The Suffering: Ties That Bind Demo

The horror genre has been stretched and probed every-which way over the decades, but there is always something new and terrifying one can come up with in order to inspire fear into the audience. Jump-scares can still have the desired effect, especially if they are built up accordingly and the overall atmosphere is creepy enough to always keep the public on the edge of the seat.

The Suffering: Ties That Bind is a third-person horror game that’s a bit more on the psychological side, which means that it doesn’t make too much use of cheap jump scares and goes for something more disturbing on the long run. Thus, awful scenery, plenty of gore and traumatic events are more likely to stick with you throughout the story, as well as quite liable to be responsible for a few sleepless nights.

Story-wise, everything resumes from where it was left at in the original release and you get to play as Torque once more, as he relives some of his more interesting life moments, such as being imprisoned for a few years. Things quickly become violent and creepy, though, since monsters, ghosts and many other disturbing creatures make their appearance, not to mention the fact that Torque himself is capable of some pretty gruesome acts.

There are some changes that affect the gameplay and your entire experience throughout the story, most of which are due to the new morality system that governs the entire plot. Hence, depending on whether you choose to kill innocents, desecrate corpses, or involve yourself with any other such nefarious activities, the alignment quickly shifts toward evil and Torque’s body and abilities go through some changes as well.

You are also only capable of carrying two guns now, in order to make the matters slightly more realistic. While this does have an impact on the gameplay, the actual monstrous abilities are much more likely to be of use most of the time, as well as more fun to see in action. The modifications are clearly visible when it comes to the graphics engine as well, since everything looks better and the models hold much more detail now.

The Suffering: Ties That Bind does improve on the original release and it can cause some panic attacks here and there, but its strongest suit is the story and the morality system. The level design and the artwork is more than decent, which makes for some unforgettable scenery.