The Suffering (video game)

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The Suffering
Image:The Suffering Coverart.png
Developer(s) Surreal Software
Publisher(s) Midway Games
Designer(s) Richard Rouse III (Lead Designer and Writer)

Andre Maguire (Lead Level Designer)
Engine Riot Engine (Proprietary)
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
Release date PlayStation 2, Xbox
NA March 9, 2004
PAL May 14, 2004
PC
NA June 8, 2004
PAL July 30, 2004
Genre(s) Action-adventure, Third-person shooter, First-person shooter, Survival horror/Psychological horror
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature (M)
BBFC: 18

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. A Nintendo GameCube version of the title was originally planned, but was eventually canceled. The game featured monster designs by Stan Winston.

Contents

[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 a powerful earthquake, which releases an army of monsters upon the facility. Torque's cell door breaks and he is freed from his captivity. Starting with little more than a shiv, Torque traverses the prison in an attempt to escape Carnate Island alive.

During his journey, Torque finds that the monsters set loose personify the many forms of execution the island has played host to. In addition, he is met by the spirits of some of Carnate's most famous residents: the depraved psychologist Dr. Killjoy, the former executioner Hermes T. Haight, and the murderer Horace. With their help, Torque discovers that (from his point of view) he can become a raging monster not unlike those he has been slaughtering (other characters assert that these "transformations" are merely a sort of adrenaline-fueled madness). Killjoy is obsessed with curing Torque, though his methods are questionable at best, and at various points delivers vague medical advice. Horace and Hermes, on the other hand, try to sway Torque towards good or evil, respectively.

At the climax of the game, Torque is confronted by visions of his deceased family. Depending on the player's actions, they'll either forgive Torque (because it wasn't him who murdered them) or blame him for their troubles (because it was him, either in whole or in part). After facing his inner demon, himself, and a monster born of his hatred, Torque will be found by a rescue boat, though his fate past this point is dependent on what his family thinks of him. Depending on his actions, Torque will: be rescued and get a re-trial; knock out the driver and escape; or become his inner demon, kill the driver, and run back into the island.

After completing the game a bonus level becomes available. Titled "Waiting to Die", the bonus is a prelude level that takes place when Torque first arrives on the island. After completing the level the game begins as normal. As explained by commentary activated by touching one of the crows in the level, it was originally intended to be the first level, but was cut from the game for story purposes during production.

[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. The weapons provided to the player are reminiscent of those found in prisons: the trademark shiv, standard issue revolvers, Molotov cocktails, and a wide array of less-common weapons.

In the game, the player is presented several opportunities to test their morality, usually in the form of a person who is trying to survive the horrors of the island. In most cases, the player is presented with three options: help the person (good), kill them (evil), or simply remain indifferent to their plight (neutral). A hallucination of Torque's wife will attempt to convince him to take the good path (in the obvious cases, at least), while several demonic voices lumped together attempt to coerce Torque into being evil. Good or evil, if done correctly, are indicated by the reaction of Torque's wife, while being indifferent has no response at all, since it is accomplished by getting someone killed without being directly responsible for it. Not every moral choice has all three outcomes, nor are they always so clear cut; for example, in the asylum, Torque comes across a correctional officer who has lost his limbs to rats and is slowly dying. Torque can kill the man to relieve him of his misery, which will constitute a good action, or leave him be, which constitutes a neutral one, but in no way can he perform an evil act in this instance. The decisions made in regards to these opportunities will affect the ending of the game. Torque's "morality level" is indicated by the picture of his family in the inventory, which gets cleaner with good acts and dirtier with evil ones.

Another feature of The Suffering is Torque's ability to transform into a monster after his insanity meter has been filled by killing other monsters. In his beast form, Torque is a slavering monster with a large build, enhanced speed and strength, and one arm containing a large clawed hand and the other a sharp impaling blade. In this form, Torque can literally tear enemies apart, and can also perform a powerful shockwave attack. The more enemies the player kills in this form, the more powerful it becomes. However, the form does have detrimental effects. The longer Torque stays within this form, the more damage it will do to his health, not counting that done by enemies. Allowing the insanity meter to run out will result in death. Additionally, Torque cannot heal himself until returning to human form. Dr. Killjoy's explanation for this metamorphosis is that Torque does not actually transform in the game: his insanity simply puts him in 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 rarely seem to notice anything amiss whenever Torque transforms; they will, however, say things like "Are you feeling well?" or "You look a little pale," which would serve to back up Killjoy's diagnosis. 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, as this means Torque is insane and thus an unreliable narrator.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Humans

There are many inmates and COs (Corrections Officers, i.e. prison guards) that Torque meets in his attempt to escape Carnate. Most people forget about their differences when the cataclysm strikes, although some will harbor their old grudges. The fate of each character assumes that the player helps them reach that end. In most cases, the player is capable of killing them well before they accomplish anything.

