The Sinking City (2021, STEAM PC Gameplay 2021)
4The Sinking City is an horror-themed Action Adventure Detective game that takes huge inspiration from the lore and books of H.P. Lovecraft. The game was developed by Frogwares, and published by Nacon. It was originally released in 2019, then pulled from the market, then sold again in 2020, then pulled from the market once again and now released again in 2021.
This game has trouble brewing all the time in court cases between publisher and developer which sees it being pulled from stores from time to time. However, troubles aside, how does this version 2021 release of the game fair? Let's see.
STORY: 16/20
"In the 1920s, on the East Coast of the United States, the half-submerged city of Oakmont is gripped by supernatural forces. You're a private investigator, uncovering the truth of what has possessed the city and corrupted the minds of its inhabitants... and yours." -STEAM
The game has a number of arching stories within the main story, so you are not just stuck with 1 story to follow and that is it. Each side story (so to say) links within the game's main story. The stories that take place, including the main story, are quite dark and are totally what you'd expect from something inspired from the written works of H.P. Lovecraft.
There's times where the story lacks and you are just left wondering what the hell you are meant to do, this can be a turnoff for some people, where as others will enjoy the open world/exploration feel the story has as you progress.
GRAPHICS: 17/20
The graphics are great, extremely dark and they certainly give off the 1920's era vibe, even down to the weapons used. It baffles me why they gave this 1920's hero a red sequined waist-jacket but whatever, it adds to the mystery I guess. Even though I have stated above that the graphics are great there's still something about them I can't quite put my finger on, something just don't sit right with me and I can't figure out what it is.
SOUND: 14/20
The game has a great library of sound effects and such. It has a ton of voice-acted scenes that adds to the over all theme, darkness, and horror the game is striving for. There's nothing really that jumps out at me music wise that would make me go and listen to the OST or anything, I feel this is where the game is lacking.
I feel the game relies more heavily on atmospheric sounds, bells and whistles over the music tracks.
GAMEPLAY: 14/20
So, the game has you wondering around, talking to people, exploring, figuring out puzzles, doing some weird mind thing where you can see into the past to see what took place. The game (in my opinion) moves and feels similar to the early Silent Hill games but just up closer to the character rather than further away.
Like many other games of this genre, you are able to search draws, cupboards, chests, crates.. etc, for notes, items, and weapons that can help you on your investigation. Bullets for your gun seems to be scarce so saving them for dire situations is best, using your axe (or whatever it is) early on is the best way to go.
The controls are really easy to get used to if using a keyboard and mouse, and using a gamepad makes it even easier. There's some situations where you'll get caught on things and sometimes the jumping up onto things feels a little clunky. Holding down the run button often makes you wonder what's the point in running? 'cos it feels like you are not running.
SYSTEMS: 15/20
The Sinking City has a number of systems in place that works together with the gameplay. There's a cool feature that can be used to rewind time and you can visually see scenes that took place, I guess some type of psychic tuition thing. There's a climbing/jump system that's okay but feels a little clunky.
You can run but you might as well walk because running feels the same and is hardly noticeable. There's a diary of sorts where you can keep track of all your notes, found clues, etc. There's a few more systems but due to letter limitations i'm going to have to skip those minor ones.
OVER ALL: 76/100
SO! current issues aside between Publisher/Developer.. the game is okay, it's not as good as what I was expecting it to be and I felt let down. Such is the case really for any game that looks amazing then turns out to just be okay. Do I recommend this game? sure, but i'd play 'Sherlock and The Devil's Daughter' first and pick this one up in a low-price sale.
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If you're interested in trying this out then you can find it on STEAM here..
https://store.steampowered.com/app/750130/The_Sinking_City/
Have you played this game? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.
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