Customer Reviews

Suffering Ties That Bind

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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!

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!

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.

Suffering, The Ties that bind is a fun game if you are in to gore, violence, killing drug dealers and monsters. I live in Baltimore, and work in the city, love FPS and RPG games, so the lure was ineveitable. The story line is awesome and the game is quite scary at different points. The graphic and sound are outstanding. Morphing into the beast and destroying everything on screen is equally enjoyable, for all 15 seconds this mode is available.

The bad news is that several levels constantly lock up, forcing you to restart the system. Initially, I thought my disk was damaged until I exchanged it at the store for a new copied. I forced myself to play to the next level and the problem went away. The last level, not only extremely difficult to play, locked up so frequently, it made the game impossible to finish. I can't think of anything mor frustrating than putting 50 hours into a game to not be able to complete the final level due to programming flaws. Midway should have tested this game much better before releasing it. It will be a very cold day in Baltimore before I decide to buy another Midway title.

When Midway released its game The Suffering last year, no one could predict that the game would be one of the most suprisingly fun (and gory) games to give a boost to the survival horror genre of video gaming. So how do you follow one of the biggest sleeper hit games of 2004?

The answer comes in the form of The Suffering: Ties That Bind. In this sequel you once again take on the role of Torque, the somewhat hero from the first Suffering. The game starts immediately after the events that occurred in the first Suffering, with Carnate Prison destroyed and Torque the sole survivor.

But if Torque thinks that he can finally leave what happend behind he gets proven wrong when a mysterious scientist named Jordan captures him and wants to learn about Torque's darker half, the monster that he can become at random times. But when an attack occurs that leads to a recurrance of the events from last time, Torque suddenly learns that Jordan was working along with a man from Torque's past named Blackmoore, who apparently may have had some connection to the death of Torque's family, which had led to Torque being sent to Carnate in the first place.

Now that Torque sees that he has freedom, he decides to head back to his home town of Baltimore to finally solve the mystery, confront Blackmoore and hopefully get some measure of retribution for himself and his family. But along the way he will have help from his wife, be struck with flashbacks to events of the past and a few run-ins with his old "friend" Dr. Killjoy who will once again force Torque to fact the monster that lives within him.

Suffering: TTB may seem like a slight retreading of the first game, but a lot of things have changed in the form of new and more deadlier beasts, a new level of power attack upgrades for Torque's dark side, and for the first time we'll actually get a chance to hear Torque's voice which we never heard during the first Suffering.

If you want to hand out a little more Suffering than you did the first time around, then it's the time to see if the Ties THat Bind can be rough...

Just a Note: This game is a sequel, so you might want to pick up the first title before delving into 'The Ties That Bind'.

My biggest problem with Ties That Bind is that the first-person view doesn't allow for a wide view of the landscape. I continually find myself wanting more space on the screen and I can't get it. The tactic may have been used for dramatic effect, but it only frustrates me.

'TTB' is a pretty good game, though, just short enough and gory enough to be tolerable. Plus, I bought it used and feel that I've gotten my money's worth out of it.

The storyline doesn't make very much sense, but then again, it doesn't have to. The plethora of guns and demons, gore and SWAT members you encounter make it all worthwhile.

If you like that sort of thing.

If you don't, then you won't enjoy the game very much. The story takes a while to get started. But the cut scences can be skipped, which is a big problem with other games of the same genre.

Suffering: Ties That Bind is more or less Half-Life Light - or Half-Lite, if you will - and is enjoyable if you've already played the other games and want something to pass the time. Also, if you have NO interest in the Half-Life series, this title might intrigue you.

The graphics are gross and the setting is unsettling, as is much of the material covered. A good game to play in between releases of bigger games. But overall, a fun title.

If you can ignore the two big problems I will list next, the following review applies:
Decent if formulaic sequel to a good shooter/horror game. Doesn't have the "creep" factor of the original but that is a consequence of all sequels. New human enemies are an interesting change. Combat is still fun :)

THE TWO BIG PROBLEMS:
1. This game is BUGGY. FAR FAR too buggy for any console game (or indeed any PC game from a reputable developer/publisher). I'm sorry to say that you must expect 10-20 outright FREEZES in the course of game play. You will have to reset/power off your console to restart. Dual-saves are a MUST as you may lose your entire progress!!
2. The ending wasn't challenging.. it was TEDIOUS. Big difference there. Only one way it can be done; and it requires quite a lot of tedious repetition.

In summation.. this could have been a decent retread to a GOOD original.. but it is painfully obvious that it wasn't playtested properly. Buy only if you like paying to beta-test a half-finished product.

Let me start by saying this game is great. There are no let downs in the second Suffering. Your favorite monsters are back plus some new and improved ones. Also that dam Doctor is back to drive you crazy with his diagnosis of Torgue all through out the game. The new adventure picks up where you left off leaving the island. Now there is another person named Jordan who wants to find the mystery behind Torque. It also has new scenes of the city where Torque grew up which you battle in. You get a great selection of new and improved weapons to choose from. Over all great new challenges and that same creepy feel with all the great gore that made the first one so great.

I really did enjoy playing this game it was fun and full of action but it was not really as good or as freaky as the the 1st suffering the game was awesome u should play this case it is fun but the 1st is way better buy both and give it a try

i bought this game after playing the first suffering. the first one was fantastic and the storyline kicked butt. this one was ok but the story line was a little confusing and not at all what i expected. depending on how you finished the first one (good evil or neutral ending) this game didnt make sense. it only made sense if you finished the first with the evil ending which was disapointing to me.

(The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, Amazon or the review requester.)