The Sinking City

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 246 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 96 out of 246
  2. Mixed: 75 out of 246
  3. Negative: 75 out of 246

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. tlalka
    Dec 6, 2019
    7
    Buy this game if you like:
    Lovecraftian horror games.
    Immersive story-telling. Detective games. Do not buy this game if you like: Shooters/action games. Fast-paced games or hand-holding (such as auto-map markers). This is NOT a triple-A game, so be prepared for something that is rough around the edges. The combat is terrible, and traveling the city is tedious, but everything    Buy this game if you like:
    Lovecraftian horror games.
    Immersive story-telling.
    Detective games.

    Do not buy this game if you like:
    Shooters/action games.
    Fast-paced games or hand-holding (such as auto-map markers).

    This is NOT a triple-A game, so be prepared for something that is rough around the edges. The combat is terrible, and traveling the city is tedious, but everything else is great. The detective work is challenging, but not so hard you get stuck, the writing and characters are A+. It's a visually stunning game. I play on max settings, and it looks basically like a triple-A, but with tons of flavor and style. The environments and characters are bursting with personality and fit the mood and theme of the game perfectly. I'm not scared easily, but playing this game for a few hours in the dark will spook me out.    … Expand
  2. REEDDLES
    Jul 19, 2019
    7
    Main evaluation criteria:
    -Story: 7
    -Atmosphere: 8 -Characters: 6 -Graphics and design: 7 -Gameplay: 7 -Sound and Music: 7 -Bugs: 7 -Interface: 8 -Completeness of the world: 7 Аdditional evaluation criteria (Do not really affect the assessment): -Freedom of choice: 7 -Coop in Story mode: 0 -Multiplayer: 0 -Mods and the ability to change the game: 0 Scores from 1 to 10,    Main evaluation criteria:
    -Story: 7
    -Atmosphere: 8
    -Characters: 6
    -Graphics and design: 7
    -Gameplay: 7
    -Sound and Music: 7
    -Bugs: 7
    -Interface: 8
    -Completeness of the world: 7

    Аdditional evaluation criteria (Do not really affect the assessment):
    -Freedom of choice: 7
    -Coop in Story mode: 0
    -Multiplayer: 0
    -Mods and the ability to change the game: 0

    Scores from 1 to 10, the higher the better    … Expand
  3. 0wn3df1x
    Jul 3, 2019
    5
    Концовки оказались куда слабее и бюджетнее, чем сама игра. В плане открытого мира у них вышла скорее технодемка. В плане общего сюжета что-то на уровне Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments. Но прошёл от начала и до конца со всеми допами.

    Можно сказать, что это шаблон под хорошую игру. - Мир нужно избавить от огромной кучи косяков и глитчей. - Вещи в одинаковых зданиях всё таки    Концовки оказались куда слабее и бюджетнее, чем сама игра. В плане открытого мира у них вышла скорее технодемка. В плане общего сюжета что-то на уровне Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments. Но прошёл от начала и до конца со всеми допами.

    Можно сказать, что это шаблон под хорошую игру.
    - Мир нужно избавить от огромной кучи косяков и глитчей.
    - Вещи в одинаковых зданиях всё таки разложить по разным местам.
    - Вместо статической картинки с озвучкой сделать мелкие анимации при просмотре предметов (Когда дырка расширяется)
    - Вместо озвучивания выводов после расстановки последовательности в происшествии, сделать ролик с полным воссозданием этого момента
    - Если шутинг и оставлять, то над ним нужно работать, ближний бой, перекаты, прыжки
    - Но вместе с шутингом надо работать и над монстрами, чтоб та же серия заданий со страшилками направляла игрока не в дом, где один из четырёх стандартных монстров, а в дом, где именно то чудище, что описано в записке.
    - Концовки можно оставить и текущие, но они точно должны длиться куда больше пяти секунд и должны хоть как-то делать выводы из решений игрока.

