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For The Sinking City, 49 customer reviews collected from 2 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 3.9.

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6.7.2019

A disclaimer to begin with. I am not overly familiar with the writings of Lovecraft; I am merely aware of the underlining concepts portrayed in their work. This review of the title will therefore be predominantly based on game's merits alone.To summarise this review, a highly intriguing atmosphere and captivating narrative bludgeoned by a stagnant, and overwhelmingly frustrating open word design, that is poorly executed and somewhat tedious. There are flaws aplenty – but – I urge you to see past these basic points to a potential gem.I shall spare no time in this review to explain the characters or their backstory. I personally feel with titles of this genre the less you know going in, the better.Rather I shall jump in and commend Frogware games (developers of the relatively successful Sherlock Holmes series) on the incredible atmosphere they have delivered in this title: The Sinking City.First, I feel it is wrong to describe this game as a horror title. A more accurate term to define this game is dread-survival. I say this as there is not a lot of emphasis on unbeatable bosses or jump scares. Combat can, by and large, be avoided in most scenarios should the player wish. A unique, yet, balanced score of music, combined with some truly original sound effects for the twisted-monster-like-creations abundant in this world really captivate you from the opening cut scenes.This, combined with the investigation aspects of the game are almost perfect (as to be expected from a system pivotal to the success of the Sherlock Holmes games). It is a delight to loose yourself in the moment to search for clues, and, piece together a series of events to come to a conclusion that could very well be unique to yourself depending on your success in finding clues and evidence.Voice acting and graphics certainly meet with expectations of a title this size, although I did find the lead protagonist to be somewhat tired and drone in delivery.And so where does this game fall down? Critically the open world design and the combat. Firstly to the open world, and, I can’t help but feel, why was this necessary? A camouflage of bland greys and copy-and-paste building models do little to inspire the player as you meander the endless and convoluted mashup of river meets road. Granted, it is original, but, I cannot help but wonder how many countless hours were spent backtracking along these seemingly chaotic roads (littered with cars, marshland and the occasional carcass of a whale), in order to progress the story. In, short, I feel the open-world model could have been condensed into a far more manageable size. There is a fast-travel system, yet this is not unlocked by default and requires tremendous patience in tedious task to track down all the fast markers, one at a time.Movement in the game is slow and clunky and nowhere else is this more evident that the combat system. There is no real feedback to the user to indicate if gunfire was having any real impact; truth be told I often resorted to melee attacks and grenades on all but the largest enemies. Monsters are quite agile and able to quickly out manoeuvre the protagonist who acts as though a couple of coffees could do them some good. This leads to a lot of sluggish running around and frustrating gunfights which detract from the atmosphere the game attempts to generate.And yet, is it all that bad?Absolutely not - from the opening prologue mission, the wonderment that is Oakmont, the brilliant crime scene investigation process and complementary sanity mechanics see you lost in hours enjoyable if not dreary gameplay. There is still something refreshing about this game, and, whilst some bugs are present (I refer to T-posing NPCs) and the aforementioned criticism with the combat and traversal system, I certainly have to praise Frogware on their delivery of this game. Moreover, with DLC (three additional in-game cases to solve) accompanied by promises from the developer that further tweaks and updates would be made available to address the criticisms published by the gaming community, and this I feel is certainly a game worthy of a playthrough. A vote of 3.5/5 if you have the time to see past the speedhumps present in this new IP.
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18.5.2020

This game initially struggles to explain the subtleties of it's gameplay mechanics, so at first you might be left feeling a bit confused. But once you get used to how it works, you'll find it's an inventive detective system that doesn't hold your hand too much.The main gameplay is based around cracking cases, but mixes in survival and horror pretty well with plenty of combat. The combat is very clunky though and more akin to Evil Within or early Silent Hill games. I was confused as to what they were trying to do with combat though. The game talks like ammo and meds are meant to be scarce, in theory making fights few and far between. Yet supplies can be found fairly easily as scavenging boxes are in abundance,plus most enemies aren't particularly tough.Sinking City is essentially a Lovecraft inspired horror story. I think it does a fairly good job of recreating both the creepiness and the strange sea mythos of the books. The Sinking City really does look the part graphically and the horror flashbacks add an extra feeling of mental breakdown with almost macabre perfection. You don't need to have read the books to enjoy this however, the game stands up on its own.The main downside is the map, which is far too big for the amount of content the game offers and should have been reduced to about 1/4 its size. Your investigations mean you have to visit archives spread across the city to gain intelligence and information. Walking and sailing through all this dead space soon becomes very tedious and I hated having to resort the immersion breaking fast travel (which also means long load times).The Day One Edition gives you the Investigator Pack for free (but it's a £4 DLC separately if the code has already been redeemed). If you're buying this second hand it will be worth factoring that in.
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5.7.2019

