The original Suffering, released in 2004, was a tautly paced, macabre and deeply atmospheric game. The horror genre needed an injection of true terror and The Suffering delivered like a needle on death row. While the controls sometimes felt a bit clunky and the look of the game was akin to the original GTA3, the story and overwhelming sense of claustrophobia made the game an entertaining and sometimes disconcerting play. Now The Suffering's mal-adjusted little brother has come along to scare the crap out of you again, this time with a few new bells and whistles, albeit bloody ones. Ties That Bind picks up right where the original left off, with Torque, our anti-hero, having just escaped the island. Sadly for Torque, he's not alone, and he's not quite yet escaped his bondage.

The story opens with Torque returning to Baltimore, his former home and the place of his wife and children's death. As you play through the city, many of the aspects of what drove Torque to a life of crime and created his inner demons become clear. You'll meet people, both helpful and harmful but all helped shape Torque into who he is now. Torque's original mission of simple survival evolves into one of salvation and self discovery. Before you start to think that this is a movie on the Lifetime Network let me add that the same eerie, violent flashbacks that were in the first game are present in full force in the sequel. These moments of visceral horror and intangible evil are what make this game rise above the pack from other 3rd person shooters and action games. These moments are what make you turn on the lights and pause the game to get a breath. Or at least go get a soda while your palms dry off.

As Torque makes his way through the now destroyed city streets he once again comes across survivors and denizens of hell. Some of the survivors can help, some will hurt but all are in some type of pain. The graphic depiction of inner city life in a stylized horror motif helps to add another layer of atmosphere to this game that wasn't present in the first. There are drug addicts' jonesing for a hit in the corner and crazies talking to themselves about things only they can see. The blood splatters, strangely glowing fissures and constant din of creepy sounds turn the city into a festival of the spooky, and not in the little kids dressed up like vampires kind of way. The things that want to drink your blood in this city are much scarier and way less interested in your candy.

The one thing that was missing from this game was the sense of terror that the hell creatures gave me in the first title. This may simply be a function of my having already seen and killed many of their kind while I was on the island in the original game but none the less, the thrill was gone. Part of this is the fact that you face some non demonic enemies, which reduces the sense of isolation that permeated the first game. The other part is that this game is overly well lit. In the original Torque was forced to conserve his flashlight batteries in order to survive. That element of the game is greatly reduced. These are however minor complaints in the overall scheme of things.

One area where this game surpasses its older sibling is in the fun of the combat. Torque can still turn himself into a bestial chain and spear wielding monstrosity but when in mere human form he can now use two weapons. In real life dual wielding 2 sawed off shotguns will get you five to ten, but in Ties That Bind it gives you the satisfaction of blowing slayers (the sword armed baddies) in half. The weapon slots have changed, you can no longer carry everything, only two guns or melee weapons at a time, but this is a small price to pay for the sheer joy that comes from pelting your enemies with hundreds of rounds in only a few seconds. The game also does allow for Torque to carry three types of grenades. This variety of explosives and incendiaries does come in handy and their use is almost as much fun as throwing tons of ammo downrange. The controls still leave a bit to be desired and your flashlight no longer scares your enemies but the speed of the combat, the feeling of overwhelming odds against you and the glory of the bloody carnage are enough to more than balance out any technical shortcomings.

Graphically this game didn't make any great strides from the first title. The monsters are still well rendered, the blood and gore still flies with gusto and the environments, while urban and less gothic are still creepy. There are the obligatory immobile objects that in part dictate Torques path and not every part of the environment can be interacted with. As I stated earlier, the city in general is too well lit, which lessens the creepy factor from the first game but the change in environments does keep the game play and storylines fresh.

There were a couple of bugs with the TV monitors that Torque uses to scan certain rooms but these problems were few and far between. I found that the graphics didn't detract from the story or game play in any way, which in this subgenre is a bonus.

As in the first game the story relies heavily on text in the form of letters, maps and journals. Since The Suffering series is so reliant on story, it's recommended that you read through the letters carefully. The Journals themselves are narrated, which is a nice touch. The voice work is first rate, with Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile,The Whole Nine Yards) as Blackmore, Torques one time crime mentor now turned tormentor. Also lending her voice is Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) as a semi crazy, semi helpful scientist named Jordan.

The game follows a pretty linear path with very little room for deviation. The environments themselves aren't built for exploring as certain doors won't always open until you've witnessed or been a part of some event. This in a way aids the story, as it adds to the sense that Torques life is not wholly his own and that someone's always pulling his strings. There are no "monster closets" per se but some rooms will be the site of pivotal combat sequences. Most of these hardcore monster fights involve the door getting locked behind you and not re-opening until the beasties have been slain. Thankfully this game isn't littered with "boss fights" and when you do meat a new enemy for the first time their introduction fits in quite nicely with the storyline.

Many of the monsters that make a repeat appearance from the first game have obviously been on steroids. They take much more damage to defeat and some (like the Arsonist) move with blinding (and annoying) speed. Also in a new twist you get to fight other humans. There are Special Forces guys running around the city calling you "prime" (as in prime target) and trying to kill you. The AI for the humans is very basic, they tend to use cover to move up and flank you but they won't throw grenades to flush you out. They do attack usually in large numbers and they are heavily armored, so much like with the monsters, go for the headshot.

In general, Ties That Bind is a satisfying if familiar game. Many of the conventions form the first Suffering game are still present and most haven't been greatly updated. While Ties That Bind doesn't test the boundaries of the horror genre, it does tell an engrossing story while packing the violent punch many gamers want while skipping many of the pitfalls that horror titles fall into (bad voiceovers, weak stories and meaningless gore). It is a solid entry into what may become a sturdy franchise and it's worth buying regardless of whether or not you're a fan of the original game. Even if you haven't played the Suffering you can still enjoy a good demon slaying like the rest of us. If you like your good guys bad and your bad guys hellish, I'd say pick this game up. If you like your good guys good, well, time to meet Torque and his ever more bloodied enemies and I'm sure they'll draw you right in...or kill you in the process.