The Suffering (video game)
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| The Suffering | |
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| Developer(s) | Surreal Software |
| Publisher(s) | Midway Games |
| Designer(s) | Richard Rouse III (Lead Designer and Writer) Andre Maguire (Lead Level Designer) |
| Release date(s) | Sony PlayStation 2/Microsoft Xbox: March 9, 2004 May 14, 2004PC: June 8, 2004 July 30, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter, First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC |
The Suffering is a video game developed by Surreal Software and published by Midway Games, released in 2004 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and the PC. A sequel, called The Suffering: Ties That Bind, was released in September 2005 and a film adaptation was announced by Midway and MTV Films that same month. It is scheduled to be released sometime during 2007 or 2008.
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[edit] Story
The player controls Torque, a man who has been sent to the fictional Abbott State Penitentiary on Carnate Island, Maryland. Torque has been convicted and sentenced to death for murdering his wife and two children, although he claims to have blacked out at the time this happened and cannot remember anything. The night Torque arrives, there is an earthquake, which causes a partial collapse of the prison walls and ceiling. As the guards attend to the immediate crisis the other death row inmates are being killed in their cells and creatures are responsible. Torque's cell door breaks and he is freed from his captivity. His purpose is to escape Carnate Island alive.
[edit] Gameplay
The Suffering plays as a traditional first- or third-person shooter, employing the controls of the former but allowing players to switch between the two camera angles.
In the game, there are opportunities along the way to commit good or evil acts. Usually they involve helping fellow inmates or even friendly Correctional Officers, although the opportunity is not always clear; for example, in the Asylum stage Torque will come across a CO who has lost his limbs to rats and is slowly dying. Killing the CO to relieve him of his misery will constitute a good action. The decisions made in regards to these opportunities will affect the ending of the game. The moral progress of Torque will be noted by hallucinations involving his family, and also by how disembodied voices will talk to him. There are three different endings to watch. The first one being good, the second one being evil and the last neutral.
Another feature of The Suffering is Torque's ability to transform into a monster after his insanity meter has been filled. In his beast form, Torque is a slavering monster with large build, faster speed, one arm containing a large clawed hand and the other a sharp impaling blade. In this form Torque can cause far more damage for a limited time. He has three main attacks: A quick 3-slash combo, impaling/stabbing opponents, and a shockwave attack; however, this power comes at a cost. The longer Torque stays within this form, the more damage it will do to his health and allowing the insanity meter to run out will result in death. Additionally, Torque cannot heal himself until returning to human form.
While transformed, a small experience bar will appear in the lower right corner, and will gradually fill with each foe Torque dispatches while transformed. When it is full, Torque will roar and the "camera" will pan around him (much in the manner as it does when he activates/deactivates his alternate form), thus signifying that his "smash" attack has been upgraded to become more powerful.
Dr. Kiljoy's explanation for this metamorphosis is that Torque does not actually transform in the game. Due to his insanity, he simply reaches a state of adrenaline rush, where he is capable of tearing things limb from limb with his bare hands. This explains why Torque's human allies never seem to notice anything amiss whenever Torque transforms. The sequel expands on how this has affected his life before incarceration; however, should the player gravitate towards one of the other two moralities, this explanation becomes less solvent.
[edit] Other characters
[edit] Humans
There are many inmates and C.O.'s (Corrections Officers, i.e., prison guards). Most people forget about their differences when the cataclysm strikes, although some will harbor their old grudges.
- Head C.O.
- The first able C.O. Torque runs into, he decides "to hell with protocol" and teams up with Torque for a short time. He is killed when he runs into the Electric Chair Chamber while Horace is reliving his execution again. Weapon: Standard issued C.O. revolver.
- Dallas
- Another inmate and friend of Torque's from his time at Eastern Baltimore Correctional who was at some point transferred to Abbott State. Dallas is upset over the death of his best friend, Byron at the hands of the monsters. If Torque can protect him long enough, he can open the loading dock and free Dallas from the prison, although his fate afterwards is unknown. Weapon: is unarmed at the beginning, but finds a revolver when you enter T-block.
- Chico and his crew
- An inmate who seems to run the trade of drugs inside the prison. If Torque meets Chico alone, Chico will attack him out of distrust, thinking him to be a monster. If he meets Torque with Dallas, he will attack Dallas because he is still angry that Dallas sold cocaine on the inside without giving him a cut. You can choose to either run from them or fight, with the latter being the most convenient option as it will not affect your morality. Weapon: Chico and one of his men had revolvers, and the other had a shiv.
- C.O.
- Not all of the human survivors of Abbott Prison are willing to put aside old differences. Hargrave has several surviving Corrections Officers helping him in his madness, and there's a couple others on the Island that would see you dead too. Weapons: Many wield revolvers, others have shotguns, tommy-guns, and flash-bang grenades.
- Hargrave
- Hargrave is the warden at the prison. It is not clear whether Hargrave has been corrupted by evil of Carnate Island or simply acting on his own accord, but during the cataclysm, he takes it upon himself to enact a more brutal and final method of justice to the inmates (He is seen executing two hapless inmates swinging upside down from the ceiling with a machine gun and executing inmates in a line one by one with a shot to the back of the head). He along with several loyal C.O.s fight Torque at V-Block. weapon: Hardgrave starts out manning the machine-gun, but will abandone it in favor of dual revolvers after Torque hurts him enough.
