The Sinking City

 PC
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71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 244 Ratings

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  • Summary: The Sinking City is an adventure and investigation game set in an open world inspired by the universe of H.P. Lovecraft, the master of Horror. The half-submerged city of Oakmont is gripped by supernatural forces. You’re a private investigator, and you have to uncover the truth of what hasThe Sinking City is an adventure and investigation game set in an open world inspired by the universe of H.P. Lovecraft, the master of Horror. The half-submerged city of Oakmont is gripped by supernatural forces. You’re a private investigator, and you have to uncover the truth of what has possessed the city… and the minds of its inhabitants.… Expand

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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. Impulsegamer
    Jun 27, 2019
    90
    It’s great to finally have a game that seems to put you right in the middle of one of H. P. Lovecraft’s worlds… that sense of strangeness that lies over everything like a fog that draws you in and embraces you in the oddness of it all is quite compelling. Best played at night with the lights off to truly become immersed in the world of The Sinking City.
  2. The Games Machine
    Jun 25, 2019
    84
    Even with its (few) flaws, The Sinking City manages to shine right where other games of the same genre have failed to impress. It doesn’t abuse jumpscare and useless boss fights, but instead Frogwares focused on a well thought out and engaging investigative system and on pleasant action parts, which naturally lead the player to discover the monstrosities of the abyss and to bitterly repent of their own curiosity.
  3. Daily Star
    Jun 25, 2019
    80
    The Sinking City has an incredible atmosphere that really grips the darkest parts of your mind. Oakmont feels hostile, unwelcoming and full of secrets, but the game makes it clear that it might cost more than just your life to find out what they are. While it stumbles with its characters and combat, The Sinking City is a great first step into the supernatural detective game.
  4. The Indie Game Website
    Jun 25, 2019
    70
    It’s clear The Sinking City tries to punch its weight with triple-A’s but overstretches itself. The fundamental lack of polish is problematic in light of its blockbuster RRP. But if nothing else, I feel it has the makings of a new cult classic.
  5. Trusted Reviews
    Jul 2, 2019
    70
    The Sinking City is a near-miss, and a unique foray into surivival horror. It doesn’t coddle you, and it certainly doesn’t do any hand-holding, which makes it a unique detective outing let down in its execution by a number of tiny flaws. A sequel that focuses on making cases less humdrum, and cuts back on the combat, could be a hell of an offering for devout fans of the detective genre. The game isn’t bad, but it’s hard to care about what you’re doing when many cases in The Sinking City are so banal.
  6. 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]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. VideoGamer
    Jun 25, 2019
    50
    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.

See all 51 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 46
  3. Negative: 14 out of 46
  1. rBose
    Mar 2, 2021
    10
    very good game and characters strongly recommend, good atmosphere and graphics
  2. 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 alsoI 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
  4. Missya122
    Jul 15, 2019
    8
    Very good game for people enjoying slow tension building, intriguing atmospehere, fascinating stories and lots of reading.
    PROS:
    + great,    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
  5. Babutto
    Jul 21, 2019
    6
    Good things:
    - Lovecraftian mythology;
    - Story (more or less); - Detective gameplay. Bad: - Open world. It doesn't work and    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
  6. 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-тоКонцовки 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
  7. 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,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.… Expand
  8. 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 wayDevelopers 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

See all 46 User Reviews

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Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
20
#20 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

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