I am writing this as a Lovecraft fan and was looking to immerse myself in his mythos. The game does a fantastic job in bringing this world to life with references to stories like Dagon, Shadow Over Innsmouth, and Cthulhu of course to name a few, with great story and characters. As a game however, it quickly plumits to boredom. I did of course enjoy the detective work and dialog, however it instantly becomes repetative with almost no change to the gaming formula. Another hinderence is that the stories of characters for the cases do not expand, instead they miander around other cases. Example, you take a case from person A and have to speak to person B, person B will only help you if you solve a case for them,so you take this case within a case and go to person C who then needs help doing something else, it's like an inception of cases which then you have to back track and can get very tedious. This then ties to the fast travel system which essentially waters down to long loading screens, and you will be doing that a LOT. The world of the game is great but feels terribly empty, the NPC's are really there as filler but the AI system is completely broken as a lot of the NPCs seem to just walk a set path and it just takes you out of the game experience when you see five characters walking in a straight line and then U-turning from a dead end. In 2019 youd expect more than this. If you like Lovecraft then all I can say to you is that this is by far the best attempt at a Lovecraftian world which you should deffifnitely try. If your vaguely interested in a detective game and/or mysteries, this might be for you as the drawbacks CAN be overlooked. But as a game in general, I'd give it 3 stars, and thats being merciful.
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30.6.2020

I will talk about each point now:Price: from what you get if you are a HP Lovecraft lover then this game is for you as the price is reasonable for its value.Soundtrack: creepy soundtrack christ ? i got creeped out by it a lot of times and the soundtrack is also alright for the game!Gameplay and combat: VERY CHALLENGING AND LIMITED! DO NOT EXPECT IT TO BE EASY WEASY ?? if u love challenges this game is for you. The rest of it is really nice as the character movement and animations are smooth. AI rarely broken.Delivery of game: quite fast even with covid delays.The game: clear new game and very nicely sealed and beautifully clean as i love new games because they are so clean and kept well!!!And packaged well!!Story: very amazing storyr>Hints/clues: noneGenre : psychological horror and very very very very puzzly it requires you THINKING. If you dummy u cant beat the game because the game requires your patience and taking time to read everything every word every bit of it. It goes slow and boring but it keeps u updated with new things to do each time since it isnt repetitive as u keep investigating different sceneries of different things.Graphics: not the best but they are alright reminds of the ps3 gaming!. Watch trailer. U will know.What else u get: investigator pack for ur ingame along with a map ? its pretty good!Really good! I am impressed by it. Surprisingly it is very unknown to people maybe the company was being quiet about it but its pretty nice game. Im proud of them!I will buy in future again from the store too.Read full review...
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5.9.2019

I have finally completed this and loved every sanity losing minute of it.Yes, this game is not for everyone. If you don't like, or you are unfamiliar, with the world of Mr HP Lovecraft then I'd knock off another star. It is the narrative that kept me engrossed from begining to end as it encapsulates the 1920s investigative shenanigans of the original source material.Yes, it can be a bit tongue in cheek at times but it's a damn sight better than the 'Call Of Cthulhu' game that came out last year. Which admitedly isn't hard. But you do find yourself sniggering at the reacurring references to characters and events from the original stories.Yes, the action is clunky but then, as in the RPG world of Cthulhu,your average investigator is not meant to be a muscle bound death dealing super hero. Many times I ran into a dangerous location and sprayed my limited tommy gun rounds into a nearby piece of furniture as some bulbous monstrosity slapped my character about like a pitiful pinata. But that's how it should be.Finally, it's glitchy which is why I can only award it 4 stars. It is in desperate need of a patch to tidy up the game engine which can be quite comical at times. For example, NPCs can be suddenly dropped in from the heavens like the little man on Google maps. Also the wardrobe malfunctions that reveal that the people of Oakmont have transparent torsos. Although I didn't encounter any game killing bugs.
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14.10.2019

