Developer: Tainted Pact
Publisher: Assemble Entertainment
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Suffer The Night – Review
Does the idea of being transported into a game world excite you? It might, but if it’s a horror game we wouldn’t be surprised if your enthusiasm faded pretty quickly. Suffer The Night by Tainted Pact gained a following after releasing a very well-received demo back in October. Many were excited about the full release, the person writing this review included. And while the demo turns out to only cover a very basic prologue and not be very representative of the mechanics later in the game, Suffer The Night does not disappoint in bringing us some retro-inspired frights. Just remember to never insert a random floppy disk into your PC if you value your life.
Story
The game is centered around a young woman named Stacey Linden. She is spending a stormy night alone in her cabin when suddenly somebody knocks at the door. When she checks, there is nobody there, but a stranger left a package with a mysterious floppy disk. Soon, a horrifying creature starts stalking Stacey and threatens her life if she doesn’t play the game on the disk. The longer she plays, the more horrifying the game gets. And Stacey’s real life is in danger too. She finds herself needing to literally delve deeper into the game than thought possible if she wants to find out about its origin and how to defeat the demon tied to the disk.
The game’s story is not terribly original for a horror game, but it’s scary enough to work without ever getting cheesy. The story is conveyed to the player in a nice way through audio discs you can find and the character dialogue. The game does have multiple endings, depending on finding certain collectibles. In other words: exploring pays off.
Graphics
While clearly inspired by old-school horror in its themes and setting, Suffer The Night does not fall into the trap of making its visuals too grainy and pixelated. The more realistic approach is appreciated and this allows the many creative monster designs to take center stage. The levels of the game are clearly distinct in their look and show enough variety, with stages ranging from a medieval dungeon to a fun house where the colors pop off the screen. It’s definitely more unique than most dreary and drab horror games released these days.
Sound
Suffer The Night has a great soundtrack, including boss themes for the big encounters at the end of each level. They’re tense and get the blood pumping, with a nostalgic retro-ness to them and heavy basslines. The general music isn’t bad either, but what’s even better is the voice acting. The guy who voices the main bad guy (Mr. Tops, because he wears a top hat) can be downright terrifying in his delivery of the lines. Every piece of lore you find is voiced too, which is a nice touch.
Gameplay
If you’ve only played the demo, you might think Suffer The Night is simply a tense first-person horror experience with jumpscares. And while there’s definitely some scariness to be found, the rest of the game gets closer to being a survival horror-action game. During the first chapter, you are mainly playing the game-within-the-game on the floppy disk, which is a text adventure. Soon though, you’ll find yourself transported into that game world itself. From there on out, you’ll have different enemies to deal with and you’ll have different weapons to dispose of them.
The game is clear in its objectives by always showing where you need to go. Sometimes you need to solve simple puzzles or retrieve items to proceed, though usually that just means you’ll have to do some exploring. The survival aspect of the game comes in when the player needs to collect ammunition and use it wisely. Not all enemies are as easily defeated and you don’t want to get stuck in a boss fight without being able to defend yourself. The game world is also full of traps that can instantly kill you, so you should remain vigilant. Health can be found lying around and you can reload a save if you do get stuck.
To further help you, you get a special X-ray device that a previous victim of Mr. Tops left behind. This device can help you find hidden items or passageways and becomes crucial in surviving as you sneak around the dungeon. Overall, the game becomes a lot less tense and more action-packed, especially in the second half. That being said, there are enough jumpscares to make it so you never let your guard down, and the atmosphere does wonders for the game’s overall scariness. Even so, just don’t expect a full-on horror game.
Conclusion
Suffer The Night is a fun time if you know what you’re in for. Don’t let the demo fool you, however, because while Suffer The Night is still a horror game, it reminds us more of old-school action-packed zombie shooters than other modern horror titles. With the right expectations though, this perfect blend of groovy music, an engaging story, and fun gameplay is sure to make your trip through the dungeon worth it.
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