 The Suffering
$29.99
Midway
www.thesuffering.midway.com
ESRB Rating: Mature
The Suffering is an action game wrapped in the lurid environment of Carnate Island Penitentiary, a haunted prison with a sinister past. You play the role of Torque, a mysterious man condemned to death for the murder of his wife and children, though Torque has no memory of his crime. Shortly after Torque's arrival on death row, all hell breaks loose (literally), and Carnate is overrun with demonic creatures.
Though The Suffering is primarily an action game, the shadowy environment, unnerving audio, and freakish creatures create a tense, jump-inducing romp. The bizarre, surreal creatures in the game are reminiscent of Clive Barker's creations in the "Hellraiser" movies. Other creatures emerge from puddles or underneath the ground. Combined with the unnerving surroundings and sporadic lighting, The Suffering creates ample pulse-pounding tension.
Torque relies on a flashlight for navigating dark areas and acquires a shiv and a .357 revolver early in the game. A tommy gun, Molotov cocktails, flashbang grenades, and other weapons are found throughout the prison. Torque also requires ammunition, flashlight batteries, and Xombium bottles (health) to survive and can also turn into a powerful demon when his insanity meter reaches its maximum. Torque's demonic form inflicts massive melee damage (and looks cool to boot) against enemies, but he must change out of this form before the meter depletes again or he dies.
Because ammunition is plentiful and the puzzle solving is light, The Suffering is definitely a solid action game, particularly after the first half-hour or so. You can even switch to a first-person mode, which adds to the tension and makes combat a bit easier, though you'll end up switching between third person for exploration and first person for combat. The creep-out factor is high in either mode, thanks to surreal visuals, a wonderfully spooky environment, and some clever scenarios and scripted events. One particularly well-done sequence early in the game occurs as Torque cycles through camera views at a guard station's monitor. One of the cameras directly behind Torque shows a swaggering, zombie-like creature lurching toward him from behind. We immediately jumped off the monitor and whipped around, only to find an empty room behind us.
It's freaky, memorable moments such as these that truly make The Suffering shine. There are also three endings, depending on choices Torque makes in the game. The Suffering even adds an eerie "conscience" effect, as two voices (one gentle and one sinister) try to sway your decision toward good or evil.
The Suffering definitely earns its "Mature" rating, with foul language, extreme violence, and gore prominent throughout the game. Torque actually spends the entire game spattered in blood, and you'll witness more than a few prison guards meet very grisly ends. The Suffering is an excellent blend of tense action and creepy fun. Play it with the lights out and the sound up for the best effect.
The Suffering requires Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP, a Pentium III 1GHz CPU, 128MB RAM, a DirectX 8.1b-compliant 32MB video card, a DirectX 8.1b-compliant sound card, 4X CD-ROM, and 2GB free hard drive space.
 Painkiller
$39.99
Dreamcatcher Interactive
www.dreamcatchergames.com
ESRB Rating: Mature
Painkiller is a superbly executed homage to high-intensity, action-packed, run-and-gun 3D shooters. While it's not particularly scary, it still offers a fun-filled adrenaline romp through chaotic, blood-spattered levels filled with countless demonic hordes.
The premise for the story is actually quite interesting, and it is well-told and voice-acted through the cut-scenes at the end of each chapter. You are dead, stranded on an earthlike plane between heaven and hell, tasked by the higher powers to destroy the four generals of Lucifer's army. The story, however, is purely an afterthought. The object of Painkiller is as simple as the oldest 3D shooters: blast through horde after horde and level after level of enemies, collecting ammo and power-ups to stay alive long enough to reach the big boss battles waiting at each chapter's end.
There are dozens of types of demonic and undead enemies with a variety of ranged and melee attacks. Once you've killed everything, you're free to scavenge for secret areas or move to the next area, but there is no going back. After you clear a battlefield and move to the next, the door behind you closes, and the attacks begin anew. There is no time for stealth or tactical decisions; Painkiller is all about frenzied running and gunning.
Slaying enemies leaves behind a glowing green soul, which grants one life point when collected and helps keep you alive. Collecting 66 souls gives you temporary invulnerability and the ability to freely rampage throughout the level.
There are only five weapons in Painkiller, each with an alternate fire mode: the Painkiller, the Shotgun/Freezer, the Stakegun/Grenade Launcher, the Rocket Launcher/Chaingun, and the Electrodriver. The most interesting gameplay element of Painkiller lies in the tarot cards awarded when you successfully finish a mission and meet a certain objective. The objective is different for each level and may consist of collecting a certain number of souls, completing the mission with only one weapon, or killing the boss creature in a certain amount of time. Failing to meet the objective does not mean you fail the level.
Using tarot cards costs gold, which is collected by destroying crates, barrels, and other inanimate objects in the game; hence, it behooves you to shred everything that doesn't move (as well as everything that does) in order to collect as much gold as possible.
Gold tarot cards act as permanent power-ups, and silver tarot cards act as temporary power-ups, which you can activate for 30 seconds once per level. You may have up to two gold and three silver tarot cards in play at any time, though you may collect up to 20 or more altogether. Each card grants a power-up, such as reduced damage from enemies, extra speed, extra damage, and other abilities. You can put tarot cards into play and remove them from play in between each level.
