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The Sinking City Review — IGN

Sinking City

Though occasionally frustrating, The Sinking City stands out from its Lovecraftian peers.

By John Borba

Updated: Apr 28, 2020 10:22 pm

Posted: Jun 25, 2019 4:00 pm

Lovecraftian games are definitely on the rise in recent years (to varied success), but The Sinking City’s blend of a mysterious and cosmic plot with clunky but serviceable third-person action rises above many of the rest of this fleshed-out genre. It places you in a detailed world filled with the fantastic and unearthly horrors befitting of any Lovecraftian tale, but provides a fresh but reverent take where others may have stayed on the tracks laid nearly a century ago. That said, while developer Frogwares’ delve into Cthulhu lore has incredible moments, the tedious elements of this pulpy 1920s tale can be the wrong kind of terrifying.

The Sinking City takes steps into genre-refreshing territory in order to set it apart from its Lovecraftian peers. Where 2018’s Call of Cthulhu tries to carve out a small space to tell its own stand-alone story that tucked itself into the already existing cosmic lore, The Sinking City feels like it’s picking up eight movies into a Lovecraft cinematic Cthu-niverse, delivering a concentrated dose of its distinctive flavor. The first five minutes introduce the protagonist, Charles Reed, to Mister Robert Throgmorton, an important character who appears to be half-ape, half-human. That’s a deep-cut reference to Lovecraft’s short story, «Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family.» This is quickly followed up by a run-in with the Innsmouthers, who are basically fish people from another novella. It pulls from so many of Lovecraft’s plots, quotes, and themes that it reverently captures the intrigue and interest from these pulpy stories while combining them in a new way. It inspires political and criminal intrigue amidst its true-to-genre story.

It’s not free of cliche – this is far from the first Lovecraftian game to feature a private investigator with a history as a soldier who’s burdened with terrible visions and missing sleep. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at Reed after having seen tabletop games translate this mythos a seemingly endless amount of times with a much more diverse (and period-appropriate) cast of interesting characters; video games can’t seem to step away from the private dick. In the end, though, The Sinking City’s mysterious, twisting story is compelling and does a respectable job of combining well-worn plot elements in a new way.

Oakmont’s gorgeous environments enhance the story, its foggy and flooded streets reminiscent of games like BioShock and Silent Hill.

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This third-person, action/adventure horror game is set in an open-world version of Oakmont, Massachusetts, a fictional island on the eastern seaboard that has suffered a huge flood. It’s here, within the city’s drowning shoes, that you discover impressive environments that find organic and gorgeous ways to enhance the storytelling. It’s reminiscent of memorable games like the original BioShock and the Silent Hill series. Its foggy streets, heavy blankets of rain, and flooded thoroughfares are great backdrops, but steering a small motor boat through a neighborhood as something stirs below the surface truly serves up that tense feeling of wanting to NOPE straight back onto dry land.

As one might expect from a Lovecraftian game, combat, discovery, monsters, macabre and otherworldly imagery, and the visions that propelled Reed down this path in the first place gradually take a toll on both his health and sanity. This results in some disturbing psychological episodes, illusions, and psychosis. It’s a real hoot.

However, Oakmont’s residents aren’t quite selling the horror atmosphere. While the city is a gorgeous eldritch wasteland, its citizens walk the streets of their mostly ruined neighborhoods seemingly unphased. There are fights and robberies that increasingly occur in the streets as the story goes on, strangely dressed folks and end-times prophets appear, and monsters literally start taking over, but most NPCs look like they’re just heading to work or to buy groceries. It’s definitely an immersion-breaking moment to see a man getting his shoes shined while, a block or two away, monsters sprout from the earth and overturned cars lay burning.

