Set in a maximum-security prison, you play the third person role of Torque, an inmate who is next in line for execution charged with murdering his ex-wife and two sons. Apparitions invade the prison and free him.
You can find ten weapons throughout the game. The best and hardest to find being the "gonzo gun", a chicken. Yes, a chicken you fire eggs out of it. Sounds strange but it kills most enemies in one hit. Other weapons include a revolver, a Tommy gun, a sawed off shotgun, a sharp metal rod, and a fire axe. I did not find the other three when I was playing the game.
Your most powerful mode of combat is your ability to transform into a monstrous alter-ego. This can only happen when your insanity is peaked.
You get to battle a dozen different enemy creatures. Each time you kill a new species, it gets added to the archive as a journal type excerpt. This excerpt tells you about that specific ghouls' past and why it became the horrible apparition it is damned to spend eternity as. The other half of the archive is a notebook that, as you progress, tells you bits of information about the island and Abbot Penitentiary itself.
There are nine distinct settings for the game. The Suffering features shots that are half flashback, half hallucination that illuminates frightening visions of horror, bits of memory from your family, and a quick peek into the last thoughts of those who died.
The dark atmosphere of The Suffering fills you with anxiety. What you think is only a shadow, emerges as a twisted, freakish creature. Each with their own history and preferred way of killing you.
Depending on how you play the game, whether you are good or evil, you have the possibility of one of three distinct endings for a unique gaming experience. I suggest playing it three times to get all three endings.
The Suffering is available on PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
Overall, I feel this is one of the scariest video games to play. You are filled with fear and paranoia at every sound and play of light. It is a severely addictive game. I skipped school just to stay home and play it all day so I could beat it.