Suffering Ties That Bind

by Midway

Product Features

• Journey into Madness - Delve deep into Torque's past with flashbacks and define his future path while battling inner demons, rage, and a tenuous grip on sanity.
• Disturbing Characters and Creatures - A plethora of brand new ferocious fiends in addition to several returning favorites designed to depict tough societal problems like street crimes, gun violence and riots that prosper in poverty stricken slums.
• Choose your path, Choose your plot - Define the true story behind the nature of Torque's crimes and his journey into madness with game-defining moral choices that affect the game's outcome - each path providing a completely different gaming experience.
• Master the Rage - New multi-leveled insanity mode is tied directly to players' actions, creating the most deadly weapon in the game - Torque's inner demon.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0009R1TGS
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: July 7, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,123 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Suffering: Ties That Bind is a revolutionary action-horror game that emphasizes the disturbing terror of its predecessor, with all-new twisted creatures and a few familiar faces. Set in the slums and prisons of Baltimore, the player once again controls Torque as he seeks revenge against the mysterious grand manipulator Caleb Blackmore, a man somehow tied to the death of Torque's family. Players will explore the tough and unforgiving inner-city streets, with poverty and urban injustices trapping people just as effective as a physical prison. The unique morality system returns, as players delve into the perverse world of Torque's sanity to discover his past and struggle to control his future. A Seedy, Urban World - Explore the gritty slums, streets, and prisons of Baltimore, battling urban injustices and demons spawned from historical events of urban squalor Refined and Enhanced Gameplay - Featuring a redesigned and streamlined inventory, expanded player movement mechanics, refined controls, more varied and advanced enemy AI and a large arsenal of weapons Ties that Bind melds big action sequences with visceral horror elements.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars RENT ... DON'T BUY!, April 4, 2006

By 

C. Crowl - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Suffering Ties That Bind (Video Game)

Would have been a great game and worth the price had Midway worked out all the bugs before rushing to get it to market.

Graphics and storyline a little above average, but game is constantly locking up and freezing, making gameplay nearly impossible even for those who are not easily frustrated.

Don't make the same mistake I did, and read ALL the feedback online regarding the many complaints about this game's "bugs" and "freezing" problems (on ALL platforms) before wasting your money!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ties That Bind continues a hell of a story..., October 7, 2005

By 

Mark Preader (Hollister, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Suffering Ties That Bind (Video Game)

I was a huge fan of the original Suffering because it was such a different type of game. Being in the confines of a haunted prison fighting such insane(and sickly made) creatures along with an F-d up story line (I say that in a good way) was such an awesome gaming expereince. The Ties That Bind continues that with an excellant continuation of the story about Torque's past (BTW, Torque is one badass MF!) as well as giving us some new horrific creatures to do away with. I especially enjoy being able to start my new game loading off the ending of the previous game, giving me 3 different ways to begin (good, neutral and evil). I especially like the fact that the creature you morph into during Insanity mode reflects your overall demeanor. The good creature is simply Torque in an Incredible Hulk type mode whereas the evil creature is more like a demon from the lowest depths of Hades (each Insanity creature also has special attacks-also new to the game). Midway has outdone themselves! Torque is the man!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What happened?, August 4, 2006

By 

F0X H0UND (Greenwood Lake, NY) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Suffering Ties That Bind (Video Game)

Ties That Bind starts off immeditley where the first game ended - flashback aside - with Torque behind the wheel of a Coast Guard boat, and heading right back to his hometown of Baltimore to truley grasp what happened in his past, to his family, and find out who Blackmoore is. Not quite as strong a story as the first game, but I guess we can let that slide.

The gameplay is exactly like the first game, except with two differences. You run around in either first person or third person view, jumping, crawling, and using a wide array of weapons to destroy the masses of monsters (and human military forces) you will undoubtley face. What seperates this game from the last saga is the fact that now you can duel wild weapons - such as two sawed off shotguns or revolvers, and the fact that your monster forms has three different versions to it. Just like the endings, you can have an evil monster, a good monster, or a neutral monster - each with it's own moves. I had the good monster, so my weapons were some chains and some guns.

Sadly, in Ties That Bind, you will come (and be forced really..) to use your monster more than you would like. Why is this? Because certain monsters can't be hurt by bullts but can only be killed in your other form. At first this may not seem like such a bad thing, but when you have no insanity in your meter and your face with a bunch of these things that cant be killed..it becomes a problem...a very big problem.

Even more sadly, to me atleast, is the fact that this game focuses more on mindless run-n-gunning, like a basic third person shooter, instead of building up anxiety and focusing on horror - a factor that the original The Suffering game managed to blend and perfect. I mean, it goes as far as to pit you against a heavily armed private human military run by a guy named Blackmoore.

Also, in this title, Surreal & Midway tried to take some of our old favorite monsters that had a backstory strictly for Carnate and give them a different backstory to fit a made up history behind Baltimore. For example - The Mainliner, who is this little annoying pest who throws syringes at you, was (in the first game) supposed to represent Carnates horrific scientific testing on the inmates... in this game it is supposed to represent an aggresive drug dealer. Thats pretty lame in my opinion.

There are three endings in this game, just like the last game. Depending on who you help, kill, or just leave alone - it will earn you a good, evil, or neutral ending. The good ending wasn't all that good.. Blackmoore admits defeat and tells Torque that his men got out of hand when he ordered them to storm Torques house. After that, Blackmoore blurs in a few rays of light... and thats it... pathetic.

One more thing - this game is PLAUGED with bugs, glitches, and freeze-ups. In the later parts of the game where the action really gets crazy, Torque's legs will stop moving and he will be gliding, the game will literally lock up and force you to reset your PS2, Torques yell of pain as he transforms just stops, in fact almost all the sound effects muddle together in the last fight. It's pretty bad, and if the developers worked harder on that maybe this would have gotten a higher score.

The graphics are still pretty decent, and definitley bloody. Everything looks pretty good & realistic, but doesn't seem to quite nail it down...its not an eyesore, but its not eyecandy either.

The music, sound effects, and voice acting are awesome like always. The guns sound (and feel) like they are truley packing a punch (except the handgun..pathetic). Heck, even the fire axe when it hits a monster produces a beautiful & satisfying sound.. Like I said the voice acting is really good, but near the end of the game it starts to get tiresome. Blackmoore CONSTANTLY repeats himself as being a "Playa" and that he "Does whatever it takes to play the game"... yeah.

To me, Ties That Bind feels pretty rushed and seems to be a more mindless actiony rehash of the original game, with a much weaker storyline and less horror. Sad thing too, because The Suffering 1 was one of the best games I played. I suggest a mere rental... so sad.