I was somewhat unaware that The Sinking City 2 was something that was even in development. Its predecessor lives on as a bit of an oddity—genuinely beloved, despite being a somewhat janky mess of a game. But Frogwares has built up a bit of a reputation for delivering games that, despite their flaws, are so genuinely earnest and entertaining that it’s easy to get absorbed in them.
So when the studio offered to give CGM a Hands-On first look at The Sinking City 2, I was honestly intrigued—and not just because I’ve recently become our magazine’s “Cthulhu guy.” However, I was not expecting for this game to go in such a radical direction from its predecessor and present an experience wholly its own. Despite being a sequel, The Sinking City 2 feels so distinctly its own that it could’ve been its own game.
Set in the same fictional universe/time period as its predecessor, the Sinking City 2 puts players in the role of the occult adventurer Calvin Rafferty. After the love of his life, Faye Bennett’s spirit became separated from her body, Calvin must search the flooded city of Arkham in order to find the necessary components for an esoteric ritual that may restore her to the land of the living.
“The Sinking City 2 is aiming for pure survival horror with its experience.”
The Hands-On demo for The Sinking City 2 was delivered in two parts. The first part put is in the flooded and destroyed ruins of the Miskatonic University, now overrun with eldritch creatures. Shortly after, Calvin is given a boat to explore the deserted city in order to find a missing person for a…somewhat eccentric character who can translate a book of rituals for him. The second part finds Calvin in the seemingly abandoned Akeley Memorial Hospital, its halls overrun with horrific monsters and its doors locked with ancient puzzles.
And while its predecessor took on more of an Investigative Sim game with light action elements, The Sinking City 2 is aiming for pure survival horror with its experience. In fact, a quote from the developers said, “At Frogwares, we’re using the sequel to try our hand at creating a more grounded survival horror experience. We’ve prioritized combat, exploration, and the rich Lovecraftian setting.” And it certainly feels like they’re committed to this design—right from the get-go, I was getting Resident Evil Remake vibes, and I was loving it.
The Sinking City 2 certainly feels heavily inspired by the recent reimaginings of Capcom’s iconic horror franchise, and not just because it uses an over-the-shoulder camera perspective. Everything from the atmosphere to the mood feels like it’s creating a game that is both genuinely scary and genuinely challenging. There’s a much greater sense of being kept in the dark than in the first game, both figuratively and literally.
“While it’s still a bit rough around the edges, The Sinking City 2 is shaping up to be a seriously spooky and genuinely interesting experience.”
Players are constantly kept on edge as they search for solutions to environmental puzzles, never really knowing when danger is around the corner. Similar to the Resident Evil Remakes, The Sinking City 2 does a good job of tricking players with creatures they thought were dead—thanks to creatures known as The Slither that can reanimate the dead. If you’re not paying attention, a cluster of Slither can pour out of a recently killed monster and find their way to a previous one, making areas you think are safe potentially deadly.
But it doesn’t try to abandon the investigative elements that made its predecessor such an engaging experience. Instead, it tailors them back into a collection of puzzles necessary for progression, which feels like both an homage to its roots and a game design better suited to this experience overall.
And it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s a certain lightheartedness in the game’s characters and writing that offers brief moments of reprieve from the terror and makes both the protagonists and the supporting characters genuinely likable. There’s a genuine heart to the story and its characters that pushes you forward through the terror in order to see how it’s going to play out.
While it’s still a bit rough around the edges, The Sinking City 2 is shaping up to be a seriously spooky and genuinely interesting experience. It maintains the fundamentals that made its predecessor so beloved while enhancing the gameplay and atmosphere, creating something both new and memorable. With a bit more polish, this could go down as a hidden gem of the survival horror genre.
The Sinking City 2 is set to release on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. The release date has not been made official at this time.
