The Suffering: Ties That Bind

Reviewed by:
Paul Semel

With creatures that would've shaken Clive Barker, the grimy look of a Marilyn Manson video, and a prison setting that made Oz look like Club Med, The Suffering was a serious scare. Thankfully, this sequel is just as frighteningly good. Best played as a first-person shooter and slasher (though you can easily switch to third-person), Ties has you running around Baltimore—talk about scary—trying to take out your freaky friends before they get away with murder. Literally. To amp up the bloodshed, you can not only shoot 'em and slice 'em, but you can also wig out on 'em like Naomi Campbell, Hulk-ercising yourself into a super-strong monster with a sword for a hand. Sure, the action is pretty basic—it's still kill or be killed—but with more open spaces to run around and new foes to fight, Ties is like a weekend with Russell Crowe: disturbing, bloody, and a damn good time.