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The Sinking City

The Sinking City is well worth playing for the initial rhythm of its casework and the freshness of its setting, but its mechanics, like its mystery, end up flooded.
The Sinking City Game Cover
70%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay
Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding
71% User Score Based on 100 reviews
Critic Score 69%Based on 75 reviews

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The Sinking City Game Cover

About The Sinking City

The Sinking City is a single player open world role playing shooter game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Frogwares and was released on March 11, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

The Sinking City is a game of investigation genre taking place in a fictional open world inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The player incarnates a private investigator in 1920s, who finds himself in a city of New England, Oakmont Massachusetts. It's currently suffering from extensive waterflood, and its cause is clearly supernatural.

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The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
The Sinking City screenshot
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Reviews

71%Audience ScoreBased on 100 reviews
story41 positive mentions
stability12 negative mentions
  • The investigation mechanics are well-crafted and rewarding, allowing players to feel like true detectives as they search for clues and make deductions.
  • The atmosphere and setting are deeply inspired by Lovecraftian horror, creating a captivating and immersive experience in the flooded city of Oakmont.
  • The main story and side quests are engaging, with interesting backstories and moral choices that enhance the overall narrative.
  • The combat system is clunky and often frustrating, detracting from the overall experience and making encounters feel tedious.
  • The open world suffers from repetitive environments and recycled assets, leading to a lack of variety and engagement during exploration.
  • Technical issues such as long load times, glitches, and awkward animations hinder the gameplay experience and can break immersion.

  • story

    95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    43% positive mentions, 54% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions

    The story of "The Sinking City" is widely praised for its captivating narrative and strong Lovecraftian influences, featuring a private detective unraveling a mystery in a flooded New England city. Players appreciate the depth of both the main plot and side quests, which are engaging and encourage exploration, although some note that choices have limited impact on the overall outcome. Despite technical shortcomings and clunky gameplay, the atmospheric storytelling and rich lore make it a compelling experience for fans of the genre.

    • “The main storyline is captivating and feels like it's something H.P. Lovecraft himself would have written, with an excellent plot and plenty of choices to be made that will affect the overall outcome and your reward.”
    • “The sinking city has a fantastic story, atmosphere, and investigations, leading to something that feels genuinely unique.”
    • “Despite its shortcomings, the story and the oppressing atmosphere of the sinking city recommend it as one of the best Lovecraft-inspired games to date.”
    • “While this adds to the game's 'literary' merit, it does little for the course of the plot itself, as the choices (though numerous) have little-to-no impact on the plot's course or the game's outcome.”
    • “The advertising is misleading; you have choices, but they don't impact the progression of the story.”
    • “The only part that is somewhat decent is the overall story, but it is completely overshadowed by the gameplay and lackluster world.”

  • gameplay

    50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    26% positive mentions, 54% neutral mentions, 20% negative mentions

    The gameplay in "The Sinking City" is a mixed bag, featuring strong investigation mechanics and a compelling narrative set in a Lovecraftian world, but marred by clunky combat, repetitive tasks, and technical issues. While some players appreciate the blend of detective work and horror elements, many criticize the lack of polish and the overall execution of gameplay systems, leading to a frustrating experience. Despite its flaws, the game offers an intriguing atmosphere and story that may appeal to dedicated fans of the genre.

    • “Gameplay can be roughly divided into three components: investigation, combat, and exploration.”
    • “The sinking city brings together Lovecraftian horror with detective gameplay into a solid horror mystery game.”
    • “Frogwares expertly blends its Sherlock Holmes gameplay formula with Lovecraft's universe to create one of the best Lovecraftian experiences in years.”
    • “Great aesthetics; clunky gameplay.”
    • “Everything considered, The Sinking City certainly has an interesting quest to be explored, but the lack of polish on all of the game's systems and mechanics takes away from any intrigue and ultimately leaves the game not worth your money.”
    • “Dull, monotonous gameplay loop, plenty of bugs and a general lack of polish, lifeless combat.”

  • graphics

    30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    27% positive mentions, 60% neutral mentions, 13% negative mentions

    The graphics of "The Sinking City" receive mixed reviews, with some players noting that they resemble older titles, akin to those from a decade ago, while others appreciate the game's strong aesthetic choices that effectively capture a Lovecraftian atmosphere. While the character and environmental designs are praised for their detail, issues such as pop-in, blurry textures, and occasional glitches detract from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics are described as serviceable but not groundbreaking, with a blend of both commendable aesthetics and noticeable technical shortcomings.

    • “Graphics and sound - the look of the game is Lovecraftian horror come to life: flooded streets, disgusting monsters with tentacles and slime, and people who look downtrodden and even somewhat fishy.”
    • “More important than realism, though, is the fact that the game perfectly captures the aesthetics of the town in painstaking detail, from the graphic design of the scenery, characters, and monsters, to the sound effects.”
    • “Pros: great main story, good characters, if some are weird; decent attempt at skills and combat. Cons: bizarre opening, unbalanced combat, lots of deus ex machina. Graphics: the graphics are surprisingly good.”
    • “The game looks like it came out about 10 years ago, with graphics on par with maybe Fallout: New Vegas, and often awkward-looking facial animations, especially with the eyes.”
    • “Graphics have a lot of pop-in, even when your character feels 2 feet from the object.”
    • “Ps2-like graphics and a boring storyline.”

  • atmosphere

    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    76% positive mentions, 10% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and haunting qualities, effectively capturing the essence of Lovecraftian lore. Reviewers highlight the game's unique world design, compelling storytelling, and a sense of dread that enhances the overall experience, making it a standout in the genre despite some gameplay shortcomings. The oppressive and richly detailed environment of Oakmont contributes significantly to the game's appeal, creating a captivating backdrop for exploration and investigation.

