After the success of The Suffering, several ideas for a sequel were discussed. Some of them involved going back to Carnate Island, others involved taking place in “The South” to discover more about Torque’s history. Exploring Baltimore became the final choice.
The design, scripting, and lighting for several levels were handled by me, including: the City Harbor, City Sewers (both needed to feature reverse routes for later), Torque’s neighborhood (his apartment, streets, and the abandoned theater), plus the Truck chase level.
Most sequels fall prey to compressing successful game formulas into pure run & gun scenarios. Ties That Bind was no exception and lost a lot of the horror and spook factor with the addition of the paramilitary adversaries known as the Foundation.
More public details are on Wikipedia.
Developer
Time on project
- April 2004 – September 2005
Roles
- SENIOR DESIGNER
- Level Designer
- Lighting Artist
- Scripter
Responsibilities
Designed bloodcurdling gameplay, horrific encounters, and formidable puzzles. Designed, modeled, and maintain inspiring and memorable levels. Scripted AI, missions, and interactive events. Responsible for environment lighting and gameplay mood.
Created layout guidelines for environmental artists. Provided new employee guidance in company-specific technology. Designed new toolsets for improving quality and productivity. Streamlined asset databases for performance.
Reviews
- 85% – Game Informer
- 81% – IGN
- 76% – Metacritic Score
- 82% – MS Xbox World
- 86% – Official Xbox Magazine
- 89% – PC Gamer
- 80% – Play Magazine
- 82% – Team Xbox