    А так, тому, что получилось, можно поставить 5/10. Задумка хорошая есть, но видимо бюджета, опыта и сил не хватило на реализацию подобных масштабов.    … Expand
  4. dajew
    Jan 7, 2020
    7
    Of course the game has many disadvantages, but still when playing it I felt it was one of these games that have a soul. Plus it's one of the few Lovecraft-ian games.
  5. Kingdim
    Jan 7, 2021
    7
    I'm not gonna lie, this game has lots of issues : combat gameplay is horrible, menus freezing, bugs, repetitive (houses look like the same) but I give a 7 for the atmosphere; it's not a big budget game, you have to take that in consideration. I enjoyed playing it despite of these big flaws.
  6. FacundoM97
    Jul 6, 2019
    8
    En mi opinión es un muy buen juego,claro que pudo ser mejor pero logra captar tu atención y meterte en esa ambientación de terror suspenso que lovecraft plasmo en sus obras populares,mi consejo es que no esperes a que salga en steam y lo compres claro si prefieres vivir la historia mas que obtener logros y puntos
  7. Bloodnes
    Jan 29, 2020
    8
    Неплохая игра, затянула! Сюжет имеет свои повороты, но вполне понимаешь, что тебя ждет в конце. Но дойдя до конца, осознаешь, что это провал, концовки как таковой нет. Разработчики просто напросто испоганили игру своими тремя концовками. Игра линейна, но геймплей отличный, полное погружение в игру тут есть. Музыкальное сопровождение средненькое. Графика не блещет изысками, сразу видно, чтоНеплохая игра, затянула! Сюжет имеет свои повороты, но вполне понимаешь, что тебя ждет в конце. Но дойдя до конца, осознаешь, что это провал, концовки как таковой нет. Разработчики просто напросто испоганили игру своими тремя концовками. Игра линейна, но геймплей отличный, полное погружение в игру тут есть. Музыкальное сопровождение средненькое. Графика не блещет изысками, сразу видно, что игра делалась для консолей. В Целом рекомендую пройти, игра стоит потраченного времени! 8/10… Expand
  8. Week
    Apr 2, 2020
    9
    Очень не плохая игра с хорошей атмосферой, хоть и не совсем передавающей Лавкрафтианский ужас.
    История и город, а также детективная составляющая очень хороши.
  9. ScathachPreach
    Dec 29, 2020
    10
    A really good take on a detective / crime story and lovecrafts mythos.
    The atmosphere is gorgeous (and somewhat fishy), and the game feels like a good mythos story with all the pulp needed. Just as it should be.
  10. damerboy
    Sep 10, 2019
    8
    This is a really great game, and really underrated. The story is pretty good, everything you would want from a Lovecraftian game. The mechanics were also really interesting, with some of the best detective mechanics, and dare i say one of the best detective games I've ever played, yet it is sometimes repetitive, and the combat mechanics aren't anything spectacular, but no as bad asThis is a really great game, and really underrated. The story is pretty good, everything you would want from a Lovecraftian game. The mechanics were also really interesting, with some of the best detective mechanics, and dare i say one of the best detective games I've ever played, yet it is sometimes repetitive, and the combat mechanics aren't anything spectacular, but no as bad as everyone says it is. It is probably the best Lovercarftian game, and if you enjoy good detective mechanics, a great story, amazing atmosphere and a beautiful looking city, then you would enjoy this game 100%.… Expand
  11. Missya122
    Jul 15, 2019
    8
    Very good game for people enjoying slow tension building, intriguing atmospehere, fascinating stories and lots of reading.
    PROS:
    + great, heavy game aura makes you "sink" into the world very quickly, espacially if you like this kind of creepy, mysterious climates + lots of knowledge from Lovecraft works, if you value getting to know world better not only through NPC talks and action,    Very good game for people enjoying slow tension building, intriguing atmospehere, fascinating stories and lots of reading.
    PROS:
    + great, heavy game aura makes you "sink" into the world very quickly, espacially if you like this kind of creepy, mysterious climates
    + lots of knowledge from Lovecraft works, if you value getting to know world better not only through NPC talks and action, you will surely enjoy diaries, book pages and souvenirs you will find in the game through the quests
    + hard to make, important decision (not like in telltales, they are smartly designed)
    + nice details in the buildings interiors
    + good soundtrack ( really creepy monsters and not only sounds)
    + requires some thinking in your tasks, for ex you're not given quest location immdeiately, you have to search archives first to find clues
    + open ending that imho indicates that the developers may be thinking about continuation, many threads has been left open

    CONS:
    - kinda PS3 graphic outside the building ( but still atmospheric, not that big thing,but if you value high quality textures, you may be bit disappointed)
    - interiors recycle ( lots of building has same rooms layout and furniture)
    - NPCs and monsters bugs, also textures bugs, but not actively interrupting the gameplay
    - many open threads may be also a disadvantage if you're into the story and not given the answer to "what really happend"
    - bad melee fight design ( not precise at all) , only "ok" shooting
    - small number of monster types
    - technical quests motonny ( "go here from there, kill something, gather some data and return " type (( but they contain some very good stories nevertheless)) )

    If you're into mysterious, atmospheric and story-driven games its definitely 8/10, if you value action , fight and character development more it's 7/10. Worth a try.    … Expand
  12. Jantho
    Jul 16, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As big Lovecraft fan, I waited for this game very much. It's not ideal and has bugs and some moments that could have beeen improved if developers had more time but overall it's very good.

    I liked the open-world city of Oakmont. Every district is different from each others and has some stuff like posters, which add atmosphere or some interesting places like monument in Advent, train station or wheel at the park.

    The most strongest side of this game is detective investigations. Special sight, retrocognition and mind palace make every investigation intriguing and interesting to solve. Even more, you can make different decisions based on the evidence, and sometimes you need to be pretty careful to make the correct choice.

    The monsters are good and can be frightening, but it's a pity that there is basically only 4 monster types. The weapon system, craft and rpg skill tree are fine.

    The other strong part of the game is its well-written scenario and characters, each of whom have its motivation and personality. However, the finale could have been written better and depend more on the past actions.

