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The Suffering: Tiesw That Bind Q&A Feature
Chris Leyton
21/06/2005
Surreal Software provides the details on the return of Torque in Midway’s action/horror sequel...
One look at the Midway release schedule for the rest of 2005 presents a host of interesting, diverse and exciting titles, none more so than The Suffering: Ties That Blind which is one of a number of action horror games that appears in a genre that is becoming increasing popular and one where publishers believe that they can create a truly captivating experience and possibly redefine.. Midwayâs own title that will move the game on from the first Suffering title, released last year, is coming together nicely. With familiar faces and new twisted characters, in hindsight elements can be honed improved and built upon. Derek, our very own walking disaster, spoke with Richard Rouse III, Design Director & Writer on the Suffering: Ties That Bind, about past, present and future expectations!
The first obvious question is, are you happy with the reception that The Suffering received?
We were really quite pleased with how people reacted to the first game. The Suffering was a pretty different take on the horror genre from what had been done before, and we always wondered if people would be into the morality system, if they would understand all the different layers of the back-story, and if they would appreciate our attempts at player empowerment. As it turned out, players really got into that, and we couldn't have been happier.
Please tell us the setting and storyline for Ties That Bind and the kind of crossover from the first title and what new characters are introduced!
Ties That Bind picks up immediately following the events of the first game. Torque has finally escaped from Carnate Island and has returned to his home town of Baltimore. There he soon encounters his still-dead ex-wife, Carmen, she fills him in about a mysterious figure known as Blackmore who has been manipulating Torque's life for years. There's of course lots of unanswered questions from the first game, but we still go out of our way to keep the game mysterious. The player will also encounter the foundation, a mysterious research organization with a strong paramilitary force that is run by the aloof and strong willed Jordan. She'll play cat and mouse with the player over the course of the game, since she wants to know what Torque knows about the creatures, without revealing her own secrets in the process.
So, what has been the main focus for the design of Ties that Bind and what kind of continuation will gamers see from the first offering?
One of our main goals this time around was to really play up our morality system. Players liked that you could get multiple endings in the first game, but we really wanted to alter the entire game experience based on how you played. So in Ties That Bind you'll be getting different characters showing up on different moral paths, you'll be fighting different adversaries, and your abilities in the game will change. So it really becomes a different experience as you head more toward âgoodâ or âevilâ, and we have even more replayability than we did in the first game.
We also spent a lot of time focusing on the graphical quality of the game. The streets of Baltimore are much more gritty, detailed, and authentic looking than anything you saw in the first game. We felt that was important to the horror of the game, to make it feel more realistic and thereby more disturbing.
Finally, we really wanted to refine the core action game mechanics in the game, and make Ties that Bind into a shooter that can compete with anything that's out there. We added crouch, we simplified the inventory, and we're working hard to make sure the game is balanced for a real action experience. Once that works, our horror setting really makes the game stand out from anything else that's out there.
It would be nice if you could explain to our readers what The Suffering experience represents and what ideas you believe you foster and expand on over other similar titles within the genre?
Our biggest goal with the first game and with Ties That Bind is to empower the player as much as possible. We want players to feel like they can do whatever they want and their fate is in their own hands. Players should know that whether they live or die is the result of their own actions and choices, and they won't die because of some cheap shot or deliberately crippled controls. This ties into everything we do, from the morality system I mentioned earlier to the way we build our environments.
We also like to think of The Suffering as a distinct type of horror game. We want to really ground the game in the real world, hence our setting Ties that Bind on the streets of Baltimore. We're unique in a lot of ways because we are a distinctly American experience, especially with how we work America's dark history into the story. This isn't something you see in a lot of in horror games coming out today.
The Suffering is aimed at the mature audience; is overt horror and gore crucial to a good action/horror in place of a subtle build up of suspense and terror?
We have always felt the game was for a distinctly mature audience, not so much because of the gore but because we wanted to create a realistic game set in a hostile and unforgiving environment. In the first game that was a maximum security penitentiary, this time it's the poorer sections of East Baltimore. So that alone mandates that the game contain mature subject matter, just in terms of the language and the situations that are required to portray those places in a realistic way.