Two Eldritch horror games came out recently - Call of Cthulhu, and this. And while Call of Cthulhu may have the advantage in marketing, this is easily the superior product. Right out of the gate, you're there - a city plagued by Eldritch nightmares, with paranormal crimes to solve and freaky ass monsters running around. There's no pretension, there's no preamble, you're just there. And that's amazing. The game has such confidence in its premise that it just throws you in, and honestly, it's a super cool premise - if you played Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, the game is mechanically identical to that (with the addition of some clunky third person shooting and crafting),but with the added flair of the people you're solving crimes for being weird Innsmouthers or ape-men who find your insinuations about their appearance quite rude. Really great game - can't recommend a better time SINK than this. :)
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18.9.2019

I'd been watching the development videos of this and was curious, I'd never played frogwares Sherlock Holmes games but they looked decent enough.The setting is excellent, it really sells the mood of the game. The story and investigation is also very good, but the open world aspect hurts it. There just isn't enough to do or interact with to make wandering the city interesting which results in tedious trekking back and forth between fast travel points and searching for where to head next. The story and investigation elements it's greatest strength. If the game was hub based or more linear I think it would have been much better over all.The open world may look nice but it's rather empty of things to do.The combat is also pretty weak and although not the focus of the game it does lessen the overall experience. Worth a look but check your expectations.
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30.6.2020

I really enjoyed this. Cthulhu meets Sherlock Holmes meets Silent Hill with a touch of Eternal Darkness baked into a janky but worthwhile product.The combat isn't great so I'd recommend keeping the combat on easy mode (doesn't affect trophies if that's your bag) while keeping the puzzle and investigation on medium or higher to use your head a little. The game is of decent length and has some interesting characters. The underwater sections aren't great but are relatively short sections.Feels like an older game that trusts the player to figure things out in many ways and I applaud it for that.

20.12.2020

Fantastic game for adventurers/investigators and lovers of lovecraftian affairs. Very atmospheric and packed with a wealth of interesting characters. The gameplay is rather freeroam and not linear. You will need to concentrate to enjoy what the game has to offer, alongside a touch of patience and intelligence. Ps: Don't buy the dlc, it's rediculously short, as in insanely short, like a joke. The dlc is entirely collecting diary entries, with one boss/creature battle at the end, 30 mins finish time tops. Game - fabulous, especially is you're a fan of Lovecraft. Dlc- garbage for everyone.

30.11.2020

I enjoy Lovecraft, and the story, atmosphere and look of this game are great and capture it perfectly. Unfortunately the gameplay is a little buggy and awkward, letting it down a little. If you like this type of game it is certainly worth a play but you may get frustrated here and there. Overall I enjoyed it and would certainly reccommend to horror and lovecraft fans.

1.8.2019

If you are a fan of the mythos or of the old call of Cthulhu dark corners of the earth then you will love this game.It can be a bit slow to get started but it’s a breath of fresh air to have to investigate clues and mark your own objective on the map (no handholding going on here)Ultimately your own taste will vary but i think this is a hidden gem of a game.

22.12.2019

FANTASTIC GAME! So far loving every second of it! Graphics are awesome and story lines are really good and not too long winded so you keep engaged. Just 1 thing, there is no point focus for the gun so you have to aim a little off to His your mark. Also wish you could interact with all people around you. All round so far so good!

18.7.2019

A fun detective game that doesn't hold your hand, you need to do everything yourself, so if you're into games where you have to do quite a bit of reading, and figuring things out, this could be the game for you, it has some combat in it, but it's not that good, and it's not a scary game either, but it is fun.

23.10.2019

Enjoyed it. Great story and quite scary at times. Long game with so many side quests with different costumes as rewards. The combats a little clunky but you get used to it. Real detective game requires reading and putting pieces of evidence together. Definitely worth a try for something different

27.9.2019

I can only assume that the minor day one niggles have now been patched because all of the expected criticisms of this game have thankfully not materialized for me. Very atmospheric and intuitive detective work with bursts of exciting action. Recommend for Lovecraft fans.

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