The characters you interact with, though, are interesting and well-acted, and I was pleasantly surprised by how unique and thematically appropriate each person is written and performed. From mob bosses to cult leaders to crooked politicians and more, every interaction felt unique and helped to fill out the lived-in feel of Oakmont. Unfortunately, this did shed a glaring spotlight on the shamelessly recycled character models. It’s especially noticeable that all of the black men you actually speak to have the same cartoonish face. (Non-speaking black NPCs have a few other alternatives.) I found this very distracting, especially during some of the most shocking moments that otherwise do a passable job of portraying the racial tensions of the era.

The Mechanics of Madness

While the plot remained captivating, many of the mechanics of The Sinking City left something to be desired. Combat feels clunky and reminiscent of older Resident Evil or Silent Hill games, but with characters that react to your controls at a snail’s pace. After completing nearly every sidequest and acquiring a large majority of the available skills I still felt as if my character was incompetent in combat situations, despite his supposed military history. I don’t expect to be an acrobatic crack-shot ninja in a game like The Sinking City, but maneuvering Reed felt frustratingly slow.

That said, the default difficulty is fairly well-matched to his limitations and I rarely had real trouble due to the sufficient crafting materials and items supplied. Monsters you face are interesting and appropriate, but there are only a few different types. However, optional side quests did offer some interesting alternatives you won’t see on the main path. There’s also a notable absence of boss fights, which I felt was a glaring hole in a game about overcoming epic monsters and elder gods. I would certainly have loved to have seen some of the more terrifying monsters of Lovecraft legend brought to life and to get that wonderful David & Goliath feeling of being a frail mortal bringing down some other-worldly beast in the name of… well, continuing to live.

One of the biggest enemies I faced was metaphorical, in that moving around the map is tedious and time-consuming. This is especially true in the early game, when you’re forced to tromp all over the map before you’ve unlocked fast-travel locations. Most games would have quest objectives radiate outward from a central location, but The Sinking City makes an effort to show off its diverse neighborhoods by sending you through each of them in turn. This was initially to its benefit, as I was wowed by the different cultures and neighborhoods within the island (I particularly loved the higher tech and more metropolitan area of Advent). However, this quickly turned annoying as I searched for shortcuts around the maze of flooded streets. I was more willing to sit on the long loading screens during fast travel than having to frequently plot routes that required jumping in an out of boats, avoiding infested areas, and getting around several blocked paths.

Quest information can often be cryptic, and borderline-meaningless, in the most confusing of ways.

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If navigating the city was a problem, the research system reached groan-worthy tedium. Quest information is often cryptic and borderline-meaningless in the most confusing of ways. You’re forced to interpret vague information in order to uncover evidence by visiting one of four archive locations, which are each tied to a specific type of research that needs to be done. It’s my understanding that this is a carryover from Frogwares’ previous Sherlock Holmes series, but I’d rather they left it on Baker Street. Several times I had no idea what type of information I needed to get and had to resort to trial and error. For example, I was supposed to look for a suspect involved in a crime. Then, once that was determined, I was left to combine the correct quest item with a specific research location, and apply different combinations of filters in order to the discover appropriate information. While the idea certainly has thematic novelty, the execution was laborious. At one point, I was stuck for several hours trying to determine a character’s location, running back and forth between research locations to attempt every combination until finally something popped.

By contrast, I thoroughly enjoyed another mechanic tied to investigation and discoveries called the Mind Palace, which is also pulled from the Sherlock games, but this one benefits from the addition of the moral dilemmas within Lovecraftian lore. This enjoyable way of interpreting information let me sort (and re-sort) my discoveries by drawing clues and conclusions from evidence, and then make decisions that determine the character’s moral perspective, such as determining a guilty party and the consequences they should face. The choices you make sway the outcome of certain events and determine your path to the endgame, sometimes meaning life or death for certain NPCs.

The Mind Palace is often fed by a Retrocognition mechanic that allows you to see the past use of a specific object, or to view ghostly apparitions of characters as they recreate a long-past scene Reed was not present for. You then place the elements of the scene in the order you believe they played out until you correctly reconstruct it, gaining imperative information in the process. For those that also played 2018’s Call of Cthulhu, there’s a very similar idea in that game as well. It’s just as interesting and effective in The Sinking City as it is there, but graphically it could use some work as it’s often difficult to get a sense of the scene, since the glowing white figures lack definition.

