There are some moments of quality hands-on detecting to enjoy in The Sinking City. If you were looking for a unique or surprising take on Lovecraft's particular brand of horror, you won't find it here. The open world isn't interesting enough to compel you to explore it the combat is basic and uninspiring and the writing and construction of the mysteries are generally quite poor. There's a good, but not great, detective game lurking here-albeit one that doesn't quite stack up with the best of Frogwares' Sherlock series. But overall the city feels disappointingly lifeless, with robotic NPCs wandering aimlessly, repetitive scenery, and a forgettable, droning soundtrack adding to the sense of gloom. There's some nice world-building, including districts that have been almost completely submerged, with only the tops of lamp posts poking out of the murky water. And while I love having to follow directions and pay attention to street names to find important locations, this bleak, muddy, perpetually rain-soaked city is a thoroughly depressing space to exist in. It's an open world game, letting you freely explore the streets of Oakmont. The Sinking City's dreary setting is also hard to love. (Image credit: Future) (opens in new tab) ![]() And you have to make these connections yourself, without any hand-holding or hints, which makes a successful deduction especially satisfying. ![]() As you explore a crime scene you collect clues that, while useless on their own, can be connected in the Mind Palace to open up new lines of investigation. As such, The Sinking City is decent detective game-particularly in its use of the blatantly Sherlock-inspired Mind Palace system. ![]() Ukrainian developer Frogwares has been making Sherlock Holmes games for over a decade now, including 2014's magnificent Crimes and Punishments (opens in new tab). ![]() The game is divided between solving crimes and shooting monsters, although the gulf in quality between each flavour of play is pretty wide. Divers uncover an ancient cavern hidden beneath Oakmont filled with otherworldly statues of cosmic demons, and are driven mad by the discovery-a madness that begins to spread through the city and awakens strange, violent creatures the locals call wylebeasts. The Sinking City is a third-person detective adventure set in a fictional version of 1920s New England, inspired by the works of influential (and, yes, controversial) horror writer H.P.
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