The combat is too clunky as well, so you just end up running away a lot. On the other, the open world element doesn’t quite work and is a bit too buggy, ruining the immersion. In fact, I have loved my time in this world and was constantly excited to see what was around the corner. On the one hand, I have been totally engrossed in the story, the world building and the detective elements that are in play. I have been so mixed with my feelings while playing The Sinking City on Xbox One. The voice work employed, and the performances of the actors, are top notch throughout with great delivery in every line. I particularly like the effects it uses, differentiating between the two worlds of the real and strange. The sound design though is atmospheric and beautifully pitched, creating an everlasting sense of dread with every step. It’s jarring and loses the otherwise brilliant atmosphere suddenly, taking you out of the game for a moment. But there are bigger issues than that and there is one strange graphical mechanic… docking in a boat for instance has a lack of animation with you suddenly appearing on land. The night is dull on the eyes, but the day time at least feels better visually. The city itself has also been hit with a greenish hue that obviously comes from a land suffering from a flood. It doesn’t feel like the strongest part of the game. See, city residents will walk about actioning their loops, sometimes freezing on the spot, appearing to suddenly get stuck in the ground or in a wall. Unfortunately though the world itself feels a bit dead.
The locations are decent too and there’s a whole section under the sea that looks stunning. In terms of the overall look and The Sinking City has a very enticing set of visuals – both close up in the details of the character faces and the objects that you pick up. The Sinking City as a whole comes with a big open world, so exploration is encouraged with a plentiful amount of fast travel points coming in the shape of phone kiosks. There are also bits of lore to hunt down and enjoy, and specific things to photograph with your camera.
For the most part I’ve ended up just running away should the choice be given, and when I have had to stand and fight it has always ended up with me half dead and with no bullets left.ĭepending on your state of mind, you can however craft items like ammo, first aid kits and traps from collected loot in every location. The combat does feel clunky though, and if I’m totally honest, it’s the one bit of the game that I haven’t really looked forward to. It’s not made easier due to the fact that ammo is scarce, and bullets are even used as currency! At all times you will have to be careful with each shot. However, the creatures that attack you are varied in their look, size, and movement, so you will need to plan your attacks carefully – it is, as the game warns, very tricky indeed. You can melee attack, should you so wish, and there are a number of weapons available as an option should you ever consider that route too revolvers, shotguns or machine guns. The combat found in The Sinking City is a strange one, mainly because the actual game urges you to run away rather than fight to the death. For me, I will never get bored of going through these many scenarios. This side of The Sinking City is brilliant and borrows from the Sherlock Holmes games. Each of these is placed into a casebook and you match them up with each other in a sort of mini-game finally uncovering the result of the investigation. It’s up to you to put these scenes in the order of events and then you will gain a further number of clues. Entering the scene from the past will allow the chance to examine a number of scenes – a Mind Palace. Here within the world-changing reality, you see omens of where to go or hidden text unseen in the real world. But then you can also explore a specific scene, via a sort of sixth sense. Object secrets are discovered by rotating the item and revealing a sweet spot to uncover further information. When at an investigative location you will explore and look for secrets within objects, crime scenes or the people themselves.
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