    So, as Lovecraftian fan I rate this game 9/10, but for people who are not found of Lovecraft books this game can be not so interesting.    … Expand
  13. Blacknife
    Jun 27, 2019
    8
    Game has that old school figure-it-out style gameplay that a lot of older games had but, sadly, newer games lack. A few minor bugs here and there wont ruin your experience with this game. The world is large and has plenty in it if you look hard enough and the over arching story is very involving.
  14. Gizilq
    Jun 29, 2019
    4
    В этой игре плохо буквально все.
    1. Абсолютно пустой опенворлд. По нему ходят болванчики родом из 2005 года. Там ничего не происходит.
    3. 99% помещений будут лютой копипастой. Вплоть до расположения мебели и вещей. Учитывая что помещений в игре довольно мало, это очень плохо. 2. Хождение по адресам. Смотри как все происходит. Идет задание тебе говорят найти какого-то человека. Если    В этой игре плохо буквально все.
    1. Абсолютно пустой опенворлд. По нему ходят болванчики родом из 2005 года. Там ничего не происходит.
    3. 99% помещений будут лютой копипастой. Вплоть до расположения мебели и вещей. Учитывая что помещений в игре довольно мало, это очень плохо.
    2. Хождение по адресам. Смотри как все происходит. Идет задание тебе говорят найти какого-то человека. Если известно где он, то открываешь карту и ищешь на ней "Район Зюзино, улица Затопленая, на пересечении улицы Гопницкой и Проспекта Обрыгалова". А потом ножками ищешь, так как номеров домов тупо нет. Если нет адреса, то идешь в Ратушу/Клинику/Газету/Библиотеку и ищешь адрес через архивы. И так постоянно.
    3. Очень плохая боевка.
    4. Только что. Прохожу значит майнквест и сталкивает меня игра с ребенком. Только вот разрабы не смогли нарисовать модельку ребенка и перед нами стандартная модель 180 сантиметрового мужика, которую я уже раз двадцать на улице видел.
    Эта игра настолько плохо сделана, что продолжаешь играть только для того чтобы посмотреть, что разработчики еще сделали не так.    … Expand
  15. Oxhorn
    Jun 28, 2019
    8
    The Sinking City is a slow-paced detective game blending the supernatural with psychological horror. The setting is faithfully Lovecraftian as advertised, and has some intriguing moments, but it suffers from poor writing, poor voice acting, a clunky interface, and lack of all-around polish. If those can be overlooked, the game is atmospheric enough to be immersive, and the world brims withThe Sinking City is a slow-paced detective game blending the supernatural with psychological horror. The setting is faithfully Lovecraftian as advertised, and has some intriguing moments, but it suffers from poor writing, poor voice acting, a clunky interface, and lack of all-around polish. If those can be overlooked, the game is atmospheric enough to be immersive, and the world brims with genuine ingenuity that, although sometimes odd and even silly, is ultimately compelling.

    Players who are expecting a AAA, polished game will be disappointed. There are numerous minor bugs, and enemies often clip through walls or get stuck on geometry. The CGI cutscenes are rendered in low quality, which stands out glaringly when using high-resolution displays. It is best to go into the game understanding that it is an indie game produced with limited resources.

    The interface feels dated. It is clunky, with large flat icons, some of which are more elaborate than they need to be, making the interface initially confusing. The interface has a lot to do--manage inventory, quests, lore and other notes, maps, and even craft items. Once you get used to it, it;s not so bad, and after a few hours I was able to quickly get it to do what I needed it to.

    The game pulls a lot of inspiration from L.A. Noire, providing a case-tracking system that is far more complex than Noire's simple notebook. It's a bit tricky to figure out at first, but once you get the hang of it, it makes it much easier to solve cases (without the need of infuriating "intuition" points).

    The game's first case acts as its tutorial. The case will last a few hours, during which there is limited combat. Only after the tutorial case does the game truly become "open world". At that time, the game dumps a metric ton of new quests and lore on you all at once--a new main quest, and two new side quests, dozens of new notes and locations, each of which has to be manually marked on the world map before proceeding.

    Once we finally get to explore the city, however, the game becomes truly compelling. Half the city's streets are submerged, so we travel by foot and boat frequently. The city is littered with unmarked side locations unrelated to any of the quests where we can find scrap, lore, enemies, and consumables. Each street corner is hand-crafted. Once we can explore the open world, the gameplay truly shines. It just takes a few hours to get there.

    It has an interesting "Mind Palace" feature, which allows the detective to go back in time and witness the crime as it happens, and then track suspects--similar to the Memento Mortem from Return of the Obra Dinn, but in full motion. This feature is one of the best parts of the game, making each crime scene intriguing. For those who like slow-paced, methodical detective games, this one has a lot that makes it worth a look.

    Solving cases is fun. Each case culminates with the player having to make one of two choices. We do not know which one is the "right" one until after the choice is made. These choices do have in-world consequences, which turn up in lore we find later in the game.

    My biggest disappointment is the unsophisticated way the story is told to us. This is magnified by the poor writing and voice acting. The protagonist's voice (and appearance) is jarring, and they grind on your nerves as you continue to play. He finds unfunny things funny, has red-herring dialogue clumsily designed to throw the player off the right track, and is surprised by unsurprising events. Many characters look like stereotypes--you can pick out the game's villain by how the villain dresses and talks.

    In the end, the game is fun if you can overlook some of its clunky issues. For players who are looking to immerse themselves in a distinct, intriguing world, The Sinking City will provide hours of entertainment.    … Expand
  16. Bluehydra
    Jun 27, 2019
    1
    I would recommend waiting for the game too improve a lot more before even trying to buy. also get it on steam or GOG instead due to their action on making this game a exclusive, and slapping a lot of people who got the game in the face.

    The overall story seems okay for what i played so far. but the world and gameplay fall flat, due to the game isn't Finished and needs heavy work in    I would recommend waiting for the game too improve a lot more before even trying to buy. also get it on steam or GOG instead due to their action on making this game a exclusive, and slapping a lot of people who got the game in the face.

    The overall story seems okay for what i played so far.
    but the world and gameplay fall flat, due to the game isn't Finished and needs heavy work in teems of gameplay and world design.

    The AI's are just not working and randomly walking around without a function or purpose,
    the map design is a mess and kills the story you are trying to follow.
    There are so many bugs its sad. (floating ai, texture issues. etc")

    I wish the game had a more linear gameplay instead of the open world gameplay due to the lack of Life in the map.    … Expand
  17. DreamCore
    Jun 29, 2019
    3
    This game was clearly developed by a team of rookies.