Note: Hardrave is depicted as a steryotipical prison Warden, I.E. his cowboy hat, thick mustache, gut, and southern accent.
- Luther
- This guard is a coward who appears to have partially regressed into a child-like state from the trauma of the incident. When he first sees Torque, he runs, but if Torque teams up with him they will go to the radio tower together. The guard stays to watch over the radio while Torque goes to the Asylum to find out what is causing the interference that is blocking them from contacting help. When Torque comes back to the radio tower, he is found dead, pinned to the wall with a Slayer blade. Weapon: none
- Sergei
- Sergei is hiding in a deserted room in the Asylum, smoking drugs (presumably opium or marijuana). He is surprisingly calm and collected, resigned to his fate, and thinks he should at least spend his last few hours happy, though he wishes the power was back on so that he could listen to his music. He gives Torque some hints on where he should go in the Asylum. You can find a small shack nearby the Asylum with a small patch of green, healthy plants with a sign that says "Sergei's Secret Stash, Live and let Live". Weapon: none
- Clem
- Clem is a Southern inmate who needs Torque's help to escape, because Festers are blocking the route his raft is going to take. He was going to pull off his escape flawlessly, but the cataclysm stopped that from happening. If you help him, he gets away in his raft, and leaves you a map of the basement of the Prison, with a few helpful supply stashes marked. He is also the recorder of the Monster Archives. Weapon: Molotov cocktails.
- Unknown Guard and Harley
- Two guards you find on your second time through the prison. Only one of them (a temperamental, foulmouthed man) is identified by name, by the other one, who is constantly trying to drag him back to relative safety. Torque can save them from the Festers and other creatures. Their fate is unknown, though they do hole up in the base of one of the towers.Weapon: Both wield tommy-guns.
- Jimmy the Mad Bomber
- An inmate named Jimmy that Torque finds near the old fort. Or, more precisely, Torque first finds his sticks of TNT. He thinks you're a guard at first, and tries to kill you. He doesn't believe in the monsters. He thinks the guards doped up the food, and that they're killing the drugged prisoners, with the inmates seeing them as hideous monsters. He is killed by Hermes in the lighthouse basement. Weapon: TNT
- Ernesto
- A Latino C.O. who hates the inmates, he thinks they are all scum and should die. He was one of the guards that greeted Torque and escorted him to his cell. When he met up with Torque later, they form a shaky truce. His wife and children went missing, and he goes into town to look for them. It is not known what happens to him, or his family from the events of the first game alone. His wife is Consuela, the woman that wrote the Island Location Archive, and also calls the Prison at one point by radio, trying to get in touch with Ernesto. Her fate is elaborated upon in the sequel. Weapon: Tommy-gun
- Dr. Killjoy
- Dr. Killjoy is a depraved psychologist/medical practitioner who worked out of the Asylum in the early 20th century. He used many deplorable methods on his patients, more often than not resulting in their death. No one knows what happened to him, but his spirit now lives on through old film projectors. Dr. Killjoy is extremely interested in Torque's mental condition, and wants to help cure him. His methods will not be painless, though. It is not certain as to how much he wants to help Torque, or if he has his own agenda. It is suggested that he is somehow connected to the appearance of the creatures, but this is not elaborated upon.
Note; Dr. Killjoy's name begins with a Q, possibly Quentin. This is discovered on the note on Torque's mental condition. It reads "Dr. Q. L. Killjoy"
- Captain Hermes T. Haight
- Hermes Haight was an executioner at the prison for decades, one who enjoyed his job a bit too much. His favorite method was using the gas chamber, though he never liked the idea that they never saw the fact that their lives were quickly coming to and end, the reason being that the gas that the prison used was clear, odorless and tasteless, though this was soon put to an end as Hermes, believing that they should know about their demise, added a bright green dye into the gas, giving the reason that "Green is the color of life, and I wanted them to see their life leaving them in the chamber".
While he admits that his favourite was the gas chamber, he also informs Torque, somewhat boastfully, that he's "done them all". Eventually, with the help of listening in on Death row prisoners during their last days, as well as phone calls, he gassed himself, wanting to know what it was like, telling Torque during their battle "They always said that 'They'd be alright' that 'everything would be ok'. Why did they say this, what did they know? What did they know that I didn't?".
Because of this he now roams the Island, killing survivors he finds with the gas his spirit emits. It's also known, in Clem's note as well as in the Death row's medical room (On the right, the first door you see just before meet Horace) that he was the one that executed Horage Gauge, the still flickering corpse forms on the table, a watchful Hermes saying "I always liked to look at the bodies after I was done" also implying his interest in the Inmates deaths to an even more concerning and obsessive level.
