Uncover The Horrors Lurking In The Sinking City 2

Summary

Make The Horror Scary: The Sinking City 2 needs to amp up the fear factor to keep players on edge.
Greater Enemy Variety: The game must introduce more diverse enemy types to prevent repetition.
Deeper Combat Experience: Combat in The Sinking City 2 should be engaging, responsive, and resource-intensive.

In 2019, The Sinking City marked a departure for Frogwares, a studio typically known for their Sherlock Holmes action-adventure games. Unlike their usual Victorian detective setting, The Sinking City delved into Lovecraftian horror instead. This shift was unexpected yet seamless, as the grim murders of London were exchanged for the chilling horrors of 1920s America slowly being overtaken by a menacing eldritch entity.

Although the original game had a blend of high and low points, its portrayal of Lovecraftian mythology was accurately done. However, aspects like combat, exploration, and detective work needed improvement. With the unexpected reveal of The Sinking City 2 at the Xbox Partner Preview in 2024, enthusiasts are expecting that this sequel can rectify the initial game’s flaws while preserving its strong points. To achieve this, here are some necessary changes that The Sinking City 2 must implement.

In a more conversational tone:

The original game had its ups and downs, but it nailed Lovecraftian mythology. Unfortunately, combat, exploration, and detective work weren’t so great. But guess what? In 2024, we got a surprise announcement for The Sinking City 2 at the Xbox Partner Preview! Fans are hoping that this sequel will fix the issues from the first game while keeping its strengths intact. Here’s what needs to change:

1. Improved combat mechanics
2. Enhanced exploration experiences
3. More engaging detective gameplay
4. … and so on.

7. Make The Horror Scary

Lovecraftian Horror Needs To Get In Your Head

There’s no question that the game titled “The Sinking City” is more spine-tingling than any of Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes series, but this doesn’t automatically make it a truly terrifying experience. The story begins as our protagonist, Charles Reed, embarks on a journey to Oakmont to consult with Professor van der Berg, who is believed to have the answers to the disturbing visions that afflict him. It turns out that other residents of Oakmont have also experienced these visions. However, upon arriving at Oakmont, Charles learns that Professor van der Berg has been brutally murdered and Charles himself has been falsely accused of the crime. To add fuel to the fire, Oakmoat is experiencing a bizarre flood, causing its inhabitants to undergo unsettling physical transformations, taking on a more “fish-like” appearance.

In The Sinking City 2, the narrative successfully sustains an air of Lovecraftian suspense and dread, but unfortunately, the gameplay fails to maintain this eerie feeling. For instance, a significant portion of the game takes place during the day in a bustling city, which aligns with the storyline but seldom imparts a sense of danger or vulnerability to Charles. Monsters are primarily found in deserted buildings, and should players find themselves in peril or low on ammunition, they can simply retreat to Charles’ boat outside for immediate sanctuary. There are instances where the action shifts underground or underwater, which adds an element of tension, but these moments are scarce. To enhance its gameplay experience, The Sinking City 2 should limit escape routes and make safety seem more elusive to create a more immersive and suspenseful atmosphere.

6. Greater Enemy Variety

Repetition Can’t Kick In As Quickly

As a gamer immersed in The Sinking City, I’ve encountered five distinct types of adversaries when you exclude standard humans. There are skittering, fragile creatures called Stygians, which seem to be corrupted humans. Then there are Lethians, humans who have succumbed to evil. Cocitians are another group, similar to Lethians but without legs. The largest of them all are the Acheronians, resembling Bloater-like enemies. There’s a bit of variety among these, such as smoke-emitting Stygians or explosive Acheronians, but that’s about it in terms of enemy diversity. The game offers a few boss battles—exactly four, not all required—but only two of them break away from the combat strategies players use against the game’s standard enemies.

In the underwater sections of the game, you’ll encounter foes that are exclusive to these areas and aren’t found elsewhere. Interestingly, the way to combat these specific enemies is with a weapon that’s also unique to these encounters, and it’s not available for use anywhere else in the game.

As a gamer, I’ve found that not everything is necessarily negative; take the remake of Silent Hill 2 for instance. In this game, there are five types of enemies: Creepers, Lying Figures, Mannequins, Bobble Head Nurses, and Mandarins. Each has its own unique behavior to keep things interesting and prevent repetition from lessening their fear factor. For example, the Creepers scuttle along the floor and up walls, while the Lying Figures emerge from mist or crawl out from under vehicles. Mannequins remain motionless until you turn your back, but in later levels, they’ll start creeping on walls too. Mandarins hang from the ceiling or beneath floor grates in some areas, and in the Otherworld, they’ll dangle from below the grates. Bobble Head Nurses are particularly subtle; after defeating them and moving on, sometimes their corpses vanish, only to reappear as enemies later or simply disappear again.

This type of feature could be beneficial for The Sinking City 2 to implement. It’s a challenging request to simply follow in the footsteps of Silent Hill 2, but borrowing certain elements can certainly be advantageous. Memorable enemy behavior should straddle the line between predictability and unpredictability. If The Sinking City 2 doesn’t intend to significantly increase its enemy roster to minimize predictable patterns, then this is another smart approach to consider.