From Beyond

As The Sinking City came to its closing hours, I began to notice that every character who contributed in a large way to the story fell deep into the morally gray category, and this provided interesting moral examples for the decisions I made. It made me appreciate the attention to detail and commitment to intrigue and surprise by the developers. This dedication to moral ambiguity provided an ending with more than just a binary, good/bad decision, that I welcomed with open… tentacles.

Without spoiling anything, I admit that I found all of the endings a bit anticlimactic and in need of some fleshing out. In true Lovecraftian form, the stakes of the finale are cosmic, and it can be hard to measure up to something like that, but the delivery felt flat and unexciting in context.

The Sinking City’s creation of a new Lovecraftian vision paired with compelling stories, exciting environments, and memorable characters make for one of the better Cthulhu lore games I’ve played. Its commitment to tastefully updating the storytelling methods, while preserving the setting and tone of Lovecraft shines through the tedium and frustration. Though the laborious open-world travel, clunky combat, and aggravating research system can grow wearisome, there’s much to like in The Sinking City. I really hope to see a sequel from Frogwares, giving them the opportunity to refine these ideas in a sequel, because there’s a lot of promise here that gets watered down by the tedious stuff.

The Sinking City Review

good

While occasionally frustrating, The Sinking City’s compelling stories, exciting environments, and memorable characters make for one of the better Cthulhu lore games around.

John Borba

The Sinking City – Destructoid

The Sinking City is without a doubt a love letter to H. P. Lovecraft’s work. Even going as far as being set within the same universe, specifically The Shadow over Innsmouth, and directly references those events and plenty more from Lovecraft’s tales. However, it’s not just a clear love for the source material that makes The Sinking City great. The atmosphere and world building of Oakmont, Massachusetts are just as deep as its fictional waters, with a story and murky sense of morality to match in the best possible ways.

You’re placed in the shoes of Charles Reed, a great war veteran turned private eye who is losing his grip on sanity. He arrives in Oakmont looking for the source of his chaotic visions and is quickly tasked with also solving the seemingly supernatural flooding that is taking place in Oakmont. Between dodging gunfire from simple crooks and encounters with nightmarish creatures, you’ll wade through the darkness and insanity of Oakmont’s citizens and unravel an intrinsic mystery only fitting from the folks that brought us the Sherlock Holmes games.

The Sinking City (PC [reviewed], PS4, Xbox One, Switch)
Developer: Frogwares
Publisher: Bigben Interactive
Released/Releasing: June 27, 2019 (PC via Epic Games Store, PS4, Xbox One), TBA, 2019 (Switch), TBA, 2020 (PC via Steam)
MSRP: $59.99

From the moment you arrive in Oakmont, you’ll begin to notice outside of the obvious flooding and decay around you a constant feeling of wariness and alienation from its citizens. Everyone refers you to you as a “newcomer” in a condescending manner and the inhabitants are just as odd as their flooded surroundings. From the unique facial features of the innsmouthers and Throgmorten family, to even the city librarian who’s lips are literally sealed shut because of a “local custom. ” All of the different groups, families, and factions of Oakmont have their own prejudices, social politics, and even their own unique dialect.

Combine this with the hostile open world and hopeless atmosphere and it makes for some believable and great world building. To go along with the hopeless atmosphere is a tale of desperation for one’s own sanity and plenty of gray morality decisions. Choices are never simply black and white in The Sinking City. In one instance, for example, I was given the choice to either side with and join a group who seemingly had good intentions and were helping the poor, but, behind the scenes, were also up to some shady and violent stuff (they even kidnapped someone I was looking for). Or I could side with someone who had a clear vendetta and racial prejudice towards them, along with an extreme solution for dealing with them. All while having useful information and details on the person I’m trying to find.