    • “Absolutely top notch atmosphere.”
    • “The sinking city has a fantastic story, atmosphere, and investigations, leading to something that feels genuinely unique.”
    • “Despite its shortcomings, the story and the oppressing atmosphere of the sinking city recommend it as one of the best Lovecraft-inspired games to date.”
    • “The tone and atmosphere of the deranged city of Oakmont is probably the greatest success of the game, though the more tense moments could have been delivered more effectively had they been smaller, more instanced occurrences, the likes of which you'd find in current Resident Evil titles or The Evil Within.”
    • “The bad things are alarming... the more I played the game and stuck with it, the less I cared about them and found myself getting into the story and atmosphere more and more.”
    • “Despite its shortcomings, the story and the oppressing atmosphere of The Sinking City recommend it as one of the best Lovecraft-inspired games to date.”

  • stability

    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game suffers from numerous stability issues, including glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as NPCs appearing behind walls and bizarre combat mechanics. While some players find humor in these bugs, they detract significantly from the overall experience, making it feel repetitive and frustrating. Despite these challenges, there is potential for an engaging story and atmosphere if players can overlook the technical shortcomings.

    • “Probably too ambitious, so we end up with glitches such as people you can see behind walls and stuff like that.”
    • “Although the graphics are good, I couldn't get far because of all the glitches.”
    • “Overall, there's a lot of glitches; it feels somewhat repetitive, the NPCs are weird, and the overall tone just barely misses the mark.”

  • grinding

    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, citing long load times, repetitive exploration in a dark environment, and unengaging combat. The overall experience is marred by technical issues and a lack of interesting content, making progression feel laborious.

    • “This isn't a bad game, just a tedious one at times.”
    • “The long load times become especially tedious while trying to reach a destination in the infested zone where you actually fight seriously bad monsters that require some strategy.”
    • “Moving through the city can be tedious, and lots of the world has nothing of interest.”

  • optimization

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    40% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 60% negative mentions

    The game's optimization is notably lacking, with significant performance issues, long load times, and clunky combat mechanics. Players have reported AI problems, janky animations, and a dated crafting system, which collectively detract from the overall experience. Additionally, the boat transportation system and some sidequests are criticized for their simplicity and technical shortcomings.

    • “Some performance issues, repeated assets, crafting mechanic is dated.”
    • “Writing and performances can vary in quality, janky character animations and voice syncing.”
    • “Optimization is not this game's strong suit, especially when using the boat transportation system.”
    • “Awful load times and major performance issues are regularly annoying; some exceptionally frustrating parts; desperately needs a mini-map.”
    • “Some performance issues, repeated assets, and the crafting mechanic is dated.”

  • replayability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    The game offers notable replayability due to multiple outcomes based on player choices, encouraging exploration of different paths. However, some players feel that once the game is fully experienced, there may be limited incentive to replay it in its entirety. Overall, while it is enjoyable for a single playthrough, the replay value varies among players.

    • “Fun game with great replayability.”
    • “Love its replayability.”
    • “I don't think it has much replay value. In fact, if you're the kind of person who likes to see everything, I'd recommend doing all the side quests during your first playthrough and using saving and reloading to explore alternative choices, because you won't likely feel like going through the whole game a second time.”
    • “Some of the cases even have multiple outcomes depending on what you pick, creating replay value.”

  • music

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, -100% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The music in the game is highly praised for creating a creepy and immersive atmosphere, effectively enhancing the storytelling and overall ambiance. Reviewers commend the use of sound to complement the game's visuals, noting it as one of the best aspects of the experience.

    • “Creepy background music and the monster sounds fill the city.”
    • “4 stars for great ambient music and the best use of shadowing I have seen yet.”
    • “Pleasant surprise - great storytelling, awesome music.”
    • “The background music is unsettling and adds to the creepy atmosphere of the game.”
    • “The monster sounds are jarring and contribute to an overall feeling of unease in the city.”
    • “The music fails to enhance the gameplay experience and often feels out of place.”

  • monetization

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized for misleading advertising that suggests meaningful choices, while in reality, player decisions do not significantly affect the story progression. Additionally, the use of iconic horror imagery in promotions has been noted, but it does not compensate for the lack of depth in gameplay.

    • “The advertising is misleading; you have choices, but they don't impact the progression of the story.”
    • “The monetization system feels exploitative and detracts from the overall experience.”
    • “It's frustrating to see that the game prioritizes profit over player enjoyment with its aggressive monetization tactics.”

  • emotional

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with users noting that the outdated graphics and lackluster storyline fail to evoke any significant feelings or engagement.

    • “The graphics feel outdated, reminiscent of PS2 era, and the storyline fails to engage emotionally.”
    • “I found the emotional depth lacking; it felt more like a chore than an immersive experience.”
    • “The characters didn't resonate with me at all, making it hard to feel any emotional connection.”

  • humor

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Players find the humor in the game largely stems from its amusing glitches, which add an unexpected comedic element to the experience.

    • “This game is also home to a lot of glitches, some of which are quite hilarious.”
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Critic Reviews

69%Critics’ scoreBased on 3 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Sinking City is a open world role playing shooter game with horror and mystery themes.

The Sinking City is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

The Sinking City was released on March 11, 2019.

The Sinking City was developed by Frogwares.

The Sinking City has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked The Sinking City for its story but disliked it for its stability.

The Sinking City is a single player game.