    1) The graphics is below mediocre and the worst LOD I've ever seen (entire building showing up in front of you). 2) Characters standing in mid-air. 3) Buggy animations and the characters just snap when they change walking direction instead of doing a smooth turn. 5) Buggy AI pathfinding that tries to walk into objects and    This game was clearly developed by a team of rookies.

    1) The graphics is below mediocre and the worst LOD I've ever seen (entire building showing up in front of you).

    2) Characters standing in mid-air.

    3) Buggy animations and the characters just snap when they change walking direction instead of doing a smooth turn.

    5) Buggy AI pathfinding that tries to walk into objects and walls.

    4) Sound is buggy and often produces crackling distorted noice

    5) Many indoor environments look identical. I've been to several different houses and I thought at first it was one and the same house with just a few minor visual differences. Same goes for many of the characters.

    5) Bad performance. Doesn't matter if you play in 4k or 2k with/without anti-aliasing, the performance is still garbage even with a 2080 Ti even though the game visually looks like a PS3 game.

    5) Buggy settings, after chaning to full-screen once, windowed fullscreen stopped working and won't cover the entire screen.

    6) The gameplay is very repetitive, with 50% of the time spent walking aroun the empty bland city.

    This game was clearly rushed with no care for quality. Do yourself a favor and save your money.    … Expand
  18. Cthulhu_Sir
    Jun 28, 2019
    8
    A very good plot and lore accompanied by clunky mechanics. But it does not deserve such low ratings. If you are into plot - play it. If you are into gameplay - skip it.
  19. Babutto
    Jul 21, 2019
    6
    Good things:
    - Lovecraftian mythology;
    - Story (more or less); - Detective gameplay. Bad: - Open world. It doesn't work and unnecessary. The world seems dead. And boring. - Used too many contradictory storylines based on Lovecraft mythos. - Combat and healing gameplay. - Cut scenes. Terrible. Predictable and boring. This game I assume is even a bigger failure than CoC 2018,    Good things:
    - Lovecraftian mythology;
    - Story (more or less);
    - Detective gameplay.

    Bad:
    - Open world. It doesn't work and unnecessary. The world seems dead. And boring.
    - Used too many contradictory storylines based on Lovecraft mythos.
    - Combat and healing gameplay.
    - Cut scenes. Terrible. Predictable and boring.

    This game I assume is even a bigger failure than CoC 2018, because with this one we had more expectations.    … Expand
  20. rBose
    Mar 2, 2021
    10
    very good game and characters strongly recommend, good atmosphere and graphics
  21. OfCourse
    Mar 21, 2021
    0
    Developers took Lovecraft's work and spun it into the new cult of "racism bad". Except they did it for the FISH people, who became that way because of their cult devoted to a literal FISH DEMON who is in league with a ELDRICH HORROR. So they try to portray those understandably untrusted and discriminated horrific mutants as oppressed victims of KKK, to make parallels with American blacks.Developers took Lovecraft's work and spun it into the new cult of "racism bad". Except they did it for the FISH people, who became that way because of their cult devoted to a literal FISH DEMON who is in league with a ELDRICH HORROR. So they try to portray those understandably untrusted and discriminated horrific mutants as oppressed victims of KKK, to make parallels with American blacks. Well what happens when KKK are the only ones whos actively fighting a worshipers of the cult to EDRICH HORROR? No matter how you try to humanize the FISH people, the KKK look like the good guys, you absolute pillocks. Developers wanted to be so woke and give Lovecraft's racism a middle finger so badly, they did a full circle and made the KKK look rational. Incredible, just amazing.
    The gameplay is poorly made and boring.    … Expand
  22. masterwishx
    Jul 2, 2019
    7
    One more very interesting game from Frogwares, Detective plus Lavcraft. One of the best game of the year.
    Very Good project.
  23. igolrum
    May 26, 2021
    8
    The atmosphere, characters and neat little stories are definintely pretty nice.
    Gameplay is a bit clunky and they unfortunately didn't really tie things together into a satisfying main story finale/ending. More of a collection of good small stories.
  24. Sheblov
    Sep 24, 2021
    9
    A normal game with a good storyline. The combination of many things in the lovecraft genre makes the gameplay truly interesting.
  25. Ingepunk
    Sep 1, 2019
    3
    Ok, You Start the Game with a boring Intro. Then you walk to a Guy who bubbles boring stuff (10 minutes long). Then you walk to another (Ape)Guy who bubbles boring stuff and give you your first Quest. His Apeboy is missing. Then you walk to a Crime Scene, do boring stuff and find out Apeboy was Murdered.
    Now you can go back to Apeguy and tell him what ever you want. BORING!
    - Graphics    Ok, You Start the Game with a boring Intro. Then you walk to a Guy who bubbles boring stuff (10 minutes long). Then you walk to another (Ape)Guy who bubbles boring stuff and give you your first Quest. His Apeboy is missing. Then you walk to a Crime Scene, do boring stuff and find out Apeboy was Murdered.
    Now you can go back to Apeguy and tell him what ever you want. BORING!