To further aid this, the voice acting is solid and the detective gameplay is the best aspect of The Sinking City. The “Mind Palace” makes a welcome return from the Sherlock Holmes games and works well here when piecing together observations and giving you more details on the tough calls you’ll need to make. Most of the actual detective gameplay boils down to finding clues around the environment and utilizing various archives around the city such as police records, the library, city hall, and various others to either find specific people or locations. There aren’t any obvious waypoints to guide you along, you’ll constantly rely on your map as you search for specific street names or locations. There’s also a fair amount of side cases to solve and even collectibles to find around the city. However, the more you explore Oakmont the more you’ll begin to notice how familiar it all is due to extensive re-use of various interior areas.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/cdn.gamestatic.net/files/editor_uploads/Plohoymnu/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B8%20%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA.jpg' /> By the time I was wrapping up the story and hunting collectibles, I knew the layout of most “new” areas I was going into simply because I’d already been to a place exactly like it, numerous times. Some of the exterior areas around the city also share the same issues. In one instance, I was looking for a specific factory and all I could find were numerous “Suits and Topcoat” stores scattered around the same district, sometimes even multiple on the same street. Stuff like this is pretty minor, admittedly, but it was certainly noticeable. Combine that with the fact there isn’t a whole lot to do within the open world outside of collectible hunting or stumbling on the odd side case and you’ll find yourself with very little reason to not be fast traveling constantly. Especially with most investigations having you go all over the city from one end to the other. The low point of The Sinking City, though, is pretty much any time you’re in combat, which is fairly often due to plenty of “infested” areas around the city filled with creatures known as “wild beasts.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/log.com.tr/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/the-sinking-city-detay-2-660x371.jpg' /> ” As for the combat itself: the animations are stiff, the AI is dumb, and the gun sound effects are laughably weak. Early on you’ll be better off fleeing from enemies, as when they do manage to hit you, they can take a huge chunk of your health (at least on the normal difficulty). You’ll also need to constantly keep an eye on your sanity bar, as staying in combat too long or seeing too much awfulness up close will cause it to drain in a matter of seconds. If completely drained…you’ll die by self-infliction. Thankfully, resources are plentiful around the city and you’ll be able to craft a plethora of items within your inventory such as ammo, traps, throwables, health kits, and drugs to keep your sanity in check. I know some people are going to scoff at the sound of crafting, but it’s nothing too bad outside of a few clicks in an inventory menu. On the plus side, a lot of this can be tailored within the customizable difficulty options. Want to make the crappy combat as painless as possible (both literally and figuratively)? You can lower the difficulty specifically in regards to combat without affecting the difficulty of the detective gameplay.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/zing.cz/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/the-sinking-1.jpg' /> Overall, as much as I adore the story and atmosphere of The Sinking City, it definitely feels like a budget title at times. If you can get past the weak combat, harmless jank, and enjoy a solid detective experience that won’t hold your hand and throw tough choices your way, you shouldn’t pass up on it. Even more so if you’re a fan of Lovecraft. Because as the Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be and that’s a good enough reason for me! [This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher] <h2> Review of the game The Sinking City: Cthulhu come, bring order </h2> My Telegram:) The action-adventure game The Sinking City (“Sinking City”) was released by the Ukrainian studio Frogwares, which is still engaged in the production of detective adventures and quests, especially about Sherlock Holmes. Now they have decided to take on a more serious topic — namely, the works of Lovecraft. Let’s see what happened.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/fwcdn.pl/fph/46/11/764611/820677.1.jpg' /> <h3> The Sinking City story </h3> The action takes place in the USA at 1920s. Private detective Charles Reed arrives in the small American town of Oakmont at the request of a very mysterious gentleman in yellow to investigate the cases of mass insanity that have gripped the town. Oakmont himself was never able to recover from the devastating flood, after which the city was filled with monsters. In addition, the locals are extremely hostile and suspicious of the aliens who “come in large numbers” to the town — the Innsmunts, who for some reason clearly have fish-like features. As he investigates, Charles will become involved in political intrigues, face the most powerful families in Oakmont, become the object of persecution by cultists … and also deal with the secrets of his own past. After all, as a result of a mysterious incident that happened several years ago, the detective acquired supernatural powers and even spent some time in a hospital. How could this be related to Oakmont and its inhabitants? <h3> The Sinking City Pros </h3> You can probably find something good in everything, and The Sinking City is no exception: <ul> <li> Oakmont, flooded with endless rain and affected by the chthonic flood, looks quite decent, melancholy and picturesque, and it is good to wander and do screenshots.