Torque
The silent protagonist of the game, Torque's experiences in life make him uniquely suited to destroy the creatures roaming the island, and also somehow connect him to them. With the help of various characters in the game, Torque learns the true fate of his family and some of the nature behind his blackouts. In the Good ending, his family was killed by thugs under the employ of a character called, simply, the 'Colonel', leaving Torque with the bodies of his family and a death sentence. The Colonel's identity and motive is elaborated on in the sequel. In the Neutral ending, an argument with Carmen results with him pushing her and her smashing her head against a cupboard. Malcolm, having witnessed it, then drowns Cory in the bath and then jumps out the window. In the Evil ending, Torque beat Carmen to death, drowned Cory in the bath and threw Malcolm out of the window.
Head C.O.
The Head C.O. is 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 approaches the electric chair while Horace is reliving his execution. His death equips the player with their first firearm, the standard issue C.O. revolver.
Dallas
Dallas is another inmate and friend of Torque's from his time at Eastern Baltimore Correctional. Dallas is upset over the death of his best friend, Byron, at the hands of the monsters. He believes that the creatures are by-products of a government experiment, mentioning the old WWII fort and the asylum as possible spawning areas for the creatures. Dallas manages to escape the prison with Torque's help, though Torque himself does not get to share in that escape. His fate afterwards is unknown.
Chico and His Crew
Chico and his crew run the drug trade inside the prison. Regardless of how they are met by the player (alone or with Dallas in tow), they attack, either because of a grudge against Dallas or distrust to a stranger (Torque).
Hargrave
Hargrave is the warden at the prison. It is not clear whether Hargrave has been corrupted by the evil of Carnate Island or if he is simply acting of his own accord, but during the cataclysm he takes it upon himself to enact a more brutal and final method of justice upon the inmates (he begins executing any inmates he can find). He, along with several loyal C.O.s, fights Torque at V-Block, first using a stationary machine-gun then switching to dual revolvers after taking enough damage.
Luther
Luther is a cowardly guard 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 once cornered will team up with him in an attempt to reach the radio tower. He is the only ally in the game who does not assist the player: he does not carry a weapon and is too scared to face the monsters in any case. He considers the appearance of the creatures to be a sign of Judgement Day. Upon reaching the radio, Luthor stays to monitor the transmission 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, slumped against a wall.
Sergei
Sergei is found in the asylum, sitting on a couch and smoking drugs (presumably 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. It is considered a good action if the player restarts the generator and returns to Sergei's room, where Sergei will thank Torque for the effort. After the player has left the asylum, they can find a small shack with a small patch of green, healthy plants (more marijuana) with a sign that says "Sergei's Secret Stash, Live and Let Live".
Clem
Clem is a Southern inmate who needs Torque's help to escape. Having built himself a raft, he finds his voyage derailed by the Festers pouring out of the beached slave ship. After the player helps him escape, he leaves a map of the prison basement with several supply stashes marked. It is Clem who recorded the Monster Archives.
Harley and Unknown Guard
Shortly after entering and leaving the prison for a second time, Torque runs into two guards. Both are (pointlessly) attempting to fend off Festers with Tommy-guns. Harley, the only one identified by name, has gone mad and wants to kill the monsters, while his unnamed partner is constantly trying to drag him back to relative safety. If Torque kills the Festers and protects the guards, he thanks Torque for the assistance (good action). Their fate is unknown, though they do hole up in the base of one of the towers.
Jimmy the Mad Bomber
Jimmy is a fellow inmate whose exposure to the monsters and prodigious supply of TNT sticks has left him more than a little wary of anyone or anything that can move, as he assumes he has been drugged somehow and believes that the entire affair is nothing more than a drug-induced hallucination. First heard near the old fort, this psychotic inmate will on more than one occasion toss a lit stick of dynamite at Torque from an unseen location. He finally calms down after trapping himself behind a cave-in, which Torque must free him from. He is killed by Hermes in the lighthouse basement, but not before maneuvering Torque past much of the fighting he would have otherwise had to deal with.
Ernesto Alvarez
Ernesto is a Latino C.O. who hates the inmates, believing them all to be scum. He is one of the guards that greets Torque and escorts him to his cell, expressing his distaste for the inmate while escorting him. When the two meet up again, they form a shaky truce. Concerned with the fate of his wife and children, who are in town, he goes into town to look for them. He comes to see Torque in a more redeeming light during their trek across the island, as several visions of Torque's family convince him that Torque may not have murdered them. It is not known what happens to him or his family until the sequel, in which his wife Consuela makes her first physical appearance.
Consuela Alvarez
Consuela is the wife to the C.O. Ernesto, and lived on the Island before the Cataclysm. She hates it there and claims that "nobody would live in the depressing place if it weren't for the distance to the mainland, and the lack of ferry service." She used her time at the island to compile the Location Scrapbook that Torque somehow acquires. She is only involved in the first game by sending radio messages in an attempt to reach her husband. The presence of the Scrapbook also points to her existence. She does escape, however, and is seen in the sequel, attempting to return to the Island to find Ernesto (relying on the player's actions). It is unknown what has happened to the Alvarez children in either game.