    - Graphics ok
    - Sound (speech, "Music", Weapons) not so good
    - Gameplay, God it's Hell of a F**k

    Don't Play this Game, even you wish to Torture yourself!    … Expand
  26. Tidytib
    Sep 2, 2019
    2
    Confusing story line, unnecessarily long gameplay, confusing game mechanics.i rather play call of cthulhu four times in a row then this.game is not optimize properly. I literally have to push my self to play this game.in this vast open World there is absolutely nothing to do.NPC doing funny **** kinda takes away all the seriousness about this game.
  27. OmegaKaiju
    Jun 30, 2019
    9
    I am now around 20 hours into the game. It's definitely one of my favourites this year. The detective work with visions is great and also looking up crimes in the police archives etc. is done greatly and not something that slows the game progress.
    Everybody has a great story to tell and the decisions you take are very impactful and the outcome hard to forese. They are clearly not black and    I am now around 20 hours into the game. It's definitely one of my favourites this year. The detective work with visions is great and also looking up crimes in the police archives etc. is done greatly and not something that slows the game progress.
    Everybody has a great story to tell and the decisions you take are very impactful and the outcome hard to forese. They are clearly not black and white and I often do think, was this the right choice? Only let down is the combat at the beginning of the game. A few hours into it and after spending a few skill points it gets easier. Besides even the witcher 3 combat is more clunky.
    Even when dying, the auto save system got your back and you do not lose much progress.
    3 save slots are available for manual saving.
    I will definitely play through this game again. All the negative ign etc. ratings show that they haven't played the game for a long tim.
    There are some minor bugs and flaws but nothing game breaking.    … Expand
  28. ecelum
    Jul 1, 2020
    0
    EPIC doesn't care about it's playerbase or anything but money. They scrapped paragon, and now they've scrapped save the world. Don't waste your money buying any of their games - it likely will never be finished, and they will let the playerbase slowly dwindle and die.
  29. Borreh1973
    Jul 24, 2019
    1
    This game sucks. Gameplay is complete failure. Try playing with an xbox control in a PC that is running big games (AC Odyssey is an example) and you will cry in pain when you die because you are an imbecile and don't hit a creeping bug with a shovel.
    I took my money and tore up with this game. I could not get a refund. I tried but wasted my time trying to like this piece of trash. Waste    This game sucks. Gameplay is complete failure. Try playing with an xbox control in a PC that is running big games (AC Odyssey is an example) and you will cry in pain when you die because you are an imbecile and don't hit a creeping bug with a shovel.
    I took my money and tore up with this game. I could not get a refund. I tried but wasted my time trying to like this piece of trash. Waste of money and my time with the download and the game. I gave up and uninstalled after 20h forever lost and headache gained.    … Expand
  30. AleixoAlonso
    Jun 29, 2019
    7
    I first heard about the title "The Sinking City" a few months ago when IGN uploaded a circa 10-minute long video showcasing the game. I wasn't immediately hooked but became interested rather quickly. I went to the Epic store and pre-purchased the Necronomicon edition of the game to get all the bonuses that were available.
    I was given free access to one of the developer's previous titles    I first heard about the title "The Sinking City" a few months ago when IGN uploaded a circa 10-minute long video showcasing the game. I wasn't immediately hooked but became interested rather quickly. I went to the Epic store and pre-purchased the Necronomicon edition of the game to get all the bonuses that were available.
    I was given free access to one of the developer's previous titles "Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter" and played that for hours! I thought to myself "If The Sinking City is anything like this, then I will most likely have a good time!"

    So, the game came out and was excited as ever! I was hoping for it to be the next L.A. Noire but quickly learned that it's nowhere near the 2011 Detective Thriller by Team Bondi.
    The first introductory case shows you the main mechanics of the game and teaches you the controls. I did enjoy finding the clues and piecing together the big picture and eventually solving the case, but a few things were off-putting; the clues you need to find aren't hidden at all, a white diamond hovering above the clues makes it pretty easy for the player to locate them. Other than in L.A. Noire, you can't progress until you have found and examined all the clues. This means, that if you did overlook a blood-splatter or forgot to use Charles' (the character you play control) psychic powers, you have to wander around until you find all the evidence which can be frustrating.
    If you're used to characters that feel "weighty" or that have "mass" to them, you're out of luck, because Charles can spin around like a Beyblade if you want him to, which can break your immersion, since the human body isn't able to do a 180° turn in the snap of a finger.

    The open-world is filled with interesting-looking scenes that, sadly, serve no purpose at all. You see lots of crashed vehicles, some of them still on fire, yet you never see a car in motion. There are tons of NPCs roaming the streets, but none of them interact with Charles.

    But it's not all bad! Like I mentioned before, if the game bears resemblance with the Sherlock games, then I'd have a good time and, thankfully, it does! The developers took the best parts of the Sherlock games and polished them for "The Sinking City". Searching for information that will help you with your current case in Oakmont's archive is a neat challenge. The "Mind Palace" we already know from Sherlock Holmes, has been updated and works tons better in "The Sinking City".

    As for the story, I have to admit, I have yet to complete the game, but I am well into the game at this point. That being said, I can tell you that in my opinion, the story is compelling, mysterious and somewhat scary! Other than L.A. Noire, you don't have multiple, disconnected cases. There is one main story that connects all main cases with one another and the side cases are a nice addition to them.

    Sure, the game isn't the prettiest, it has some bugs and I would love to have a first-person view because Charles likes to get in the way, but let's not forget that this isn't a triple A title.

