The Sinking City is a bit of a favourite of mine, having previewed it way back in 2019 . While I didn't review it, Francesco gave it a respectable 7.8 out of 10 . It's a game I enjoyed playing in my own time, and one I was always interested in revisiting, something I'm now able to do in the now-released The Sinking City 2 .

I will say that my interest isn't only in the game itself, but also in the developers. Frogwares has faced considerable turmoil. The game and studio saw legal wrangling with former publisher Nacon/Bigben Interactive , causing issues, and - of course - there is the significant impact of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, where they live. In a studio of a little over 80 people , of those, 17 have had their homes destroyed or damaged, and 14 have served or are serving in the Ukrainian army . In the 43 months of production, every single day has been impacted by the war, from blackouts, heating outages, and more, to outright death and destruction.

Then there is something that, while it took me out of the game for a second as realisation hit, it tore at my heart. In the third area, you go to a hospital. In a room, there is a simple Easter egg that tore at my heart - X-ray images and stories that are clearly of people from the war, and will be people the developers knew . I'm not going to share them all, just one, and I'm not ashamed to say I got emotional reading them. Screenshots here, then we talk about the game.

I'll start by saying that if you want the open-world and jankiness of the original, you're likely to be at least slightly disappointed. On the other hand, if you want a more focused and polished horror game, this will do the trick . The Sinking City 2 isn't an open-world game, nor does it take place in Oakmont, as in the first game. This time, we're treading on the toes of The Dark Knight, with it being set in the city of Arkham (not that one). What you do is move between specific explorable locations, skipping the movement to them, and it is a linear progression.

This isn't to say the locations aren't reasonably large . Some of them are akin to something you'd find in the Silent Hill 2 remake - think Brookhaven. Indeed, I'd say The Sinking City 2 has drawn a lot of inspiration from Silent Hill 2, particularly in its heavy shift toward survival horror . Features include very limited inventory, of which I do have a bit of a bugbear with, minor crafting elements from what are sparse resources.

You can speed through these locations if you want to, but you'd miss out on a lot . A lot of narrative backstory, a lot of the side-stories, and a hell of a lot of resources, upgrades, and more, to make your progression that bit easier. You will need it, too, because this isn't an easy game; it focuses on survival. That is, unless you put it into the easiest mode, where you can literally turn on combat invincibility in the settings, because you want to get the story.

I'm going to recommend you don't. Stick to the normal difficulty for combat, and "brainy" for investigations . Whichever you choose on the latter, they aren't on the level of the previous game, or those of Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes titles, but they're reasonable enough to keep your brain ticking, and they are primarily around the side-elements only, with only a few as part of the main progression. It means those who do struggle have the option to turn down the difficulty or skip it.

Investigations take place through exploration, finding clues that conveniently pop up in the "investigation space," and linking them . A successful link turns blue, and then it's up to you to read it and figure out what it's actually about. I believe the easy difficulty just tells you the answer; I preferred to figure it out. In my first playthrough, I was able to do all but one side-thing in the game, from what I could tell, missing an early safe whose combination I couldn't figure out.

Where the exploration really helps is that you will gain Dream Shards, which can be used to help unlock perks . You can equip four in total, once you have unlocked the extra slots, and these can range from slightly reduced damage from certain types of enemies to getting a little extra every time you craft some new ammo. You will also gain eldritch points by finding things or performing some actions in the game, which can also be used to unlock very specific perks, extra outfits, or artwork.

What helps with the exploration, and with scrounging for resources in general, is that the minimap does the lovely thing of keeping a room red if you still have something to find, and going blue when you've uncovered everything . It keeps exploration as a key aspect of the lore, but really helps The Sinking City 2 by emphasising its tight survival-horror focus and story, and by keeping that forward momentum going.

What really contributes most towards this is the combat. I'm reminded of the more recent Resident Evil 1 & 2 remakes, or the Silent Hill 2 remake . You can get stuck in with some combat, with some forced combat sequences, but for the most part, discretion may be the better part of valour. Resources, such as ammo for your guns, are limited - and if you are very liberal with their use, you may end up starting to run short when things are getting really hairy.

I would tell you that you've got a melee attack, but if you're using that, it's quite likely you're already in a situation where "get out of there, you bloody idiot" is the best advice you could take. The limitations are also somewhat exaggerated by the extremely limited space in the inventory. There aren't that many items, but I've genuinely got more inventory space in my jeans' pockets , and it's made all the worse by weapons that take up multiple squares, and key quest items using the same space, too.

This becomes, oddly, one of the parts of the game that ended up frustrating me. It feels too punishing . I get that it doesn't want you to carry every single item, but when healing items don't stack, there are limits to the stack of ammo and resources, and there are times you are a fair walk away from a safe room, which contains your magical briefcase which can hold everything.

Did I have any other annoyances or niggles with the game? One puzzle that was required to progress didn't fit in with anything else the game had ever, or ever, throws at you . I wandered between different rooms for at least 30 minutes before I figured it out. Possibly the only other thing is that it does feel less in scope than the original. With only six real areas and taking me around thirteen hours to complete , the city part of the title is noticeably missing; only the first two areas even require you to use a boat, and that's just a pretty linear path.

However, that's arguably an expectation rather than a real gameplay annoyance, because The Sinking City 2 is a far tighter and better-playing game . It has lost some of the original's character due to that game's more open world and jankiness, but it replaces them with an utterly fantastic atmosphere and setting dripping with eldritch horror, and a story that is much more personal. What you would prefer is subjective, as always, and I can thoroughly enjoy this for what it brings.

I would love to tell you about the full story of The Sinking City 2, but I'm not always one for spoilers. So I won't. Needless to say, it's worth sticking around until the end, and the supporting cast of characters always has something interesting about them . The setting, not too far from the first game's location, is an inland city being flooded, adding to the mystical nature of everything.

It's all supported by excellent visuals and audio, perfectly enhancing the atmosphere , with even smaller sounds like the crunch of ice beneath your feet, the buzz of flies, and the sloshing of water, helping to set the scene and engross you in the game. Animations never come across as wonky, with the faces avoiding the uncanny valley fairly well, and just the general movement in and out of combat feels like it has some weight.

So while there are slight negatives around item capacity restrictions and the game moving from the open world to a linear collection of open-ish areas, there are far more positives to take away from this . Linking back to the very start of this review, I'd say it's almost a miracle that the game is in the shape it is, given it was made in a literal warzone, and the impact that must have had.

In all, I'm genuinely a big fan of The Sinking City 2 . I was a fan of the first, and despite the more linear story-focused approach, I would argue this is the better game. This is more professional , for lack of a better word. With tight, weighty, combat, locations dripping with atmosphere and a strong story - surrounded by great world building - there's not a great deal to complain about.

Is it perfect? Nothing ever is. All I know is that I thoroughly enjoyed it, completed it, and will be going back to it to make sure that, in new game plus (there's a new game plus!), I get the secrets I didn't get the first time round. If that isn't an endorsement, nothing ever will be .

PC version reviewed. Copy provided by the publisher.

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8.5

WCCFTECH RATING

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