[edit] Ghosts

Throughout the game, the spirits of several famous residents of the island aid or hinder Torque's journey. He will also be confronted by his slain family and his own psychotic fallacies. Other spirits appear to Torque through flashbacks, usually preceding the appearance of an enemy creature related to the atrocity.

Dr. Killjoy
Dr. Q. L. Killjoy (who bears a very strong resemblance to Vincent Price) is a depraved psychologist/medical practitioner who worked in the early 1900s. He purchased and renovated an old Victorian home on the island which was abandoned for years. He turned it into an Asylum that he worked out of, known as "Killjoy's Institute for the Alienated". 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. Killjoy gains an interest in Torque during their first meeting and tries to cure his mental instability, though the reasons for this are ambiguous at best. Torque meets him at several points of the game and confronts him in the old ruined Asylum, wherein he destroys Killjoy's projectors. Following this, Killjoy delivers Torque a diagnosis and makes a final apparition right before the final battle to deliver him his "cure".
Hermes T. Haight
The former executioner of the prison, Hermes has been working on Abbott for many decades and expressed great pride and pleasure on his job, until he decided to "take it one step further" and committed suicide in the gas chamber. As a result, his ghost manifests itself through a deadly green gas, which he calls "the color of life". He's a particularly cruel and sadistic individual, and seems to encourage Torque into giving in to his dark side. He is ultimately defeated in the basement of the lighthouse, but he appears one last time to aid Torque in his escape. He represents evil to Torque, and often attempts to guide him on that path.
Horace Gauge
One of the most infamous prisoners on Abbott, Horace was driven mad by the influence of the island; paranoid at what would happen to his wife while he was in jail, he ultimately killed her during a conjugal visit. He was then condemned to the electrical chair, and his spirit is forced to relive his execution time and time again. His spirit appears with his scalp and the skin of his hands burned off by the electricity, and his body constantly surges with an electrical discharge. He also appears in and speaks through electric appliances throughout the prison and tangled in electrical wires. He shares many things in common with Torque, and wants him to escape Carnate in the hopes that he will not suffer the same fate. Horace is eventually freed from his torture in a "battle" with Torque in the electric chair room, and returns him the favor by opening the way for him on the final escape. He, in contrast to Hermes, represents good for Torque, and shows regret and sorrow at his actions, ultimately wanting to spare Torque's soul from a similar fate.
Carmen, Cory and Malcolm
The spirits of Torque's wife and their children appear to Torque in visions throughout the game, and their attitude towards him differs depending on the morality path followed. Carmen was a young African-American woman who lived in Baltimore and met Torque at a park in a gazebo. There, she claimed she could "never call him Torque" and opted instead to call him 'T'. Depending on the player's morality, she will either still love Torque or be disgusted by his actions. Depending on the morality the player chooses, Carmen was either: killed by men working for a mysterious man called 'The Colonel', later revealed to have been Blackmore, Torque's former boss and the main antagonist of the sequel (Good); pushed by Torque, causing her to crack her skull and bleed to death (Neutral); or beaten to death by Torque (Evil).
Cory and Malcolm were Torque and Carmen's two sons, one a few years older than the other. Cory was angry at Torque for his parental habits and was rebellious. Malcolm, on the other hand, was an apparently happy child, much younger than Cory. According to the player's morality, the children were either: killed by the Colonel's men (Good); Cory drowns Malcolm in the bathtub and jumps out the window (Neutral); or they were both savagely murdered by Torque (Evil).
Torque's Inner Demons
In contrast to Carmen, Torque is goaded by a collection of demonic voices telling him to virtually betray or kill any person he comes across on his path to escape.
WWII Major
A major that was stationed at the POW Camp on Carnate. He does not directly affect the player, but visions of his actions are seen. According to the legend, he was paranoid of Nazi traitors and spies. His fear led to the rooting out of three soldiers of German descent, who were accused of treachery on biased grounds with no evidence. They were executed via firing squad on the Major's order. A little later, word got out of the crime and a letter of a court-martial was issued to the Major. He took his life at the command center of the Fort, opting to die than live in shame. His presence in Carnate's history gave birth to the Marksmen creatures.
Puritan Girls
In the 1600s, a small puritan village sat on Carnate. At some point, a young girl accused several people of witchcraft. Supported by two of her friends, the trio led to the deaths of 11 men and women, who were violently burned at the stake. A few weeks later, the three children disappeared; it is suggested near the end of the game that they killed themselves by jumping into the sea. They live on as the demonic Inferna, one of the most powerful enemies Torque faces on the island.

