The Suffering: Ties That Bind starts off as a flashback to five years previous when Torque was first transferred to Carnate Island. While sitting down playing a harmless game of chess, he finds himself surrounded by thugs of a new criminal kingpin, known only as Blackmore. Before the gang has a chance to beat him (you) to a pulp, the alarms sound and chaos breaks loose. As you and your buddy (your chess partner) try to get to safety, you will fight thugs, inmates and the monsters Torque faced in the fist game. This mode does more than act as a prologue to the game, as it also acts as a tutorial.
Back in the present, Torque is on a boat escaping from Carnate Island. As he comes to the Baltimore shore, he sees visions of his dead wife, Carmen (who will show you where you need to go throughout the game). Once docked, Torque is tranquilized by some local authorities and taken to an unknown facility. As you are carted off, you hear people refer to you as possibly being something called "The Prime".
While being lectured to (and still strapped down), something "breaks out" in another part of the facility and you are left alone with two guards. The lights flash and suddenly both guards are dead, blood is all over the walls and you are free. Thus starts Torque's second adventure against the other-worldly creatures dubbed Malfactors.
The purpose behind the first Suffering game was to create a survival horror game that didn't rely on the fixed camera gimmick to keep your heart up and you creeped out. Ties That Bind continues this strategy and executes it well.
In other survival horrors, it is easy to make the user see only what the developers want them to -- they know where the camera is/will be. Here, the gamer has the ability to look whereever he/she wants to, and that can ruin most horror effects. After all, it's the best horror movies that only give you glimpses at the monster and don't show you it's full form until the end. The Suffering will have you crawling through tunnels when something runs past the opening, or have blood flying across the other end of a hall has you turn the corner or keep you locked behind a door as you hear someone scream followed by a cackle. All of these effects, combined with the low-light, shadow-filled environments, allows your imagination to run wild and expect the worst.
Since Torque is no longer confined to a prison, the enemy types aren't confined to execution styles like in the previous game. You will still face quite a few of the Malfactor types from Carnate Island, but they will be supplemented with creatures created from other gruesome deaths. New Malfactors include a bloated glutton of a creature capable of eating anything and a slow moving zombie-like monster resulting from extreme drug addiction.