We try to work our horror on several different levels; including both the psychological side of it (with Torque being tormented for his past crimes, whatever they may be) as well as on the gory level (through the intensely violent creatures that have spawned into the world). I think you can definitely have horror without the gore or without the psychological component, but with The Suffering games we have opted to incorporate both.
Creating a truly scary game must be very demanding. Are their any new techniques you learnt from the first game or any other real lesson you gathered in terms of the ambience?
We've always operated with the guiding principle that the scariest moments in the game happen while the player is actually playing, not during a cut-scene. We can do a lot of cinematic horror there too, but it's when players feel like their life is threatened and that they have to make the right choices to survive that a horror game truly excels. That's an experience you can't get from a novel or a movie, where the disturbing events are happening to other people and you feel detached from it. This was something we did fairly well in the first game, and we have even more horrific stuff going on in-game this time around.
Can you tell us about some of the new monsters on offer, perhaps highlighting one in a little detail?
We've got a whole slew of new creatures this time around; it's almost a completely different set from the first game. Even the characters that are returning have been reworked and enhanced to the point where they're almost unrecognizable. Not to fear though, we've kept with our unique creature design style, and all of the creatures are themed after the horrors of urban decay. One of the most popular new creatures is called The Suppressor. He shows up about midway through the game, when the player enters a harsh urban prison. The Suppressor looks like he was once a corrections officer, but large parts of his body are missing and he pulls himself along the ground, leaving a bloody trail wherever he goes. Guns have sprouted out of his chest, and a flashlight has been rammed through his skull. He has lost most of his senses including his hearing, so he can only detect you when he manages to shine his flashlight on you. He's such a ferocious creature, players will want to try to avoid fighting him whenever possible, which introduces some interesting gameplay variety.
The action nature of The Suffering was cause for some concern, with criticism claiming that it breaks the tense nature of the genre; what do you believe of this and is the balance still towards action within the sequel?
One of our big focuses this time around has been refining the action, and making sure the game can hold its own against any other action game out there. And I think we've really succeeded on that front. Just like with the first game, we wanted to come at the horror genre from a different gameplay angle than it had been explored previously. We want to appeal to gamers who like the horror genre but who don't like constantly being out of ammo or having clunky controls. And I think in the past lots of players have turned away from survival horror games for that reason. Of course, that changes the type of horror experience we're providing, but it's still very definitely a horror game. We've often used the analogy that we are more like the movie Aliens and less like its predecessor Alien. At heart we're an action experience with an intense and disturbing horror setting.
Will the Insanity Meter and Torqueâs demon form return, and are there any changes in store if so?
Absolutely. We found that players really liked the idea of the insanity mode and Torque's creature form, but they found they didn't need to use it all that often, because of the way the first game was balanced. This time, we've made the creature form significantly more powerful and have balanced the game so you're going to need to use it. And it's so cool this time around; you're going to want to use it more anyway. Also, we've made it change significantly depending on what morality path you're on. So the creature form looks significantly different on each path, and it also has substantially different attacks. This of course makes playing the game on the âgoodâ or âevilâ path a significantly different experience.
The Suffering appears to be a franchise in the making for Midway; where would you like to see the series moving to next if another title is in the pipeline?
I think the future with The Suffering and, indeed, with next generation games in general is going to be empowering players even more. Players want to be able to be creative in the way they solve problems and they want to be able to change the story to fit their own desires. The Suffering has done more of that than most action or horror games, and it'll certainly be doing more still in the future.
Good to see once again a PC version donât you agree?
At the time of the first Suffering Midway wasn't publishing PC titles, so it came out a bit later through a different publisher. This time around, it's coming out simultaneously, which is great, since we want as many people as possible to be able to play the game. The Suffering has always been a game that felt right at home on the PC, so we didn't feel a need to redesign large chunks of the game content. We do have higher resolution textures and a nicer graphical presentation overall on the PC, but the game itself is the same in terms of story and levels. The biggest feature we adjust for the PC version are the controls to make them more familiar to what PC players expect, exploiting the benefits of having a mouse and keyboard to work with. Fortunately both our first person and our third person control systems work very naturally on the PC.
TVG would like to thank Richard Rouse III for taking the time to answer our questions. The Suffering: Ties That Bind is scheduled for release during autumn 2005 on Xbox, PlayStation2, and PC; weâll have further coverage soon.