[edit] Monsters

Each creature in The Suffering represents a different method of execution and, as Clem states in his journal, they seem to be the incarnation of the many atrocities that took place on Carnate. In many ways, like Horace Gauge, some of the monsters exist to live the rest of their days in punishment for the atrocities they committed. Notably, the monsters are not explicitly out to kill Torque: they will kill anything, other monsters included, that get in their way, though they will generally prioritize humans. Why they exist is never made clear, but Torque's arrival is suggested to be the catalyst. This subject is explored in more depth in the sequel. The monsters are listed in order of appearance.

Slayer
Slayers appear to be a medical experiment gone horribly wrong: their heads are suspended slightly above their necks by a strange contraption, and their hands and feet have been replaced with blades. Clem speculates that they are a manifestation of decapitation by way of the guillotine. This theory seems to fit with their methods of attack, which mainly consist of neck-aimed slashes delivered with ballet-like, fencing-inspired movements. Slayers are able to climb up walls and on ceilings using the blades in their arms and legs. After Torque's battle with Killjoy, they are able to revive themselves after they are killed as long as their head remains intact. Slayers come in multiple sizes and two distinct varieties: the first is the more common white-colored one and the second is a larger brown-green version whose blades are in pairs instead of singular. The brown variety is faster, more durable, and does more damage. Notably, Slayers are the only creatures in the game that can be harmed by light: Torque's flashlight will temporarily stun them, while larger spotlights set them ablaze, after which they die within a few seconds.
Marksman
The personification of a firing squad and their victim compressed into a single entity, the Marksman appears by bursting from the ground attached to a post, which they must break free from before attacking. Five rifles are attached to a swiveling fleshy turret on their back, which the Marksman can control. Their bodies are also scarred with bullet holes. Depending on how the player approaches the Marksman, it will either fire several volleys of shots, fire in one continuous stream (which tracks the player), or detonate themselves in the fashion of a shrapnel mine (this does not harm them). Despite being blindfolded, they have no trouble tracking Torque. The Marksman is the manifestation of military execution, in particular an unfair one that took place during Abbott's past as a WWII fort.
Mainliner
Representing lethal injection, mainliners are imp-like creatures covered with poisonous syringes, which they can remove and throw with great accuracy (but not speed). They will also jump on Torque in an attempt to inject him directly, which the player can fight off. Mainliners can reduce themselves to pools of blood and disappear into the ground, after which they will reappear near any pre-existing pool of liquid (blood or water). Their poisonous syringes also have the unique ability to force Torque to revert back to human form when he is in insanity mode. Finally, they release a cloud of poison gas upon death which takes several seconds to dissipate.
Nooseman
The Nooseman mainly represents death by hanging, but also appears to be skinned alive. The creatures come from an incident where a group of inmates, outraged about the death of fellow workers in a quarry mining accident, hung and skinned five C.O.s as retaliation for allowing the men to die. Like the Mainliners, they are able to exist as blood, and stranger still are able to exist as such on the ceiling. They attempt to strangle the player should they walk beneath them, and are only vulnerable to attack during such times.
Burrower
The personification of being buried alive, Burrowers are corpses bound in chains and heavy blankets. As their name suggests, they burrow underground, emerging only to attack using their chains. They can either flail about wildly, spin the chains like helicopter blades, or attempt one of two whip attacks. Once above ground, they can be killed normally, and Torque can throw TNT into the holes they make when retreating. As mentioned above for the Nooseman, the Burrowers were spawned by the deaths of Abbott prisoners in a quarry mining accident.
Fester
The Festers are the spirits of slave traders who, after getting beached on Carnate Island and fearing that the slaves would kill them if released from the cargo bay, allowed their cargo of slaves to be eaten alive by rats. They are forced to relive that torture endlessly. Their bellies are filled with rats and their right arm is chained to a giant iron ball. They give away their presence well before they are spotted, as their heavy bodies cause tremors with every step. They use their iron ball as a melee weapon, and can also release a swarm of rats from their stomach, which follow Torque relentlessly for a short period before dying. To make matters worse, the rats explode on contact. The Festers themselves are bullet-proof, making melee weaponry or explosives the only effective methods of killing them. Upon death, the rats in their stomach are released, though if the corpse is burned beforehand the rats will explode prematurely.
Inferna
The Infernas are the spirits of three young girls who accused eleven people of witchcraft in the late 1600s, naturally ending in the deaths of those people by burning. The girls disappeared shortly after; their final apparition in the game suggests they committed suicide. The Infernas initially appear as three young girls in Puritan dress, but after the player meets Ernesto, they can transform into creatures made of living flame. Among the most dangerous enemies, Infernas float slightly above the ground, moving much faster than Torque or any NPC. They trail fire as they move, which takes several seconds to disperse, explode in a firy area attack (like the marksman's bomb attack, this dsoen't harm them,) and can throw fireballs. When "killed", they create a small explosion and dissolve into ash. If the player doesn't destroy the ash, they reform and continue attacking. They are a reference to the girls responsible for the Salem witch trials.
The Disciple of Evil
The final boss of the game, the Disciple of Evil (as the Spanish version of the game refers to it; the English version gives it no name) represents all the anger and wrath within Torque himself. Clem cannot describe it, but it resembles a gigantic version of Torque's creature-self wrapped in chains. What appears to be a miniature version of Torque can be seen dangling from its body via an umbilicus of sorts. Three appendages on its back shoot fireballs, and a barbed halo on its head can disorient Torque for a short period. Its only vulnerable point is its exposed heart, which in turn can only be hurt by Killjoy's machine. The Disciple of Evil also makes a short apparition alongside Torque's family in the bonus level.