5. Deeper, More Engaging Combat

Fighting Back Shouldn’t Feel Like A Chore

Often mentioned as an issue with “The Sinking City” is its combat system, which isn’t very captivating. It serves its purpose, but by the later stages of the game, it can become quite tedious. The weapons lack a strong impact, and enemies are either easily defeated—requiring just a few shots—or they absorb bullets excessively, causing players to retreat from battles because they run out of ammunition.

Designing a tight and engaging combat system might seem straightforward, but in reality, it’s more challenging than it appears; if it weren’t, most games would excel at it. However, incorporating certain key elements can significantly enhance the satisfaction of combat experiences. For weapons to feel rewarding, they should be effective (meaning there are few or no bullet sponges) and distinct. Enemies should react to damage and retaliate, but shouldn’t often feel overpowering, especially when players are well-prepared. Crucially, if The Sinking City 2 is to be a genuine survival horror game—as Frogwares has indicated—resource scarcity should be finely tuned. While it may not impact combat directly, making every missed shot feel like a potential catastrophe will heighten the tension of combat situations.

4. Ditch The Weapon Wheel

Slo-Mo Combat And Survival Horror Don’t Mix

In most modern games besides action-packed first-person shooters like DOOM Eternal and some open-world titles such as GTA 5 and Horizon, the use of a weapon wheel appears to be an extinct feature. This might be a good thing, especially in survival horror games, as seen in The Sinking City where the weapon wheel was often exploited for an easy way to beat the game’s combat system.

In most games, including The Sinking City, weapon wheels tend to slow down gameplay without completely halting it. Players can’t continue aiming during this time because the right analog stick is assigned to manage the weapon wheel. However, they can still move their character around, which gives them a chance to set up an ideal shot in slow motion, fire the gun, then reopen the wheel for the next shot. This back-and-forth action disrupts immersion and eliminates any tension built during combat. A straightforward solution would be to eliminate the weapon wheel altogether, but a more advanced system like the one used in Resident Evil 4, where weapons can be switched actively, is crucial for The Sinking City 2.

3. Amped-Up Investigations

Involve Players Instead Of Presenting A Checklist

Frogwares primarily excels at creating games centered around investigations, with the Sherlock Holmes series being a prime example. Even in their horror game The Sinking City, they utilized similar mechanics to some extent. However, while these investigations call for some player reasoning, they often simplify into searching for specific items like “blue clouds” until the game indicates that all evidence has been found.

It’s fortunate that the upcoming game “The Sinking City 2 ” draws inspiration from a variety of modern titles for its investigation mechanics. In fact, as early as a month before the original game was released, players were introduced to “Outer Wilds“, and less than half a year later, “Disco Elysium” made its debut. Even the intriguing “Return of the Obra Dinn” came out just 8 months before “The Sinking City“. These games have shown the importance of allowing players to explore investigations freely, and they serve as excellent examples of how to design mechanics that thrive in such an open-ended system. Additionally, the developers at Frogwares can leverage their own extensive game development background to enhance the investigation elements in “The Sinking City 2“.

2. Less (Or More Worthwhile) Backtracking

Returning To Quest-Givers Isn’t All That Scary

As a devoted enthusiast, I can tell you that open-world survival horror games are somewhat scarce gems. Indie titles such as Darkwood and The Evil Within 2 have dared to tread this path, with the latter embracing it for the initial part of its campaign. The Sinking City, however, adopts a semi-open world strategy, with the majority of the game unfolding in the sprawling cityscape of Oakmont, while other segments transport players into linear narrative sequences.

The world design isn’t problematic at all. Sailing Charles’ boat through Oakmont’s flooded areas and exploring its decaying streets keeps things engaging and intriguing. As you gradually get a hang of the map for smoother navigation, it adds to the experience. However, nothing about it feels overly frightening or surprising.

In simpler terms, the process in some open-world games of getting a quest, going to the location, and then returning to the quest-giver to complete it can feel rather dull, especially when the game lacks interesting travel mechanics. This is something that the hypothetical game “The Sinking City 2” may need to address, as too much backtracking could lead to a disconnect from the horror elements of the game. While backtracking can sometimes serve as a break from the horrors of exploration in survival horror games, it should not be so frequent as to disrupt the immersion.

1. Open-World Validity

Player Freedom Without A Purpose Doesn’t Add Anything

In essence, all the aspects such as exploration, investigation, fighting, and horror elements collectively contribute to the impact of the open world in The Sinking City. However, for the majority of players, the open world seems somewhat superfluous due to limited collectibles, unengaging side quests, and concerns we’ve previously addressed regarding backtracking and absence of consistent fear. This leads us to ponder if The Sinking City truly required an open-world format.

The question about whether or not The Sinking City 2 will be an open-world game is important to consider during its development. Since it’s an open-world title, the debate about whether making it so is a good idea becomes less significant. However, the success of The Sinking City 2 depends on how well it balances being an open world game with maintaining its horror elements, as demonstrated in The Evil Within 2. If it manages to do this successfully, it could be a hit. But if it faces similar issues as the first game did, it may receive a mediocre response.

2025-03-15 13:08