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/hs-design.ru/uploads/posts/2019-06/tihiy-uzhas-obzor-the-sinking-city-internet-i-svyaz_5.jpeg' /> The game was scolded that the NPCs in the town are just dummies that perform the same looped actions, and you cannot interact with them, but still the authors did not create Skyrim, so this is forgivable. </li> </ul> <ul> <li> The side quests are pretty good, sometimes great, but still more like slightly artistically reworked Internet horror stories or even creations of the SCP than something really related to Lovecraft. </li> </ul> <ul> <li> The system of detective investigations is also well developed, in addition, thanks to his supernatural abilities, Charles can not only identify criminals, but also collect all sorts of nice things. </li> </ul> <ul> <li> The monsters are cute (if I can say that about monsters) and they try hard to scare. Nya! </li> </ul> Finally, from time to time, Charles has to go underwater and snorkel. While not a Soma or even a Narcosis, these underwater stretches are impressive, especially since Charles has to squeeze into a 1920s diving suit. <h3> The Sinking City: cons </h3> Well, let’s talk about the bad: <ul> <li> The fish people have become an oppressed minority persecuted by the Ku Klux Klan! Yes, the developers generally read Lovecraft and imagine who the fish people really were? According to the current fashion, LGBT people also appear in the game.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/i1.wp.com/www.codecmoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Sinking-City-Twitter.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1' /> Great, sure, but in puritanical America in the 1920s, they would have been lynched faster than you could say Putin Cthulhu fhtagn. </li> </ul> <ul> <li> However, the main character does not care. Gays, fish people, ape people, monsters, reanimated corpses, witches, and at least Cthulhu himself — he remains calm and calm, like a Buddha. I don’t know if this reaction is a symptom of his mental disorder or if the character is simply badly written. At the same time, the hero’s equanimity is apparent, because with any excitement he falls into hysterics, which makes the screen strangely and funnyly distorted, and almost half the time you walk around with this distorted screen. </li> </ul> <ul> <li> The main plot is your typical “Cthulhu come, put things in order”, and you won’t see or hear anything new and interesting here. Allegedly difficult moral choices during the game do not affect anything. No matter what you do, you will still end up at the same fork, and you will be allowed to watch three endings that are not that bad .<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/mtdata.ru/u22/photoFF78/20515339738-0/original.jpg' /> .. but a little dumb. </li> </ul> <ul> <li> Russian voice acting, like everything else, was done in a hurry and «on the back», because sometimes nostalgically tries to get closer to the best examples of voice acting 1990s from some «Fargus». And is there really so few voice actors in Russia that every time it is necessary to use the same voices that have already set the teeth on edge?! </li> </ul> <ul> <li> The clumsy map and the strange system of console saves, in which the hero appears not where he was saved, but at control points, do not add any pluses to the game. Well, the pumping system — it is clearly screwed for show and generally useless. And for some reason, there is still craft. Probably because… uh… Lovecraft? </li> </ul> Since the developers are Ukrainians, there is an embroidered shirt in the game as one of the outfits for the hero. Where is borscht, dumplings and lard in chocolate. After all, this is so in line with the spirit of Lovecraft and allows you to comprehend the true depths of madness, isn’t it.<img loading='lazy' src='' /> Verdict The Sinking City : 5/10. Obviously, the authors should have focused on the detective component and on the plot, and not trying to make an RPG, for which they clearly did not have enough time and budget. However, if you do not expect revelations and incredible horrors from the game, The Sinking City is tolerable, although nothing more. But here the fault is not only of the developers, but also of Lovecraft himself, who, firstly, does not really like literal readings of himself, and, secondly, does not want to fit into modern pop culture with its tendency to primitivism and tolerance. My Telegram : https://t.me/kontinuumtower My books: https://litmarket.ru/a-sedyh-p104921/books : https://www.litres.ru/a-sedyh/gayd-po-kopiraytingu-dlya-nachinauschih-i-ne-tolko/ <h2> Overview of The Sinking City. In search of Cthulhu </h2> Whatever the Frogwares do, they end up with another Sherlock Holmes anyway.<img loading='lazy' src='' /> This time with a good touch of Silent Hill. A detective story and a mystical atmosphere are the best aspects of The Sinking City. What else can surprise the game, and what can disappoint, we tell in our review. <iframe title="The Sinking City - Launch Trailer | PS4" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AeA22Aovo1c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""/>

