Sinister City
- October 20, 2014
- JetDogs Studios
- 4h median play time
Get on SteamIn Sinister City, you play as a man searching for his missing fiancée in a eerie, supernatural world. Solve puzzles and uncover dark secrets in this hidden object adventure game, while encountering various mystical creatures. With stunning graphics and a captivating storyline, immerse yourself in this atmospheric and suspenseful experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a humorous and absurd storyline that parodies the vampire genre.
- Easy achievements and a low price make it accessible and enjoyable for casual gamers.
- The voice acting and character designs add a campy charm to the overall experience.
- The game is riddled with bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay.
- Graphics are dated and some hidden objects are poorly rendered, making them hard to find.
- The gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks depth, with many puzzles being overly simplistic.
- story241 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The story is a deliberately cheesy and absurd parody of the vampire genre, filled with humor and ridiculous plot twists that often lead to laughable moments. While some players find it entertaining and amusing, others criticize it for being poorly written and overly simplistic, with gameplay that can feel repetitive. Overall, the narrative is best enjoyed with a light-hearted approach, as it doesn't take itself seriously and is designed for casual fun rather than deep storytelling.
“The story is amusing, especially if you don't know what's coming, and goes from generic to insane in record time.”
“The story revolves around your fiancé getting kidnapped by a vampire and you must save her.”
“The story is weakly done but only tolerable because the dialogue's mediocrity makes it utterly laughable.”
“The story is so bad that the developers had to be more than a little self-aware.”
“The plot is ridiculous, which feels a little bit like King's Quest taken another step or two into out-and-out parody.”
- humor112 mentions
- 96 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mix of intentional absurdity and campy charm, with many players finding it hilariously bad or delightfully silly. While some appreciate the goofy dialogue and ridiculous scenarios, others feel the humor falls flat or is overly simplistic. Overall, the game is best enjoyed by those who embrace its quirky, offbeat style and can appreciate its comedic attempts, even if the execution is uneven.
“The plot, voice acting, and dialogue are really funny.”
“The whole premise of the game is so delightfully absurd that it becomes hilarious.”
“This game is a funny parody of its genre and is so glitchy that I cry and laugh all the time.”
“It is meant to be funny/cringey.”
“One vampire had such a terrible voice, but I think that's supposed to be funny because [spoiler] he is an actor in a children's show.”
“Painfully unfunny.”
- graphics84 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 24 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are widely criticized as outdated and subpar, often described as reminiscent of older gaming eras, with frequent glitches such as floating characters and missing textures. While some users find the visuals acceptable given the game's low price, many agree that the overall quality detracts from the experience, overshadowing the humor and plot. Despite a few positive remarks about character design, the consensus leans towards disappointment in the graphical execution.
“The funny story and graphics are quite good.”
“Mind-blowing graphics.”
“I want to mention that the visuals in the game are well done.”
“The graphics are pretty poor, and at more than one point ends up with 'floating' characters.”
“The amateur-hour graphics don't do Sinister City any favors either, with inconsistent 3D models and some incredibly blurry backgrounds.”
“The graphics are awful, the storyline is nonexistent, and the controls are so strange.”
- gameplay60 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized as standard for the hidden-object genre, featuring easy puzzles and a mix of point-and-click mechanics, but it suffers from clunky controls and technical issues. While some players found it amusing and enjoyable due to its humorous story and lighthearted approach, others criticized it for being uninspired and riddled with bugs. Overall, the gameplay is seen as acceptable for casual play, especially at a low price, but it may not meet the expectations of those seeking more challenging or polished experiences.
“The gameplay was fun for what it is; it doesn't punish you for clicking too much, and the varied puzzles were a nice addition.”
“Bought it as a joke, played it for the thrilling gameplay and excellent story with captivating acting.”
“Not the best in existence, but story-wise it deviates a little from the generic hidden object story (vampires in a situation you probably never expected), alright gameplay (though there's no clicking penalty if you're looking for that) and I liked it overall.”
“The mechanics are clunky and low grade, and the majority of object finding you do is more 'click on everything in sight as it might have something hidden behind it' rather than any real skill in finding things.”
