NOTE: The game is rated M for MATURE

The Suffering captures the disturbing and terrifying nature of the horror genre in a third-person action/adventure game.

The player is set in the an ultra-mature and gritty world assuming the role of Torque, an inmate of maximum-security prison facing the harsh reality of death row. As he fights to escape the gruesome secrets of the locked inside prison walls are unleashed.

Carnate Island is certainly among the most bizarre and unique of the properties owned and maintained by the Department of Corrections, and the decision to locate Abbott State Penitentiary there was dubious at best. The D.O.C. has received innumerable complaints from facility staff, who resent living in such a remote location with such a storied history, not to mention unseasonably poor weather. Penitentiaries are not meant to be pleasant, of course, but Carnate takes this principle to a new level.

The island is located ten miles off the coast of Maryland. A Puritan village was the first recorded group of Caucasian settlers in the late 17th century. After only a few decades a horrific event transpired that involved the tragic deaths of a number of townspeople. This resulted in the disbanding of the community. A lighthouse was built on the island in 1834, and is still in operation to this day. It is now automated, though it is plagued by frequent breakdowns.

In the late 19th century, a wealthy family purchased the entire island and built a sizable estate on its west side. The family's stay was also short lived, however. Apparently they were deeply traumatized by an undisclosed incident and immediately moved away.

The mansion was subsequently converted into a mental institution, though whether it was officially accredited remains uncertain. The Carnate Institution for the Alienated, as it was called, was run by one Dr. Killjoy until some time in the 1920s. Files indicate that Killjoy's methods were unscientific at best, barbaric and depraved at worst. The asylum still stands today, and anyone who has visited it will have a ghost story to tell you.

The federal government acquired the island in the 1930s for use by the US Army during World War II. Following the war, ownership was transferred to the State of Maryland, and the facilities were converted into Abbott State Penitentiary. Operation of the facility continues to this day.

The D.O.C. also provides barracks for corrections officers and their families, necessary since there is no regular ferry service to the mainland. Employee retention rate at Abbott is low; unsurprising, given the bizarre living arrangements that are required of employees, not to mention the generally unsettling and unpleasant nature of the island itself.