Frogwares
Publisher: Bigben Interactive
Release date: June 27, 2019

Private detective Charles Reid arrives in the town of Oakmont to investigate the causes of mass insanity: hundreds of people see in their hallucinations the sinking city and feel the presence of something inexplicably great. Oakmont draws them with an irresistible force, and he also draws Reed, who suffers from the same visions that add to his own mental disorder.

Having left the ship, the hero finds himself in the whirlpool of events already in the port. Reed’s detective skills become an opportunity to make a name for himself in a city where outsiders are not welcome, helping the head of a local powerful family who is concerned about his son’s disappearance. A quick investigation introduces the player to the main gameplay mechanics, after which The Sinking City releases them into the open world.

Lovecraft was not ashamed of his racist views, but what was normal in the 1920s is now condemned. However, the developers did not completely avoid this topic: parallels with racist and xenophobic views can be traced in the aforementioned dislike of Ocmontians towards strangers, lines and actions of many characters. However, Reid’s reaction to this is unequivocal — an acute rejection of such manifestations of intolerance.

Oakmont immediately makes the right impression, immersing you in an atmosphere of anticipation of something terrible and inevitable. If you draw associations, then the game, unexpectedly, seems very close to the Silent Hill series — especially Downpour, which was released on consoles in 2012. Gloomy streets with inhabitants of varying degrees of madness wandering along them and areas occupied by monsters. Damp, rainy weather, catching up with a dreary mood. The recent flood called monsters from the depths and turned entire neighborhoods into a depressing copy of Venice, so there is perhaps even more water here than in the Downpour.

You can find a lot of interesting things in the city. For example, characters who are ready to give the detective a couple of missions. The Sinking City avoids the banal «give-bring» quests: each task is involved in the investigation of a case. The Frogwares studio is known for the series of games about Sherlock Holmes, so even a change in the setting and the main character did not prevent her from making a detective game with the search for clues, juxtaposition of facts, and even «The Halls of Mind».

Definitely everything about investigation deserves the highest praise. Having received the task, Reed goes to the destination, which, by the way, is not marked on the map — you need to find it yourself by going to the street indicated by the customer. Arriving at the place (where enemies are usually waiting for him — people or monsters), the hero begins to search the territory for notes and objects. In this, both his own powers of observation and his “inner eye” will help him in this — an analogue, if you want, of the “witcher instinct” from The Witcher 3 (it’s funny that such a comparison suggests itself, given that in the Russian-language localization Reed is voiced by Vsevolod Kuznetsov, the voice of Geralt from the third «Witcher»).

The game does not tell you exactly what to look for and where it is, only a message when all the clues are found. It also allows the player to independently choose the direction of the investigation — and that’s great.

Found evidence does not always immediately lead to the unraveling of the truth — more often they lead to some address, the name of the suspect or an earlier event. In this case, you will have to go to one of the municipal buildings — the town hall, the newspaper office or the police station and search for information in the archive by known marks, for example, time period, city district and category of people.

When the hero discovers all the possible clues, he will enter some kind of otherworldly mode and will be able to collect a complete picture of what happened by activating all the memories and placing them in the correct order.