    My verdict: The Sinking City is a solid detective game, telling a compelling story, in an interesting setting!    … Expand
  31. Hologram
    Jun 29, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is all very important that you have been working with the organisation and to be able that you will not have to wait until the end of the game to be submitted by the end.… Expand
  32. Ashenkhar
    Jun 27, 2019
    0
    This game would have been far superior on a non-Epic games platform.
    1) No cloud saves.
    2) No achievements. 3) Epic store only (see 1 and 2) Basically, this dumpster fire was rushed to market so that Epic could have another exclusive under their belts. Too bad these guys sold out to Epic. This is the type of AAA game that will be $19.99 in a couple of months... except, since it's    This game would have been far superior on a non-Epic games platform.
    1) No cloud saves.
    2) No achievements.
    3) Epic store only (see 1 and 2)

    Basically, this dumpster fire was rushed to market so that Epic could have another exclusive under their belts. Too bad these guys sold out to Epic.

    This is the type of AAA game that will be $19.99 in a couple of months... except, since it's an Epic exclusive, they'll probably price gouge until it comes out on Steam.    … Expand
  33. Lother
    Nov 7, 2021
    0
    The more I played, the more it devolved into pandering, progressive woke nonsense. Every checkbox is ticked here and shoved in your face:

    - oppressed illegal immigrants that did nothing wrong? check - rich individuals who wont share their wealth with the poor? check - charitable individuals redistributing the rich one's wealth to the poor? multiple check - secret homo relationship    The more I played, the more it devolved into pandering, progressive woke nonsense. Every checkbox is ticked here and shoved in your face:

    - oppressed illegal immigrants that did nothing wrong? check
    - rich individuals who wont share their wealth with the poor? check
    - charitable individuals redistributing the rich one's wealth to the poor? multiple check
    - secret homo relationship heavy handedly shoved as an afterthought you discover from a photo and never mentioned again? check
    - women's rights movement? check

    The game also clearly bashes you over the head with what the creators think is the correct moral decision(the PROGRESSIVE one) in each instance. You're given stupid choices like: expose a clearly evil person part of a dark cult by poisoning the food they distribute to the poor in order to gain members or simply leaving her alone. I mean, seriously, what the actual F?

    Oh and the gameplay is pretty clunky and just annoying. You run out of ammo so damn fast then have to scrounge for more. It's not like you can AVOID monsters, most of the time you do have to fight them and they take so many hits to go down. What's the point of giving the player supposedly better and better weapons if those don't 1-shot weaker enemies? 4-5 shotgun blasts to take down a giant, same for rifle rounds.....huh?

    I only gave this a chance because it really did start out very promising and had SOME elements from H.P. Lovecraft done well. I should have suspected the level of wokeness when the game went exclusive to Epic for so long.

    Don't play this, play Eternal Darkness, a perfect adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft themes. Oh how I wish they would just make a remaster of that instead.    … Expand
  34. acestealth
    Jul 14, 2019
    7
    Played it to completion and would give it a 7 given I'm a Lovecraft fan. The negatives are the combat is clunky, it definitely feels like a map simulator at times (you will spend an inordinate amount of time using the map to hunt down street names for objectives), the skill system is uninspired, sometimes they overuse notes/memo's to relay the horror that is going on in the game when a bitPlayed it to completion and would give it a 7 given I'm a Lovecraft fan. The negatives are the combat is clunky, it definitely feels like a map simulator at times (you will spend an inordinate amount of time using the map to hunt down street names for objectives), the skill system is uninspired, sometimes they overuse notes/memo's to relay the horror that is going on in the game when a bit more seeing it actually happen even outside a cut scene would have been far more impactful, and the endings seemed a bit short and anti-climactic.

    Now the positives...The world itself was to me quite immersive. As each case unfolds you are allowed to make choices on who you side with, what you do, and there is impact to these choices as far as the individual cases and even a few main story points as you go. I was also impressed at the moral ambiguity of some of the choices. If your RP'ing it, they generally give you enough clues to find and determine what would be the most "moral" choice is, but at times its up to your own determination of if the ends justified the means. While many will complain the population outside of the main characters are lifeless, I beg to differ. While non-interactable there was a lot of attention to detail and making the city feel immersive. If you pay attention as your running around you will see people fighting their own battles over food, haggling, begging, etc, but better yet as things in the game unfold you start to see changes. After a mission involving poisoning of food given to the people for example, for the duration of the game after I noticed people being sick on the street as I passed. The districts of the city as they were also seemed distinct and well done with minimal rehash of the buildings/interior maps (even then the interior details were rearranged often).

    Overall, I enjoyed this jaunt into Lovecraftian lore. If your into also, you likely would enjoy the game as well.    … Expand
  35. covex
    Jul 5, 2019
    6
    Honestly I wanted to give more this game, but I can't. I catch myself on idea that I don't wanna come back and play that game and it's not a good sign. What's good in this game is plot and sound. They made my score so high and other than them everything other is disappointing.CoCombat system is
  36. gameking
    Mar 18, 2020
    5
    Very good potential and very bad game. The mechanics are very bad. The graphics looks like a very old games.. And you can loose your mind because the travel is very very long and bored. Maybe you can finish this game in 20 hours but minimum half of them is travel. Fast travels are useless too many times.In this game just detective parts and atmosphere good. Other tings are very bad. IVery good potential and very bad game. The mechanics are very bad. The graphics looks like a very old games.. And you can loose your mind because the travel is very very long and bored. Maybe you can finish this game in 20 hours but minimum half of them is travel. Fast travels are useless too many times.In this game just detective parts and atmosphere good. Other tings are very bad. I don't want a write about optimization because it doesn't have.… Expand
  37. fingerfest
    Jul 5, 2019
    5
    В этой игре посредственно практически всё: открытый мир, геймплей, визуал. Только сценаристы старались выдать что-то более-менее стоящее, и в некоторых моментах у них это даже получалось. Но чем ближе к финалу, тем всё ниже падала планка сюжета.