Painkiller's graphics are excellent, rendering highly detailed enemies and environments. You won't have much time to appreciate the architecture, however, and you don't want to admire your enemies close-up for long before blowing them to pieces, either. Every level is different, and spooky graveyards, burnt-out villages, train stations, opera houses, swamps, and icy bridges are just a few of the levels in which you'll battle. Boss monsters are huge and require a little puzzle solving and pattern recognition to defeat, but, otherwise, Painkiller is all action and mayhem.
Painkiller is proof that gameplay honed to razor sharpness dressed in beautiful graphics is more then enough to make a fantastic gaming experience, and once you've finished the single-player game, you can go online for deathmatch and other Internet-based multiplayer combat. Check your brain at the door, but get ready for an adrenaline-loaded ride.
Painkiller requires Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, a 1.5GHz Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor, 384MB RAM, a 4X CD/DVD-ROM, 1.2GB free hard drive space, a 64MB DirectX 8.1-compatible video card, and a DirectX 8.1b-compatible sound card.
 Silent Hill 3
$19.99
Konami
www.konami.com
ESRB Rating: Mature
The Silent Hill franchise is arguably one of the most disturbing and bizarre survival horror/adventure games available for PC. Each game in the series revolves around a single protagonist in an empty town overrun with bizarre, horrific creatures that almost defy description. Survival generally depends upon solving puzzles while avoiding or killing monsters, culminating in unraveling a mystery surrounding the game's protagonist. In this regard, Silent Hill 3 (and the series, in general) is something of an allegorical, dream-like horror/adventure game, with imagery and environments drawn from the stuff of nightmares.
In Silent Hill 3 you play the role of a young girl named Heather. The game actually begins with a nightmarish sequence in which Heather is trapped in an abandoned theme park populated by bizarre creatures, such as a dog whose head splits vertically down the middle and large, flying bug-like creatures. Heather ultimately wakes up from this nightmare, having fallen asleep in a shopping mall. After a brief call to her father, she is confronted by a mysterious detective. Sneaking out a bathroom window to escape the detective, Heather re-enters the mall through a back door but finds the mall suddenly emptied and overrun with the same horrible creatures from her nightmare.
Unlike The Suffering, Silent Hill 3 is a slow-paced (albeit nerve-racking), psychological game. Though various knives, pipes, pistols, and guns are available, avoiding the horrors in the game is definitely the best strategy. Ammunition is scarce, and the monstrosities littering the game are far more dangerous to you than you are to them. Heather is equipped with a radio that emits static when creatures are nearby, which is a game device used in the other Silent Hill games, as well. What really sells the psychological tension, however, is the feeling of isolation in the horrific environment that grows increasingly more horrible as you play further into the game. Silent Hill 3 creates one of the creepiest, bizarre, and taut environments in survival horror. You'll especially tense up at the sound of radio static.
Silent Hill 3's strong points are its environment and intriguing story in which the game is wrapped. Unfortunately, its weakest points are just about everything else, mainly because Silent Hill 3 is a direct translation of a console title. As a console port, Silent Hill 3 doesn't take advantage of the superior graphics, audio, interface, and control options available on a PC. The mouse and keyboard controls are extremely awkward, and camera control is equally clunky, making it difficult to look and aim where you want. This is particularly annoying in a game where exploration is a key element, and it doesn't do you any favors in combat (or avoiding it) either. Silent Hill 3 also doesn't support positional audio, which is a real shame because positional audio really enhances the environment, particularly if the game's genre is horror.
If you're willing to overlook these faults (or you just don't have a console available), Silent Hill 3 is still a perfectly spine-chilling game for Halloween, especially for gamers looking for a slower-paced adventure game loaded with psychological horror. Play it with the lights out.
Silent Hill 3 requires Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, a 1GHz Pentium III or Athlon CPU or faster, 256MB RAM, a DirectX 8.1-compatible 32MB video card, a DirectX 8.1-compatible sound card, and 5GB free hard drive space. 
More Great Games For Halloween
There are lots of great Halloween games out there for fans of horror and the macabre. Here are some older titles that can be had for less than $20.
Ghostmaster (www.empireinteractive.com) is a particularly good game released just last year. It gives you control of a bevy of spooks, ghosts, and goblins, who haunt mortals in a SIMS-like environment. While not scary, it's highly entertaining, particularly for the mischievous sorts that prefer tricks to treats.
Dungeon Keeper 2 (www.eagames.com) is similar in flavor to Ghostmaster and tasks you with building dungeons, stocking them with monsters and evil minions, and setting all manner of wicked traps for those relentless heroes bent on stopping your nefarious plans and plundering your treasures.
For those preferring a truly scary game, Clive Barker's Undying (www.eagames.com) is a terrifying first-person shooter. The exceptional visuals and audio hold up well even by today's standards, and the game boasts some real jump-inducing moments. Best of all, Undying is a bargain-bin title and can be had for as little as $10.
Additional titles due for release this year include Silent Hill 4 (www.konami.com/silenthill4) and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners Of The Earth (www.callofcthulhu.com). The much-anticipated Doom 3 is already on the shelves and promises to be the scariest game of the Halloween season. Unfortunately, copies weren't available as of this writing, but look for our review of Doom 3 in next month's issue.
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The Suffering 