But that’s not all: the detective has his own Mind Hall, where he stores and organizes the most important information. Here you can combine all the available facts in order to eventually come to specific conclusions. Moreover, there can be several conclusions, and which of them are final, it is up to the player to decide. So he can influence the fate of the characters — for example, saving the distraught scientists or leaving them to their fate, fearing that their madness can become contagious — and these decisions will definitely be reflected in the future.

Some choices are difficult. For example, the story of a warehouse guard who missed the villain who poisoned the fish. Undoubtedly, he is subject to punishment, but suddenly you find out that at that moment the character was making toys for the local orphanage. So decide whether it is worth taking the life (and the punishment will be just that) of such a virtuous person.

Oakmont will delight players with an addictive storyline and encounters with interesting characters. Do not forget that not only a detective story is unfolding here, but also a mystical story based on the works of Lovecraft, so ancient cults, nightmarish visions and unimaginable monsters will haunt Charles everywhere — and the further the plot unwinds, the more they become.

By the way, when faced with the supernatural, the hero gradually loses his mind, but, unlike last year’s Call of Chtulhu, this does not open up new opportunities for him, but only leads to a darkening of the screen, the appearance of hallucinations and generated them monsters.

Skirmishes with those who want to kill the hero, whether they are ordinary bandits or chthonic monsters, are inevitable, and here the first problem of The Sinking City appears — a terribly crooked combat system. Close combat is ineffective, firearms sound unconvincing, and enemies absorb five or six bullets, which are always in short supply in the game world. Having entered the battle, I want it to end as soon as possible: there is neither recoil from the revolver, nor satisfaction from defeating the enemy. Fortunately, the battles take up a third of the gameplay.

Monsters aren’t frightening: they’re either arachnid creatures or shapeless piles of flesh we’ve seen in dozens of horror films before. I would like to completely do without meeting with them, but it will not work — they nest in quest locations and areas rich in loot.

Yes, The Sinking City has both collectibles and a crafting system with which you can create ammo, first aid kits, grenades and traps, and even upgrade your character — alas, only with a choice of passive abilities, such as the ability to carry more ammo or increase Chance to deal double damage to an enemy. Careful study of locations with clues and finding all the clues is encouraged by a large amount of experience. Battles, on the contrary, almost do not bring it, so you can not get involved in fights with monsters without need.

The city of the developers turned out to be atmospheric, of course. But rather in its mood than content. The people placed on the streets are extras, doomed to perform the same actions day and night. You can’t talk to them, they don’t react to the main character. Among them are those who can share a quest or say a couple of sentences, but this is rather a rare exception.

Districts are a jumble of locked houses (with few open spaces) and rubbish, and do not store secret places, so there is no point in exploring them in detail. Fortunately, the backtracking that is present in The Sinking City is not annoying: Reed runs quite cheerfully, and the fast travel points are placed very conveniently — close to key locations (the authors of Vampyr and Pathologic 2 should learn from Frogwares).

Alas, the comparison with Silent Hill Downpour is true also in terms of visual «beauties». The Frogwares project looks like a hello from 2012, even though it was created on Unreal Engine 4. Weird lighting, objects emerging from the air, blurry textures, jerky animation — a lot can be attributed to the features of the pre-release version of the game, but there are too many technical problems to hope that they will be resolved by the first day patch. In addition, on the base PS4, there were fps drops and noticeable reloads when entering buildings, and also, which looks incredible, the lack of vertical synchronization and, as a result, noticeable tearing.

All these shortcomings do not allow us to rate the game highly. On the other hand, you can get genuine pleasure from it if you close your eyes to the existing disadvantages. Even so: judging subjectively, I really enjoyed the trip to Oakmont, despite the lags, bugs and unbearable combat system. The love for atmospheric projects, as well as the warm memories of Silent Hill that The Sinking City evoked, compensated for all the inconveniences of the gameplay.

On 3 февраля, 2023 By alexxlab

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