    Настоящих детективных расследований, как в том же Шерлоке – тут нет, всё максимально казуально и линейно. Выборы, сделанные по ходу игры, не    В этой игре посредственно практически всё: открытый мир, геймплей, визуал. Только сценаристы старались выдать что-то более-менее стоящее, и в некоторых моментах у них это даже получалось. Но чем ближе к финалу, тем всё ниже падала планка сюжета.

    Настоящих детективных расследований, как в том же Шерлоке – тут нет, всё максимально казуально и линейно. Выборы, сделанные по ходу игры, не имеют никакого отношения к финалу.

    Игра просто утопает в однообразии. Начиная с однотипных декораций и сайд-квестов,
    заканчивая репетативным геймплеем. Интерес к прохождению подпитывает только история. Обычно я люблю, когда продолжительность сюжетно-направленной игры составляет 10+ часов, но это не тот случай.

    Советовать игру никому не стану. Если вы фанат сеттинга и цените сюжетную составляющую, то вы скорее всего уже поиграли и сделали свой вывод. Если же вы сомневаетесь играть или нет. Лучше не стоит. Приберегите 20 часов своей жизни на что-то более увлекательное.

    5/10 за первую половину сюжета, персонажей, озвучку и местами интересные моральные выборы.    … Expand
  38. Mehrshad_MB
    Oct 29, 2020
    6
    Probably it is the best Lovecraftian game. Because, however, game developers are not interested in making Lovecraftian games and there's no AAA game based on Lovecraft's book. So Sinking City is best in its genre so far.
    Before I started playing the game, the thing I was expecting (based on trailers and wallpapers of game) was totally different with game itself. I expected a dark city    Probably it is the best Lovecraftian game. Because, however, game developers are not interested in making Lovecraftian games and there's no AAA game based on Lovecraft's book. So Sinking City is best in its genre so far.
    Before I started playing the game, the thing I was expecting (based on trailers and wallpapers of game) was totally different with game itself. I expected a dark city with mysterious people and places. However the game couldn't really create the atmosphere I wanted.
    The game is open-world but there are not so many things to do in it except shooting random people in the head, which game does NOT ALLOW! (Oh, I was about to forget...the other fun thing is watching people aimlessly walking into walls and then turning back!)
    It's kind of bad that options in customizing character has been decreased in comparison with Sherlock Holmes Devil's Daughter.
    The only thing I can surely admire is missions in the game. The story itself is...eh...not bad. But cases, including side cases are so intriguing and they're not similar or boring.
    I wish I could tell "the story progresses with choices you make" but making decisions does not affect anything at all and the story is same until last. Game has 3 endings and the last mission is the only mission your choices matter.
    Generally, it was not totally bad or so great but it's definitely worth playing. Specially if one is interested in detective games.
    (October 2020)    … Expand
  39. Panacea_Bullet
    Nov 7, 2019
    6
    As a fan of HPL this is a serviceable game; however, the glitches are somewhat unforgivable this long after launch.
  40. watchm824
    Apr 27, 2021
    6
    This game pissed me off very often. The game has an interesting investigation system and a good plot.
    But everything else is pretty bad. Terrible combat system. Constant and annoying running around the dull and boring city. And also bad graphics and animation.
    It would be better if the developers paid attention not to the scale of the city, but to its detail and quality.
  41. hoanns
    Jun 6, 2020
    4
    Solving cases is okay, but the badly made 'open world', clunky gameplay and awful npcs make this game too unimmersive for me to play. Shame, could've been an intriguing game if they developed it properly.
  42. gromalay78
    Aug 4, 2020
    7
    Как игра она интересная, но выглядит и играется прям привет из нулевых. глядя на нее нельзя сказать что игра 2019 года. По Скидке можно смело рекомендовать, сюжет тут добротный! А концовка "дно" дно тонущего города)
  43. ErayTellezi
    Nov 18, 2020
    5
    Grafikleri ve combat'ı 15 yıl öncesinden kalmış gibi. Hikayesi belki iyi olabilir ama bu devride oynanabilirliği çok düşük.
  44. CDrew
    Mar 25, 2020
    8
    i was about to downgrade the game's score for being an Epic exclusive, but the developers got out a very nice physical edition, which was very nice of them (and the only way they convinced me to buy it).

    In any case, I can tell you that, if you're into investigation and games with a horror tone, this game is amazing. It features quite a lot of very good storytelling, enthralling    i was about to downgrade the game's score for being an Epic exclusive, but the developers got out a very nice physical edition, which was very nice of them (and the only way they convinced me to buy it).

    In any case, I can tell you that, if you're into investigation and games with a horror tone, this game is amazing. It features quite a lot of very good storytelling, enthralling mysteries, and tough moral choices. It is pretty much the only open-world investigation game out there of this quality, and, in my opinion, it deserves support if only because of this.

    The investigation mechanics are, by far, the game's strongest pro. Most cases feel like a genuine mystery, and having to browse through different types of archives to get the next clues is always exciting.

    Combat is not so great most of the time, but the different types of weapons, explosives, and RPG progression do tend to make it somewhat more strategic.

    Graphics is also pretty good for such an indie game, particularly the lighting.

