that offal. The Suffering stars Torque, a family dismemberment specialist (or is he?), and full-time death-row inmate.

Difficile d'établir une bonne balance entre violence, grosse action et atmosphère saisissante. The Suffering n'y arrive pas vraiment et on se retrouve face à un jeu d'action somme toute très bourrin, qui a parfois des traits de génies qui font mouche, et la plupart du temps des efforts mal valorisés et qui tombent à l'eau, noyés sous une violence sanguinolente à outrance. Si vous cherchez un jeu mêlant ambiance dérangeante et action efficace, vous savez où chercher, il s'appelle Max et il est dans l'annuaire.