The Sinking City might be the most disappointing horror game since Deadly Premonition 2. Unlike Swery’s Cajun murder mystery mess, there is always a tease that The Sinking City could have been great if it weren’t for its botched execution. While playing, there is a nagging feeling like a rat burrowing behind the brain, like a thought that keeps slipping from grasp, revealing glimpses of something awesome. Where does everything go wrong? Can the free remaster update fix it?
Charles W. Reed, a private investigator and war veteran, was drawn to the flooded, decaying city of Oakmont, Massachusetts, in the 1920s. Plagued by disturbing visions, Reed arrives seeking answers about his unraveling mind. The city has been battered by a supernatural flood, teetering on the edge of collapse. Its inhabitants are gripped by madness and strange cults. The investigation uncovers a web of cosmic horror tied to the recent influx of migrating Innsmouthers, fishlike monster-men, and a mysterious force driving Oakmont’s descent into chaos.
As Reed navigates rival factions, including a wealthy family, a cult leader, and a secretive expedition, players will piece together clues through detective work, battling monsters, and managing Reed’s sanity. The narrative weaves Lovecraftian themes, eldritch entities, forbidden knowledge, and existential dread. As cool as the setting is, the unfolding story leans heavily on predictable twists, with cases like missing persons or cult conspiracies resolving in trite resolutions. Choices shape alliances and outcomes, but the story’s climax, involving an ancient entity and Reed’s fate, lacks the shattering impact of true cosmic horror and settles for a pedestrian conclusion that fails to deliver on its potential. The side stories don’t amount to much either, usually yielding unsatisfying rewards that feed into the combat or survival.
The action is easily the weakest link, featuring ineffectual gunplay and melee against human enemies, and Lovecraftian creatures like tentacled abominations. Weapons include pistols, rifles, and improvised tools, but shooting feels stiff, with awkward aiming and limited ammo encouraging resource management. Even on the easiest setting, combat is not advised and is a one-way ticket to meet Reed’s maker. Enemies are very fast and flail around chaotically, making aiming hard, which is exacerbated by the questionable accuracy. It almost borders on being unplayable.
Reed can’t take a hit and is hopeless against even the smallest foes. Ammo is scarce, which makes sense given the narrative, but using a shovel against these creatures is a death sentence. Reed hits like a wet noodle. His swipes don’t feel like they connect, and enemies barely react to his attacks, making encounters feel woefully unpolished. Every fight feels messy like a weird dream where everything feels slow, but everyone else moves normally.
Oakmont is a setting with a very fertile premise. The entire city has been wrecked by a flood, and the dank and dreary atmosphere is palpable. The graphics looked pretty good in the original release, but they look even better in this remaster. The atmosphere always feels cold and wet, and kind of itchy and oily too. Oakmont always feels hazy and dirty, like it reeks of fish. It’s a shame that all of the effort went into making The Sinking City look better, because it already looked fine. The team should have given the gameplay mechanics more care and refined the combat.
Everywhere Reed goes, the town is falling apart, and the flooded streets are festooned with litter and debris. Getting around by swimming is not effective, and there are free-to-use motorboats at every dock, adding some variety to the gameplay. The problem is that boating is just as floaty and unwieldy as fighting mutated sea monsters. Watercrafts are constantly getting caught on small pieces of geometry, it takes too long to reverse, and it always feels like it’s bumping into things.
The improved visuals bear their limit as Reed’s investigation into side activities unfurls. Every enterable building is built with a similar layout, and it does not take long before assets become noticeably repetitive. Missions are also built with a template, emphasising the artifice of the experience.
A sanity meter depletes when facing horrors, causing hallucinations if unchecked, though this mechanic feels underutilised. Enemy variety is sparse, leading to repetitive encounters. Crafting supports survival, letting players create ammo, health kits, or traps from scavenged materials, but inventory management is cumbersome. While the investigation and atmosphere shine at times, the gameplay loop struggles with repetitive tasks and unpolished mechanics, undermining the cosmic horror premise and the admittedly strong atmosphere.