[edit] Reception

The game was well received by critics and fans, and has sold over 1.5 million copies.[1]

[edit] Sequel

The sequel The Suffering: Ties That Bind was released in the United States on September 26, 2005 for PS2, Xbox, and PC. The sequel immediately follows up on the events of the escape from the prison.

[edit] Trivia: In-game References

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • In the CO break room, there is a phone on the left side of the door, this first leads to the player hearing a girl's voice saying, "You will die in seven days." This is a clear reference to the movie The Ring.
  • In one of the shacks in chapter 10, there is a table with boxes on it. Destroying the boxes will reveal a phone with a voice saying "Birds just don't go around attacking people without no reason..." This is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
  • 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 Vincent Price, as well as the character Dr. Richard B. Vannacutt from the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill.
  • Before entering the Infirmary in the first part of the game, the player comes across a message etched into the wall that says, "Heart of Darkness". This is a reference to Joseph Conrad's novella "Heart of Darkness".
  • One of the many heads Slayers show are extremely similar and may in fact be based on that of Pinhead, a character from Clive Barker's Hellraiser series.
  • In the first level, shortly after crossing the hearing room floor, one of the prisoners can be heard on a commandeered radio referring to himself as "Calm like a bomb." This is a reference to the song of the same title by the band Rage Against the Machine. Later on, near the laundry room, the words "Know Your Enemy" are scrawled on the wall, also a song title by the same band.
  • One of the messages written on the walls around the prison is "Peltier is still here." This may be a reference to Leonard Peltier, who was jailed in 1976 for his alleged part in a firefight with the FBI during the AIM (American Indian Movement). Because of the repression of certain pieces of evidence by the FBI, many claim that Peltier's imprisonment is unjust; the reference might serve to further drive home the game's critique of the American prison system.
  • In the hedge maze after the asylum the player will encounter a corpse with an axe nearby, this is a reference to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining"
  • The Slayers make a sound highly similar to the character: Voldo, from the Soulcaliber Series.

[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, and so forth. 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.[2] The film started production in 2006 and should be released in 2008-2009. It's been said that a director new to the directing business known as Kyle Haarklau, will direct and write the film. Stan Winston has signed on to design the monster effects for the film. It is still unknown who will be cast as Torque and the various in-game characters that will make it into the story.

[edit] Design Document

In a rare instance for computer games, the design document for The Suffering was published in the book Game Design: Theory & Practice.

[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

[edit] External links