The Sinking City is a third person action-adventure/survival horror game that draws deep inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. You, as Private investigator Charles Reed, are mysteriously drawn to the city of Oakmont, Massachusetts in order to investigate the source of the ghastly nightmares suddenly plaguing you, as well as a handful of other citizens. You arrive to find a city ravaged by flood and crawling with other-worldly monstrosities.
This being a nod to Lovecraft and his works, it wouldn’t be complete without some not-so-subtle xenophobia at play. A feud between the Innsmouthers, Lovecraft’s own invented race of human/fish hybrids, and the wealthy Throgmorton family is a consistent plot point, sometimes acting as a red herring, as each group is quick to blame the other for any misdeeds. Classism also comes into play, in a slightly less heavy-handed fashion, which is felt mainly in the differences between city districts. The poorer areas of Oakmont, such as Salvation Harbor and The Shells were hit harder by the flood, whereas Reed Heights and Oldgrove, home of the Throgmortons and other old-money families, appear minimally affected, at least on the surface. The wylebeasts, however, are not so discerning.
The open-world format of this game gives you the option to explore Oakmont at your own pace and take on side missions at your behest. As a PI, every task you’re given is formatted like an investigation. You must explore points of interest, find clues, speak with witnesses, etc. These bits of evidence are stored in your “mind palace,” where you can then piece together the information you’ve collected and make inferences. What’s unique about Sinking City is that the evidence you collect can lead to several different conclusions. Unlike most decision-based outcome games, where your choices are very black and white, Sinking City doesn’t shoehorn you into making Reed a hero or villain. Every choice you must make is extremely grey, and will often lead to both positive and negative consequences.
While I appreciate that this system gives you the freedom to make your own decisions, the downside to this dynamic is that the conclusions you draw vs what actually plays out don’t always match up. I almost would’ve appreciated slightly more hand-holding in this area. In more than one instance, I thought I’d made a clear decision, but once it came time to enact it, it was unclear from the dialogue options which of the choices would lead to my desired outcome. This wasn’t a major issue until the game’s climax, when I ended up selecting the dialogue option that ended the game in an entirely different manner than I intended.
Combat can be a chore due to clunky maneuverability, but like most survival horror, the odds even out once you spend some time upgrading and collecting better weapons. In addition to a health meter, you must also monitor Reed’s sanity. Prolonged exposure to frightening or dangerous stimuli will take its toll, so in addition to health packs, players must stock antipsychotic drugs to keep the nightmares at bay. Aside from combat, my only real gripe with this game was how you’re forced to continually bounce from location to location. I found the most time consuming element of the game to be travel between waypoints. With such a large, spread-out map, and so little to accomplish at each point of interest, continuously navigating through flooded townships, infested areas, and blocked streets can be frustrating. Fast travel is useful, however, as you’re often stuck waiting for the next location to load, it doesn’t save much time in the long run.
Despite some repetitive gameplay, Sinking City was a highly addictive, deeply encapsulating experience. I found myself playing until I was hallucinating specters of wylebeats and had to force myself to step away. If you’re a fan of Bioshock, Amnesia, and strangely enough, Skyrim (from a character interaction, open exploration, and task management perspective), Sinking City combines the best elements of these games and lovingly intertwines them within this Lovecraftian universe.