Tormented Souls 2 Plays Like a Classic with Some Extra Frustrations
I never played the first Tormented Souls game, but what I do know is that Caroline Walker and her sister have got some bad luck. In the first game, Caroline is looking for her missing sister and in the second - you guessed it - she’s in the same situation again. And while I love classic survival horror games like the original Silent Hill, I couldn’t find myself getting invested in Caroline’s second unfortunate adventure.
In Tormented Souls 2, Caroline and her sister travel to what is meant to be a relaxing getaway, but quickly takes a sinister turn. Caroline wakes up covered in needles with her sister gone and she is quickly forced to adapt to her surroundings in the desperate search to find her sister and get out of this terrible place as quickly as they arrived.
One of my biggest issues with Tormented Souls 2, is the combat. I had similar struggles with the classics-inspired Heartworm earlier this year. While combat was a challenge in those games from the 90s like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, it was pretty easy to survive as you were never faced with more than a small handful of enemies, and you didn’t have to deal with environmental issues at the same time like with this title. That being said, there are difficulty levels if you’re struggling on the harder difficulties.
In Tormented Soul 2, you have to avoid darkness while also taking down enemies, or running from them. Because of awkward controls, I couldn’t find a way to have my weapon and my lighter equipped at the same time at the beginning which often caused me to get swallowed up by the darkness, killing me in the process and forcing me to start again at my last save.
And the game’s save system is quite frustrating as well. Yes, the ink ribbon-type save system from Resident Evil is a classic, but again, most of the time ink ribbons were pretty plentiful if you didn’t overdo it, and if you had to start over from a previous checkpoint you didn’t have a load of enemies to have to mow through most of the time. There are some classic mechanics that don’t age well and this type of save system is definitely one of them.
Something I appreciate about the game is the fact that you can freely switch between tank controls and modern controls. As someone who loves classic tank controls, I opted for this, but if I found myself stuck and frustrated with the tank controls, I could easily switch the more modern controls. It’s a fantastic way to allow fans of classic controls to enjoy their nostalgia while giving newer fans easier to manage controls.
While Tormented Souls 2 frustrated me with its combat, the atmosphere and tension is done very well here. Visuals have been heavily improved since the first game and, unlike other classics, I didn’t struggle to find which objects I could interact with and pick up in the environment (even in the darkest room). From what I can tell, it has improved a lot from the first, but it’s one that likely only veteran players will really be able to appreciate
Tormented Souls 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.