Extreme violence, terrifying atmospheres and a twisted character: this game looks like a splatter movie.
Now location is no longer the Carnate island but the dark streets of Baltimora; the bad guys are the old acquaintance Dr Killjoy (hmmm… sounds like a name, a destiny…) and the new entry Blackmore, a guy who introduced Torque to the world of criminality.
Gameplay. If you loved the incredibly violent, dark and damned atmospheres of the first episode, TSTTB won’t disappoint you. At every corner of the streets you’ll be scared by every noise you hear, fearing to meet one or more monsters stalking you: the feeling is incredibly realistic.
Like in the first Suffering you can choose between a first or third person view: but by playing like in a fps everything is much more difficult because most of times Torque will be surrounded by enemies attacking from every corner, and if you see the whole action in third person mode you can foresee (and so dodge) attacks.
Torque can carry just two weapons, and many of them are suited for melee and close combat.
Insanity mode is available again, whenever you kill monsters a special bar gets filled: when it reaches its top you can turn into a creature that is able to slice and to massacre by its own hands unlucky foes trying to stop it.
Now you can upgrade your altered ego by behaving good or bad: but beware, if you start playing as evil you’d better keep as evil, if you start playing as good you’d better keep as good, because as you can upgrade Torque, so you can downgrade him: and insanity mode is often the best way to go on through the levels.
I must admit the game itself is more challenging than the first one: fortunately you can save your progress anytime you want because it is very easy to be killed or to get seriously wounded: and controls make everything more complicated.
By the left thumb-stick you move Torque, by the right one you aim and move your eyes, but when bunch of monsters are attacking you it’s not that easy managing the situation.
You liked or hated, there are still the voices in Torque’s head, hallucinating visions and telephones ringing: like in a horror movie.
Graphics. In general I believe graphics have been improved.
Monsters are the best side of the game: there are the old ones from the first episode (slayers, mainliners, burrowers, marksmen) and some new ones (maulers, arsonists, suppressors, isolationists). High number of polygons and detailed textures make these creatures incredibly realistic, looking supernatural and appalling.
Environments are also in perfect harmony with the game: you can smell the fear both walking through the streets in Baltimore, that looks like a ghost town, and in internal environments.
Characters are not as good as the monsters, but still decent.
Cutscenes are on average: not bad, nothing special.
Sound. Sounds are another great side of the game: they give their contribution to create a terrifying and continuously tense atmosphere.
Screams of the monsters are terrible to hear (I can’t forget the slayers’ blades on the ground…) , and environments themselves seem to be animated, possessed by an evil being.
Music is negligible, and maybe that’s what Midway developers wanted: without music, player must concentrate only on the game.
Value. In spite of three different endings, I’m not that sure I’d like to replay TSTTB: the game itself is pretty hard, even by playing at a normal difficulty level, and sometimes could be frustrating. Bosses can be almost invincible if you don’t wisely upgrade Torque, or if you waste ammunitions for the most powerful weapons or if your health is too low.
By proceeding through the game you can anyway unlock a lot of stuff about the monsters, local legends and so on.
Tilt. If you liked the first episode, I think TSTTB deserves anyway a chance to be played: Torque is a dubious and shifty character, a perfect example of anti-hero, his story is interesting and many secrets of his past will be revealed.
But unfortunately I must admit gameplay has not been improved, since you can find in it all of the lacks of its predecessor.