    In the end, the game's biggest problem is that it feels crushed down by its own ambitions. It seems quite clear to me that, with a bigger budget, this could easily have ended up as one of the best games of the century. Like this, however, animations are all pretty clunky, NPCs have little diversity in terms of appearance and unrealistic reactions, and many of the buildings' and streets' templates feel copy/pasted, with only minor modifications here and there. This decreases a lot of the game's exploration fun, but not enough to crush it altogether in my opinion.

    In the end, I definitely recommend the game for people looking for a good Lovecraftian/supernatural investigation game with a good story. Get over the clunkiness and overall lacking open world, and you will be quite surprised and satisfied.    … Expand
  45. M7AMD
    May 21, 2023
    2
    this game is terrible. the story was somewhat appealing but the way these developers decided to go with it is so bad and boring, first of all who the hell thought the open world was a good idea?! most of the game is running through the streets and alleys in an empty and doll world, even the idea of fast traveling was terrible.

    i liked the first chapter of the game, but it slowly dragged    this game is terrible. the story was somewhat appealing but the way these developers decided to go with it is so bad and boring, first of all who the hell thought the open world was a good idea?! most of the game is running through the streets and alleys in an empty and doll world, even the idea of fast traveling was terrible.

    i liked the first chapter of the game, but it slowly dragged without exciting things happening.
    overall i do not recommend it i had to force myself to finish it

    2/10    … Expand
  46. F1_is_WWE
    Oct 8, 2022
    3
    In The Sinking City, Frogwares attempted to take the point and click mystery gameplay of their second line of Sheclock Holmes games (The Testament Of, Crimes and Punishment, The Devil's Daughter) and merge it into an open-world thrid-person shooter in a Cthullu horror setting. They failed in all respects.

    The first line of Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes games consisted of ordinary point &    In The Sinking City, Frogwares attempted to take the point and click mystery gameplay of their second line of Sheclock Holmes games (The Testament Of, Crimes and Punishment, The Devil's Daughter) and merge it into an open-world thrid-person shooter in a Cthullu horror setting. They failed in all respects.

    The first line of Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes games consisted of ordinary point & click gameplay. You search for clues on the screen, you combine items in your inventory to solve puzzles, and you play minigames. In their second line of games, Frogwares added the deduction screen - you now had to take various conjectures and deduce the culprit on your own. They were praised for this innovation and their games received high scores. But Sinking City does away with most of this mystery gameplay. Because it is a third person shooter, you don't have a cursor on the screen - so you don't actually search for clues, you just walk around the crime scene and click on all highlighted prompts. Neither do you have an inventory to solve puzzles, and there are no minigames. The deduction screen returns, but you don't actually deduce anything - it's only purpose is to provide you with different "moral choices" (which, of course, don't impact the story). The only time you actually use your brain is when the game tells you to search an archive - you will have to pick the correct archive to search (out of ~10) and then pick the correct categories to serach (out of ~4). That's it. And this is on the hard "detective mode", mind you.

    The shooting isn't terrible, but it is outdated. It reminded me of the first Mafia game, in that it is very floaty without any snapping onto cover or anything. Occasionally you fight humans, mostly you fight monsters, of which there are 4 enemy types and 2 boss fights. The only challenge will be in conserving your ammunition. There are also aquatic sections where you dive through the depths, these are very short and simple.

    The story is awful. This is a mystery game where half of the mysteries are solved because of a confessional letter conveniently dropped at the scene of the crime. The other half of the mysteries are solved because your character has a superpower that allows him to see what exactly happened in the past. You will examine the scene of the crime, arrive at a dead end, then use your powers to re-construct the scene of the crime where you will see the bad guy say "haha, now that I killed him, I'm going to go to my hideout at 321 Baker St. where no one will find me muahaha". And then you go there and find him, the end. The overall story is about a monster who is trying to destroy the world. You likewise don't have any initiative or figure anything out, you just go along and do whatever people tell you. There are some choices you make that don't affect the plot. At the end you are given 3 endings Mass Effect style.

    The open-world fails because traversing it is boring. To compare Sinking City again with Mafia, in Mafia by the time you finish the game you have pretty much memorized the city because it's that fun to just take time to drive around. Here you only have 1 boat, which is slow to drive, and it can only take you around half the map. The other half you just walk on foot. Nothing interesting happens, no little events pop up like in GTA, you just walk around the empty streets and that's it. As if they realized how awful their design is, the developers added fast travel locations on every few street corners. And the presentation is just as rushed as the design. All characters read their lines without any emotions. Numerous fade-outs where they didn't bother to animate. Just a very cheap game overall, a quick cash-grab.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
20
#20 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. Games.cz
    Aug 19, 2019
    60
    Creators of the Sherlock franchise have hurled themselves into a watery abyss full of monsters and completely drowned their own brilliant investigative formula. The world is open, but terribly empty, the fights are dull, and the RPG mechanisms are lacking. Only the investigation remains fun - and it is not enough.
    Read full review
  2. Softpedia
    Aug 15, 2019
    80
    Despite its shortcomings, the story and the oppressing atmosphere of The Sinking City recommend it as one of the best Lovecraft inspired game to date. If you can get past the clunky combat and technical issues, there's much to like in The Sinking City.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 2, 2019
    66
    For the entire game you’ll have the feeling that something significant is going to happen soon – but it won’t. Story never takes a sharp turn, every interesting character is introduced in the first third of the game and there are no meaningful rewards to find in Oakmont openworld. [Issue#239, p.56]
See all critic reviews »