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The last five years have been seemingly dedicated to raising the bar on survival-horror games, or at least it seems from the array of different titles available and the huge gamut they run in terms of storyline and plot. When you pick up a game thinking that you'll get a good scare out of it, it can go either one of two ways and it's never inbetween. You'll be scared to death or completely unphased by the chasing, the blood and the constant sense of terror.
When I opened up The Suffering : Ties that Bind, I expected a lackluster attempt at making what the first game was, better. I admit that I wanted to play it, but I had reservations in the title actually holding any substance as a game because I had seen where games went wrong in that area. I've seen my share of Silent Hill and Parasite Eve and was hoping that this game wouldn't go into that terrifying path.
Graphically Speaking
First off, the graphics were much more impressive than it's predecessor and you already come to feel as if you're sitting right behind Torque while he listens to his friend ramble off about your ex-wife and your pending divorce. The only issues I could say about the graphics is they feel unfinished and you have quite a few moments where the camera glitches out and you can see the inside of Torque's eyeballs as he's wandering around. And sometimes, just sometimes the camera pans you to the point where you feel like you're spinning. This could just be the controls though, but I doubt that as it kept up even half-way through the game. Still, the graphics aren't enough of a hinderance to the game to not play it, so don't let that stop you.
A Tale of Two Prisons
The story takes place almost immediately after the events at the prison, which is fascinating because they almost give you a completely new story to deal with. You could play this game without ever hearing about the first of the series, in all honesty. If you played this one first by chance, playing the first would almost act as an extra bonus. No matter what, this game could be a standalone title due to the story and the new character format. Ties that Bind is in it's own league from the get-go.
What really got to me about this series and what kept me glued was the sense of mental instability within the game. Torque sees things that flash vividly through his mind while wandering through his own psychosis that would make any sane person go crazy if they'd witnessed it. Flashes of bloody bathtubs, dead children and the lifeless eyes of your character's wife will come and go while you hear their shouts and dissatisfied last words.
When coming upon situations in the game, you'll hear the antagonist urge you to do what your carnal vices would like, while the voice of your deceased beloved begs you to take mercy. How does he manage to keep going when the voices and the visions drive nails into his fragile mental state? You almost root for him because you want to believe that this kind of torture could be survived through, so it drives you past the levels of demons and miscreants. The graphical imagery and the piercing audio were used to weave their way past what you see and play and get into the deepest aspects of a gamer's psyche.
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