The Sinking City 2 presents a captivating and eerie atmosphere, complemented by artistically alluring visuals and fantastically creepy sound design. However, the game frequently mirrors the shortcomings of Resident Evil 4, a comparison amplified by its middling combat, flawed progression, and an underwhelming narrative that keeps it from achieving the acclaim of its contemporaries.
Despite its title, The Sinking City 2 is a standalone narrative, introducing new protagonist Calvin Rafferty, an adventurer attempting to revive his lover, Faye, a university professor afflicted with a supernatural sleep. Early in the story, Faye's soul is separated from her body, allowing her to guide Calvin through the flooded city of Arkham as they confront Lovecraftian horrors to reclaim her physical form.
While the lead performances are solid, the characters lack significant development beyond their mutual affection, leaving Calvin as an uninteresting protagonist. The supporting cast, including a doctor with worms for eyes and a fish-woman shackled to her office, is similarly underdeveloped, hindering investment in the plot despite its potential as a decent mystery. The narrative also feels rushed, with its final act concluding more abruptly than the methodical pacing suggests.
The flooded city of Arkham serves as a visually striking, albeit grotesque, backdrop. Gameplay involves over-the-shoulder gunplay reminiscent of Resident Evil. Combat, while competent, lacks satisfying impact, and even powerful weapons like the shotgun and rifle feel underpowered against bullet-spongy enemies. Exploding gas canisters also fail to deliver a rewarding visual or auditory experience. Weapon attachments offer minor improvements, but damage upgrades are often negligible.
While inventory management, a regularly updating map, and resource crafting are well-implemented, the absence of a quick 360-degree turn from Resident Evil is noticeable. Calvin moves deliberately, making him vulnerable to quicker enemies that attack from behind. Encounters often involve multiple foes in confined spaces, and the player spends considerable time manually turning to keep targets in sight, especially when dodging projectile attacks and leaping enemies. The enemy variety is also limited, with a small handful of creature types leading to repetitive combat encounters throughout the roughly 13-hour journey.
The game's level design fares better, transitioning from speedboat exploration in the submerged city hub to intricate investigations within a hospital and a fish market. These latter locations provide the most engaging survival-horror moments, requiring players to find keys, collect trinkets for puzzles, and piece together clues on an investigation board. The puzzles themselves are consistently enjoyable, offering a balanced challenge and variety.
Progression is tied to Dream Essence, awarded for solving puzzles and completing other tasks. However, the system is notably steep. Players can spend points on individual perks like damage reduction or faster reloading, or invest a larger amount to unlock slots for these perks. Despite completing most optional content, the scarcity of Dream Essence severely limits the ability to unlock and equip a diverse range of perks. This imbalanced progression restricts build variety, though the perks ultimately have a minimal impact on overall difficulty, as the game can be completed on standard settings without feeling significantly underpowered.
The Sinking City 2 offers a decent survival-horror experience for those seeking a familiar formula. However, its numerous shortcomings, including middling combat and underdeveloped narrative elements, prevent it from standing out against more polished titles in the genre. While enjoyable moments exist, the game's potential remains largely unrealized.