THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE

The game was launched on June 27, 2019 – in other words, relatively recently. The Frogware company, located in Ukraine, is responsible for the production. Indeed, I have a better and better opinion of games produced in Eastern Europe and Russia. Perhaps it’s some conspiracy of the Ancients that the most interesting games I’ve played recently are being produced in the East.

The game is certainly a great tribute to the work of H.P. Lovecraft. It draws from mythology as much as possible and makes great use of the themes of many stories written by the master of horror, such as “Shadow over Innsmouth”, “The Dunwitch Horror” or my favorite short story “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”. After the game ended, I had the feeling that it was a pleasure to participate in the narrative, in which the authors take the source material seriously and respectfully.

It is not an “adaptation” of the stories, but draws handfuls of them. In a way, this creates the impression that we are “drawn” into a Lovecraft story that we have not read yet, but the world is so familiar to us that we can easily orient ourselves in it. The game is full of references and easter eggs to the work of Lovecraft. I also think that the similarity of Charles Reed – our hero, to the famous writer is not accidental as well.

Atmosphere

Let me add that when I started the game, I was in a great place to be able to get involved in it. I’m in the middle of playing the RPG campaign Call of Cthulhu and at the same time I started reading Lovecraft stories in the new VESPER publishing design (polish publishing house). So you could say that I was in a sense “receptive” to the atmosphere of the game.

I was certainly not disappointed, because the strongest point of the game is its atmosphere. We start the game as a private detective who comes to the town of Oakmont to unravel the mysteries of his visions. You could even say that this is a dream profession to start a game in Call of Cthulhu convention – and certainly extremely convenient choice for scriptwriters.

In terms of graphics, the game certainly cannot be faulted. Of course, this is not a masterpiece at the Witcher 3 level and it is difficult to call any element of the world beautiful, but it does its job. The city is dark, unpleasant, full of bizarre vegetation and disturbing. The appearance of the NPCs can be disturbing – especially the people from the destroyed Innsmouth. Considering the city has been plagued by floods and famine, everything feels wet, slimy and smells like dead fish, and the weather is downright depressing. In other words, the perfect place to heal yourself from insanity.

The music fits perfectly, keeping the horror atmosphere with great ease, without tiring the player. Also other sound effects, such as: monster attacks, actions performed underwater, weather effects are very suggestive and well-chosen. Of all the soundtracks, the song Coverside has cought my ear the most. It is also important that Kevin MacLeod, one of the best contemporary composers, is responsible for this soundtrack. In general it’s really worth to play this game even just for the sake of the atmosphere.

The animated scenes are very atmospheric and make the right impression. Admittedly, at the end of the game, we start to notice that some animations are a bit repetitive, but there is nothing that offends or disturbs you significantly.

Overall, walking around Oakmont and looking for clues was extremely enjoyable, and more than once I stopped to look at something strange, interesting or just creepy. Not to mention the joyful cultists parading around the city like nothing happened.

Game mechanics

Although the mechanics of the game are not outstanding, they are well polished not to irritate. The game has no flaws or annoying implementations, but rather some shortcomings that could probably be fixed with appropriately higher funds. The combat in the game is very simplified, it lacks environmental elements. Playing in the third person, we can control in a trivial way, but our actions are limited. For example, we can climb obstacles, but we cannot jump between the elements of the environment – which bothered me a bit.

Inventory management is simple and intuitive. We unlock weapons or items in equipment during quests, and some of them can be crafted immediately after obtaining them. Unfortunately for me, rewards or finding items are the game’s biggest problem. Our character has a certain maximum of what he can carry with him and there were situations when I did not receive the award because I had full equipment. And a moment later I was running away from the monsters in panic because I ran out of ammo. And of course I understand the game premise where ammunition is valuable and should be conserved, but in the long run it was annoying.

The game lacked trade component, which as such does not exist in Sinking City, and would solve many of my problems during the game and at the same time offer new narrative possibilities. Moving around in the game is very comfortable and elegant. Initially, we have a boat which we easily control and move on the flooded streets between the city districts. After same time, in individual districts, we can find fast travel points, which allow us to move from place to place quickly, when we get bored with steering the boat. I really have no objections here.

Unique and differentiating Sinking City from other games is the investigation mechanics. In the player’s panel, we have two main screens available. Casebook, that is, all information about the tasks performed, and the Mind Palace, in which we combine individual tips to come to conclusions and, consequently, make important decisions in the game. When looking for tips, we use the archives from different locations, like: the Library, Town Hall or Hospital, which are typical daily bread investigation stuff for every Call of Cthulhu player. The puzzles themselves are not difficult, but also not at level for idiots, so solving them is also rewarding. The choices are accordingly vague, so that when making them, often we do not have psychological comfort.

Character development is very simplified and, like many other elements of the game, you can see here shortcomings in the budget. Though I admit that it had some effect that I did not expect. Unable to develop my character in a more interesting way, I was forced to focus on investigation and exploration.

Total Score 8/10

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the review is supposed to be spoiler-free, I am not able to tell much about the story – and it is definitely a strong point of the game. The main quest is very interesting and dynamic. It is a bit different with the additional tasks – some are very interesting, and some are nothing more than a “to do” list. However, this does not change the fact that the main theme of the game is addictive and, combined with the atmosphere, creates something that you absolutely must experience.

The music from the game can be safely recommended to any Keeper of Secrets who is currently working on an adventure to Call of Cthulhu, and the graphics are suggestive and provide the perfect setting for the events. The simplicity and intuitiveness of the mechanics surprised me so much that I did not take a single peek at the tutorial.

Overall, I recommend the game to everyone, especially to all fans of Lovecraft’s work. It is rare for a work inspired by this extraordinary writer to be this successful. I let myself have a glimpse of hope that we will see an extensive continuation of the game with the addition of such elements as trading, driving a car or having our own detective office. The game has great possibilitiesto offer and it should be expanded.