Old Grandma Hardcore

This blog is the chronicle of my experiences with Grandma, the video-game playing queen of her age-bracket and weight class. She will beat any PS2, XBox, GameCube, etc., console game put in front of her, just like she always has. These are her stories. She is absolutely real. She lives in Cleveland.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Grandma's Game Hunting: The Suffering; Ties That Bind

Grandma has had her eye on The Suffering for a while now. Quite a few of you recommended she give it a try, and Grandma digs what the folks at Surreal Software do- so it's worth a look. With a mature rating and enough blood in the advertising trailers to save several kids in desperate need of a transfusion, it seems perfect for Grandma. We looked up the reviews you sent us and looked at the opinions of our favorite game journalists.

She remembered that one her regular magazine subscriptions, Computer Gaming World, came recently with a demo disc for the PC version of the game.

At the little desk here in her bedroom there are two PC towers; mine and Grandma's. Grandma uses her computer to check her e-mail, look up strategies on GameFAQs, read your comments, appease her Sid Meier fix, and install every god damn demo she comes across. I use my computer to work, so I make it a point to never install anything, for The Workhorse is a hungry animal. If Grandma wants a decent framerate playing Unreal Tournament and Quake she sticks them on her computer, knowing I'll hide under a tree somewhere and cry if Macromedia takes too long to render, all the while muttering about "New Programs Installed." The whole problem would be fixed with a simple A/B Switch but every store around here looks at us like ...well, we are crazy... but the point is they don't have them.

If you haven't guessed already- I was forced to install the thing on The Workhorse, my baby. Also predictably, it didn't work. She got all the way to the loading screen that shows the layout of the standard 101-keyboard with 98 different functions to learn and the screen went black- a small whirring noise that can only be the tiny screams of thousands of chips and processors went silent for a moment, and it restarted.

This could be another Fatal Frame curse, we're not sure.

If Grandma is going to try The Suffering, she's going to need a copy on one of her consoles to do it. So what have you heard about this game. Have you played it? Let Grandma know.

She's hunting.


--More updates coming today! Thanks for helping us everyone, we trust you guys.

13 Comments:

  • At 9:58 AM, Blogger Collin said…

    Pick up the latest XBox Magazine. It has a demo of both 'Suffering: The Ties That Bind' and 'Burnout: Revenge'

    I will say this; I didn't care for the first Suffering that much. The demo of the second was fun.

     
  • At 10:01 AM, Blogger Collin said…

    At least I'm pretty sure it does. I'm not at home right now and I can't tell for sure from their site.

     
  • At 11:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Now you know why they called it "The Suffering". ;)

     
  • At 12:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I have to repeat this...have Grandma check out Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Reqiuem forthe Gamecube. It's one of the best games I've ever played. I have been reading OGHC for a while now and I think it's right up Grandma's alley.

    Fellagirly

     
  • At 12:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I suggest picking up the original Suffering over the sequel. The reviews I'm seeing seem to back up this opinion as well.

    I've been tempted for a while to Recommend a game to Grandma:
    Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
    Funniest...game...ever! It's a strategy RPG with a really novel game system.
    I've been playing games for almost 20 years. So, please don't brush me off as some ignorant fanboy. My taste in games as well as movies is extremely strict. It has to be amazing in some way to even interest me. This game is seriously worth checking out. Its 'sequels' not so much (La Pucelle, Makai Kingdom, and Phantom Brave). They really pale in comparison

    An example:
    Killing aged Power Rangers with the legendary Horse Weiner assisted by an undead penguin screaming 'Dood!' during his kamikaze, literally, dive bomb into the ignorant enemy hordes.

    Please check out a review or two. That's all I ask.


    P.S. I have to back up Fellagirly as well. Eternal Darkness is a very well executed game with a novel gameplay concept. Grandma will scream in delight at the hallucinations.

     
  • At 1:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    There is a demo of Suffering: The Tie That Binds on the Oct. issue of XBox magazine's demo disk. Also Revenge: Burnout. Haven't even loaded it up yet so can not comment. Still too busy with the big move here.

    -- Ruthie

     
  • At 2:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    try the original game first. i bought it for my boyfriend but i ended up playing it more than he did. he's too chicken to play it. =/ so we have a copy collecting dust in our video game pile.

     
  • At 6:32 PM, Blogger Collin said…

    I can also highly second the recommendation for Eternal Darkness. It's the only game I've played all the way through four times so I could try out each color of magic (including the hidden Purple rune). Fantastic GC game. The insanity effects were great.

    Disgaea was cool, but Grandma would really have to enjoy strategy gaming. My brother got far more out of that than I did, although it WAS very funny.

     
  • At 12:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Must say - just bought We Love Katamari today, played it after dinner, and although you might have thought "Oh, I loved Katamari Damacy, of course I'll love this!" Let me tell you: you would be right. SUPER right. Becuase it is awesome beyond awesome, and before the intro movie was even over I was squealing with glee just like I used to for the first Katamari. When games exist that make me feel this warm and fuzzy inside, well crap, I don't mind waiting until February for the new Zelda game!

    ...okay that was a lie, I DO mind waiting. But with We Love Katamari, the wait doesn't seem that bad. Hooray and huzzah!

    That being said! Sly 3 is coming out next week (I'ma buy that too - I'm a big fan of the series), and I've heard generally good things about The Suffering: Ties That Bind (although some reviewers are saying that it doesn't quite have the unique feel of the original, as they've taken the story out of the prison and into the city). I've actually been a bit intrigued with Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (despite not being a fan of the Mortal Kombat series much at all), and of course there's X-Men Legends II coming out, if Grandma ever feels like getting her multiplayer on (as the game is OK with one player, but much more fun with 2 or even 4 players).

    Hm. Might still be a bit of a rough patch in terms of releases, but in the next month or so things will begin to pick up BIG-time, and stuff like Ratchet: Deadlocked and Black & White 2 will be coming out. My wallet best be preparing itself to be maimed, I tell you WHAT... but I'll like it all the same! Hee.

    Take care, be well, let us know what you choose - and GAME ON!

    -A!

     
  • At 3:08 PM, Blogger DY357LX said…

    I finished The Suffered (the first one) on the X-Box when it was first released and thought it was an awesome game.
    It's very twisted and is the only game i've ever played to truely scare me and make me reconsider what time of day is best to play a game like this.
    (I was playing at 2am in the pitch black at the time.)

    Resident Evil games and pretty good but they've never made me jump or messed with my head the way The Suffering did.

    It's also probably a nice cheap game too considering it's age.

    BUY IT. Or at least rent it for 4/5 days.

     
  • At 3:57 PM, Blogger CtrlAltDelete said…

    Blue-
    You mentioned Sly 3? I have a feeling that's going to be in our house next week- Grandma really got into the first two in the series.

    The Suffering is a definite must play now; you guys are basically screaming it- so... why the hell not?

     
  • At 3:59 PM, Blogger CtrlAltDelete said…

    dy357lx-
    The original Suffering game IS pretty cheap now, so I think I might pick it up for Grandma so she has an idea of what's coming up. Thanks!

     
  • At 1:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    An originalDiablo III Gold Struggling recreation Is actually low cost currently, therefore i believe I will pick it up with regard to Grandma consequently she's got a solid idea of what exactly is Billig Diablo 3 Golddeveloping. Many thanks!

     

Post a Comment

<< Home