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The Suffering PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: Midway
  • Release Date: Mar 9, 2004
  • Also On: PC
The Suffering Image
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Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.0 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 26 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: The Suffering captures the disturbing and terrifying nature of the horror genre in a compelling third-person action/adventure game set in the mature and gritty world of a maximum-security prison. By alternating periods of tense and terror-filled exploration with frenetic combat sequences, The Suffering creates the ultimate experience of terror. In the dark world of The Suffering, creatures jump out of shadows, fall out of trees, and erupt out of the ground, attacking the player in the most frightening ways possible. Along with a cast of uniquely hardened criminals and guards, you?ll battle not only the ghoulish apparitions besieging the prison but also the demons of your own forgotten past. The player controls the prisoner Torque, a hardened inmate in his late 20s, sentenced to die for a murder he may or may not have actually committed. Underneath Torque?s tough exterior hides a man who is not quite psychologically balanced, who fears far more than he would ever admit to. As a side effect of his mental instability, Torque has flashbacks to the events from his past, throbbing images that depict the events that lead up to the crime for which he was imprisoned. Torque is also subject to black outs where he becomes extremely violent and transforms into a massive monster hell-bent on destruction. [Midway]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 47
  3. Negative: 1 out of 47
  1. Cinescape
    100
    This is a game that needs to be played on Surround Sound (Pro Logic) or with a good set of headphones. It needs to be loud in the room, and it needs to be dark. It should be like any good horror movie.
  2. Village Voice
    70
    Classical monsters are one thing, but why encourage players to think of themselves as killers of women and children, brought to justice, but justified by their "insanity"?
  3. games(TM)
    40
    It's not that this is a bad game, but to ignore the more important elements of gameplay in order to add more gratuitous elements to the cauldron is unforgivable, and in that sense The Suffering is most similar to Soldier of Fortune II and the like. [June 2004, p.123]
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See all 47 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. EdB.
    10
    The reviews that dont like this game dont like a fear or a scare atmosphere. This game was great -period - for the non-whimp crowd. I have been playing for 20 years and this is the scariest video since the silent hill series. Resident evil does not hold a candle to this. Reviewers that had comments on controls, weapon management systems etc. just dont get it. You buy this game for the scare and atmoshere factor which cannot be beat! If you want super controls etc. stick to Ratchet and Clank this game is for the big boys not the whimps.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. NathanB.
    10
    Dude, I almost wet myself more than once while playing this game. Enough said.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. NickT.
    6
    I don't understand the reasoning behind all of these high scores. I bought this game expecting a decent play and was very disappointed. It doesn't have one fully developed selling factor. The gameplay is accomanied by sluggish controls, the weapon management system is one of the worst ones since the PS1 days, and the graphics, while good, were not used to their full potential. The game's atmosphere consists of stupid, cheap scares, and the story also leaves MUCH to be desired. I find it funny how Richard Rouse, the lead designer of this game, wrote a novel on how to successfully incorporate good game design into a project and isn't even able to offer a game that contains just that. Admittedly though, this game did offer some enjoyment for the 5 hours that it took me to beat it, but if you must try it I suggest a rental first. Hopefully, Rouse and Surreal will be able to fix the problems in The Suffering with its upcoming sequel, the Ties That Binds.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 22 User Reviews

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