The numerous cases that you find are mostly done well, with intricate storylines that have alternate outcomes based on the decisions you make. The music changes in these sections, filling the atmosphere with genuine dread, that when you are finally safe, you’ll sigh with relief. There are closed sections of the map that are overrun by the wylebeasts, which you must enter for certain cases, but are also filled with a wealth of resources. Sunken streets require a boat to traverse, where you can find monstrous eels that will attack and kill you if you swim in the waters for too long. The best character in the game is the city itself, which goes far in setting the tone and atmosphere for the entire run-time. Other characters are more memorable, with better voice acting that helps ground you in the world. Whether that was the chosen direction I’m not sure, but it is definitely an odd choice and doesn’t help the experience. Read isn’t a very interesting character, he has his moments, but he speaks with such a monotone voice with little expressions that he can put you to sleep sometimes. The voice acting can let the game down at times. Furthermore, all the endings are pretty short, and in the ‘worst’ ending, we hardly see much of the grand cosmic horrors that many would have likely hoped for. It is a real shame, as the game emphasizes choice constantly, and it would have been much better had these decisions made some bearing on the ending you got. However, I found the endings being a bit underwhelming, regardless of the numerous choices you make throughout the game, they have no impact on the ending, you will be able to decide from the 3 endings yourself, regardless of what has happened. The main story is well paced throughout, with strong writing that hooks you in and keeps you playing right until the end. However, they never feel forced and are done very well. The Sinking City includes these aspects to stay true to the source material and the realities of the time period. Lovecraft and his work was that he was a heavily racist bigot and his stories were filled with racist undertones that were not subtle. You will encounter fishlike people called Innsmouthers (a nod to the short story A Shadow over Innsmouth) and a half man, half ape individual. Over the course of the 20-hour adventure, you find that Oakmont isn’t your typical place, it is plagued by a number of deadly creatures straight from nightmares called Wylebeasts. He travels to the seaside city of Oakmont, a place that is partially sunken, in the hopes of finding the root to his visions. You play as Charles Read a Private Investigator from Boston who has been plagued by nightmares of horrific proportions. The Sinking City is a game with so much potential that nails many aspects, but ultimately sinks under the weight of its own ambitions.
However, it also suffers from a number of issues that hold it back from being a truly great and worthy game based off the incredibly iconic source material.
The Sinking City in many regards does so much more, such as an actual combat system, skill trees, a brilliant detective system that doesn’t hold your hand unless you want to, great atmosphere and compelling narratives. Just last year we saw the release of Call of Cthulhu, an intriguing but flawed experience that I did enjoy, which is pretty surprising, considering I’m a real wimp when it comes to horror games. Lovecraft’s works have continued to grow in popularity and mainstream attention over the past years.
Available on Xbox One, PS4, PC and soon Nintendo Switch.