The Suffering: Ties That Bind preview

September 23rd sees the release of The Suffering: Ties That Bind – sequel to Midway’s wonderful, if not exceptional, macabre 2004 horror shooter.

Building on the strengths (the horror) and the weaknesses (the action) of the original, Surreal Software has spent the past year attempting to make sure Ties That Bind outshines its predecessor in every department.

But frankly, we can deal with slightly above average graphics and a sometimes dodgy framerate. What we want to see addressed is the action quotient - as while The Suffering really was a great game, it was much better playing Alien than Aliens.

Binding the Ties

Let me reiterate that last point. The Suffering was every bit an action horror game. It didn’t concern itself with leaving you for too long without having something icky and deadly to shoot. The problem was that when you were shooting things, you felt like you were always shooting more than necessary.

Our fondest memories were those moments leading up to the enemy encounters. As while the action served to highlight how enjoyable the game was, the horror came from not knowing what was around the corner.

This made the encounters with two or three enemies much more memorable than those with triple the amount.

Ties That Bind doesn’t appear to have dropped the number of enemies Torque will face this time around. However, Surreal Software has been quick to make the action much more dynamic. This time there is much greater emphasis on using melee combat and the insanity mode.

Morality of the Soul

To those not in-the-know, The Suffering’s lead character is a bad muddyfunster named Torque. In the first game he was on death row for the apparent murder of his wife and kids. Throughout the game you uncovered details on who was really responsible, and that’s where the sequel picks up.

With you out of prison, you head back to Baltimore where the horrors of Carnate Island are every bit a real threat to the populace there.

But one of The Suffering’s more intriguing ideas was its insanity meter. Whenever charged, Torque was able to temporarily morph into an 8 foot tall walking monster. Claws and everything.

It’s inclusion served to highlight one of the games biggest plot twists – which we won’t reveal to those who never played it (but those who have know what we mean). In Ties That Bind there are now three variations of the monster tied into the morality system.

At various points in the game Torque has the opportunity to help people, kill them, or leave them. Depending on what you choose, the outcome affects your frame of mind and ultimately the monster you become. The three levels tie into three of the games monsters: the Burrower, the Triggerman, and Isolationist.

Monster! Monster! Grrrrrr!

Speaking of which, apart from the first games story, it’s real highlight where the dozen or so different monsters you faced. As the game was set in a prison location each distinct enemy (created via the help of Stan Winston) reflected the archetypes and horrors of the environment.

For example there’s the Slayer – large machete-like blades attached to its arms and its head decapitated but held in a vice to show beheading. There was also the Mainliner, with glowing green needles protruding from its back and eyes to show death by lethal injection.

Several of the original games enemies return in Ties That Bind, along with a host of new characters too. Despite the fact Stan Winston hasn’t really been involved with this sequel, what we’ve seen still looks mightily impressive. Fans of the first games twisted wonders will no doubt be happy.

First to be Third

One aspect we he haven’t touched upon so far is the fact The Suffering and its sequel can be played from both a third and a first-person perspective. While I can’t speak for the rest of the team on this side of things, I rather liked jumping from third to first whenever the action heated up.

Also returning from the first game is a deeply involving and twisty story. At the end of the first game the idea of a sequel was quite an obvious one, but we were never sure where the story would go.

Certainly placing it in a city rather than a location like Abbott State Penitentiary proved surprising, but the story looks to once again serve as one of the games highlights. What also excites us is the idea that the first game had loads of story. Its script ran to 1,700 lines of dialogue.

The Suffering: Ties That Bind has 2500 lines of dialogue. Colour me excited... in blood.