Whenever people talk about horror games, they always talk about ones like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Dead Space, Outlast, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Fatal Frame, Condemned, Five Nights at Freddy’s………. Five Nights at Freddy’s. And while all…. Most of them are good, there’s always the obscure horror games that don’t get much recognition, even though they should. One horror game that needs más attention is one that I found quite some enjoyment out of, and that game is the cult classic The Suffering



The Suffering is a game made por the company Midway, most well known for creating the Mortal Kombat series, so tu all know that they aren’t afraid of creating a violent game. And that is what The Suffering is. A violent horror game with many scary monsters and super creeps. The game follows a man por the name of Torque. He arrive to Carnate Island off the coast of Maryland, and is sentenced to death at the Abbott State Penitentiary for the suspected murder of his wife and two children. However, while at the prison, monsters suddenly begin to attack the prison and kill everyone inside. tu are then tasked to get out of the prison and find out the truth, because, yes, it’s another horror game where the protagonist has amnesia, as overused as that plot point is. But I feel it works here… Okay, how he got it doesn’t work well, but how tu figure it out is pretty interesting. tu get to decide how he lost his memory and what happened to him. Think of the game Shadow the Hedgehog… only not terrible. If tu save survivors, you’ll get the good ending. If tu kill them, you’ll get the evil ending. If tu save and kill them, tu get the neutral ending. You’re escorts are never annoying o useless, but they can die, so be careful with that.



Now, some of tu who have played this game before may be thinking that this is not a horror game, o at least not a very scary one. And I can see why you’d think that. Now, why would someone think something like that? Because this game can get stupid with its action. Yep, it’s kinda like Resident Evil 4. It has scary moments, but it also has some action moments. I mean, seriously, tu can jump in the air and fuego bullets in the air like a John Woo movie. Are tu goddamn serious? I kinda like it in a “so stupid it’s charming” kind of way, but sadly, charming isn’t scary, and seeing as how this is a horror game, being scary is… kinda necessary in a horror game. But, although this game has action it it, it manages to make up for it in one thing, and that is the game’s monsters.



This game has so many scary monsters in it that it’s not even funny. It’s más scary… obviously. tu have Slayers, monsters with their heads held up por hooks and their limbs replaced with swords. Marksmen, with rifles coming from their backs. Mainlanders, which are covered in poisonous fluids with their blood even being toxic liquids. Nooseman, which are torsos hanging por nooses. Burrowers, bodies that are buried underground and come up to attack you. Festers just carry rats around with them and are immune to bullets. It’s just so creepy, but at the same time, the imagination that was put into these monsters is incredible. It’s as creative and thoughtful as the monsters from Silent colina 2, and all those monsters were incredibly creative in some way o another. Sure, these monsters are no Pyramid Head… but still, their terrifying



But monsters aren’t the only scary thing about this game. For instance, Torque is still haunted por his dead family, who keep appearing throughout the game, speaking to him. Depending on your choiced in the game, they will always behave differently. But whenever they come, it’s always creepy. They are always followed with disturbing imagery, creepy dialogue, and just screw with your mind, and I amor it when a game messes with the player's mind. It’s not Eternal Darkness levels of messing with your mind, but it’s still good. The game is also filled with lots of lore to read up on. There’s the prison that is inicial to several execution methods, the quarry where prisoners were left to die, the asylum that was once a mansion, the crashed ship where slaves were left to be eaten por rats, the town on the island that was known for burning young girls who were suspected to be witches, and the supernatural characters like the asylum doctor Killjoy, the executioner Hermes, and the prisoner Horace. Seriously, this game's lore is as massive as a Bethesda RPG. So much disturbing stuff to read up on.



Okay, so I’ve talked a lot about the monsters, the lore, the John Woo like gun shooting. But tu all don’t know The Suffering for those reasons. If tu know The Suffering. It’s for one little thing. The fact that Torque himself can become a monster himself. This little thing is probably what separates The Suffering from other horror games. The main character can turn into a monster and kill the other monsters is quite a neat little thing. It says that his monster form is formed from his anger, which is kinda like a más disturbing version of the Hulk. He gets stronger attacks and can do be más aggressive. tu have a meter to mostrar how long tu can use this form for. If it runs out, you’ll start running out of health, and when that runs out… we’ll, tu probably know what will happen. It’s quite a neat little thing… If I used it more. I never really used this form much. I only used it the two times I needed it. Maybe if I played the game on a harder difficulty it would be used more, but I don’t know. It’s still a nice little thing, and I can appreciate it for that.



Well, that’s all I can really think of for this game. I mean, I know the game was popular enough to get a sequel about it, but I never played the sequel, so I don’t know what I can say about that one. All I can say is that The Suffering is a very underrated horror title. Sure, it’s not the best, and some ideas in here have been done better in past horror games, but it’s still an amazing horror game, and those monster designs are some of the best I’ve seen since Silent colina 2. I’d say that if tu can find it for a cheap price, tu should buy it. It’s worth it if tu are a fan of horror games. Not the best, but still worth your time. Take care.