Many believe Hermes to be 'Evil' but he's nothing more than a dutiful, somewhat obsessed worksman, even admitting "A lot of freaks and sadists applied for the job, but I was the only one professional enough for the job." but, despite this, he is obviously somewhat of a sadist confessing during the showdown with him : "When you end a life and everyone congratulates you on a job well done, nothing can compare." Strangely, he only fights the player at the basement of the lighthouse, and the finishing move at the end of the fight only relieves him of something not fully understood, as he continues teasing Torque in later scenes, even helps him to cross over a broken bridge, though his method of directing an escaping bus to crash into the gap is a bit questionable.
- Horace
- Horace is a spirit who is trapped in the prison. He is a famed inmate of Abbott, who seems to have a surprising amount of things in common with Torque. He was driven mad by the evil of Carnate Island, and killed his wife at the end of a conjugal visit. He was executed in the electric chair, and is forced to relive it constantly. He seems to want to help Torque escape on the condition that Torque finishes his pain.
- Torque's Family
- Throughout the game, Torque is haunted by the spirits of his wife, Carmen, and two sons. Their spirits will treat Torque differently, depending on how you play the game.
[edit] Sequel
The sequel The Suffering: Ties That Bind was released in the US on September 26, 2005 for PS2, Xbox, and PC.
[edit] Trivia: In-game References
Outside the Asylum is a small hedge maze. Torque's youngest son is running deeper into the maze. There is an old, desiccated body sitting with its back against the maze wall with an axe nearby. This seems to be a reference to Stanley Kubrick's movie The Shining.
In the prison area where inmates are rioting/celebrating in their cells, when first approached, they will shout several things, one of them being "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", which is a reference to the song of the same name by Gil Scott-Heron.
In the World War II bunker there is a desk with three phones. Two of them are green and one is red. Picking up the red phone first leads to the player hearing a girl's voice saying, "You will die in seven days." This is a reference to the movie The Ring.
On many of the walls there are the words, "If there is a God, then why has he let me die," which is a quote from the song "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden. Also, on two walls near the beginning of the game, there are the words, "This is a world that has gone very wrong for me," which is also from the song.
On the back wall of one of the padded cells in the mansion the words, "God help the beast in me," are written in blood. This is the title of a song by Johnny Cash, who is also referenced by the words "The Man in Black never played here" written along a wall in one of a corridor in the prison. This could be a reference to a famous live album of Cash's in which he played a famous gig for the inmates at San Quentin Prison. More graffiti on the wall reads "Johnny + June RIP" relating to the death of Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash.
On one of the walls in the prison, the words "Abbott Prison Blues" are written, which is a reference to the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash.
In some of the cells and in the infirmary later in the game, there are the words "Ticks and Leeches", "Suck me dry", and, "I hope you choke." These are references to the song "Ticks and Leeches" by the band Tool.
The character Horace could possibly be a reference to Wes Craven's film Shocker, which stars a serial killer named Horace Pinker who was executed by--and gained powers from--the electric chair.
After escaping from the asylum, going along the outer wall of the building on the left side will result in the player finding a group of trees near the wall which conceal a group of bodies. There is also a telephone on a box. Picking it up results in the player hearing, "Oh God, Mother, No! Blood!" This is reference to the Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho.
The character of Dr. Killjoy is based on Dr. Richard B. Vannacutt from the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill.
The bonus video, "Inside a Haunted Prison," was filmed at The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA.
A Nintendo GameCube version of the title was originally planned, but was eventually cancelled.
Torque is completely mute here yet he speaks a few times in the The Suffering: Ties That Bind.
[edit] Engine Problems
Shortly after The Suffering: Ties that Bind was released for the PC, numerous players who had bought it and who also owned the PC version of the original faced bizarre graphical glitches in the first game, where models don't appear (but their shadows do), walls are missing, etc. At first it was believed to be a driver issue, but in fact it was caused by the sequel's updated version of the Riot Engine interfering with the original. The solution was to ensure both games were fully uninstalled, then manually go through the Windows registry and manually delete anything related to Surreal Software, The Suffering, or the Riot Engine.
The game is protected by the Starforce copy protection system version 3.5 (that overwrites and doesn't do system driver backups).
[edit] Film
On September 8, 2005, Midway and MTV Films announced that a film version of The Suffering was underway.[1] The film started production in 2006 and should be released in 2007 or 2008.
[edit] Credits
- Project Lead / Lead Designer / Writer: Richard Rouse III
- Project Director: Alan Patmore
- Technical Director: Stuart Denman
- Art Director: Mike Nichols
- Audio Director: Nick Radovich
- Lead Programmer: Patrick Betremieux
- Lead Artist: Beau Folsom, Jerusha Hardman
- Lead Animator: Scott Cummings
- Lead Sound Designer / Music Direction: Boyd Post
- Lead Producer: Nick Radovich
- Producer: Chris Klimecky
- Lead Level Designer: Andre Maguire
- Technology Lead: Tim Ebling
- Lead FX Artist: Joe Olson
- Associate Producer: Bach Payson
- Game Designer: Nathan Cheever, Ben Coleman, Michel Stultz, Jay Fuller
- Senior Engine Programmers: Tom Vykruta, Shaun Leach
- Senior AI Programmer: Greg Alt