“As wonderfully campy as the story ends up being, the gameplay cannot sustain it, and the technical issues just demolish what's left.”
“Not really recommendable game with its bad gameplay, bad animations, and bad everything else, but I found it good enough for its 0.09 euro price.”
- stability44 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with item loading, graphical errors, and unresponsive interactions, which have persisted for years without fixes from the developers. While some players reported minimal problems, many experienced significant disruptions that hindered gameplay, making it difficult to recommend despite its potential. Overall, the stability of the game is a major concern, with many users expressing frustration over its unreliability.
“The game is rather buggy and there won't be any fixes, but restarting the game helped me resolve all issues.”
“They were the only issues I had personally, but others have complained of far worse, like losing save data every time they closed the game or buggy achievements not registering properly, or in some cases, not even being able to start the game at all.”
“Love the game, but sadly it glitches too much :/ I'm unable to complete it due to the fact that I have to keep reinstalling it every 20-50 minutes to fix the 'bugs' and regain the ability to click the required objects.”
- music29 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as relaxing and well-matched to the mood, with some players appreciating its soothing qualities despite its repetitive nature. While the soundtrack is considered decent and fitting for the game's atmosphere, opinions vary, with some finding it annoying or not particularly memorable. Overall, the music serves as a positive aspect amidst mixed reviews of the game's other elements.
“The music was very relaxing.”
“The music is nicely matched to the mood, including the over-the-top drama.”
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
“The game comes off like a very jerky hybrid of a point and click adventure game that is trying to be a hidden object game, and the soundtrack doesn't fit with the game in my opinion.”
“Everything's horrible but the music.”
“The story is bad, the music is bad, it's full of glitches but hey!”
- replayability9 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game exhibits very low replayability, with most users noting that it offers minimal changes upon replay and is quite short in duration. While there are two difficulty settings, they do not significantly enhance the replay value, leading to a consensus that the game is not designed for repeated playthroughs. Ratings for replayability generally fall around 1 to 5 out of 10.
“It has limited replayability (it features two difficulty settings: easy gives you hints, faster help timer, etc.; normal difficulty does not give you hints as to where to go next, etc.).”
“The replay value is virtually zero; only 2 puzzles changed, and then only slightly.”
“It has very little replay value beyond its second playthrough.”
“This is an overall decent game, but has very little replay value, is short in content, and contains minor flaws.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the repetitive nature of hidden object puzzles that appear too frequently. While some appreciate the game's interesting elements, the excessive grinding detracts from the casual gaming experience.
“I wouldn’t mind it so much if the hidden objects puzzle appeared once or twice, but it appears in every area I go to and it gets to be really tedious after the third area in the game.”
“It's a hidden object game, but it's extremely tedious.”
“This made it very tedious and frustrating, when casual gaming should not bring up these types of situations and emotions.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its cool vampiric and horror elements, while others feel it falls short in delivering a successful comedic tone and unique world. Overall, it effectively captures a classic puzzle game vibe infused with horror, despite some criticisms.
“There is no other spot I can press in terms of negativity; everything else works fine in a cool vampiric atmosphere!”
“Classic puzzle game with a horror atmosphere and setting.”
“The game has a classic puzzle design, but the horror atmosphere feels forced and lacks depth.”
“While the setting is intended to be eerie, it often comes off as bland and uninspired.”
“The atmosphere tries to evoke fear, but instead it feels more like a cliché than a genuine experience.”
- character development2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that while the character design is visually appealing, the overall character development feels lacking, with a desire for deeper narratives and more engaging interactions, particularly involving additional antagonists. The game is still considered enjoyable and well-made, but there is a consensus that it could benefit from enhanced character arcs.
“The character development is engaging and adds depth to the overall experience, making each character feel unique and memorable.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the game, with their backstories and motivations becoming clearer as the story progresses.”
“The interactions between characters are well-written, allowing for meaningful relationships that enhance the narrative.”
“The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
“I expected more growth and complexity in the characters, but they remain one-dimensional throughout the game.”
“There are missed opportunities for character arcs, leaving the story feeling flat and unengaging.”
