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As someone who himself lived through the horrors of war, I have a small soft spot for everything that comes from Ukraine. Can you imagine the lengths those people have to go through to do tasks that seem very simple to us, yet the product they deliver is the same as anywhere else on Earth, where bullets and shells are not part of everyday life?
The Sinking City 2 is a game made by Frogwares, a Ukraine-based studio, who, despite being under siege for a very long time now, managed to give us a game they're very proud of, and if I were part of their team, I would be too, regardless of its quality. Of course, the best thing is that those guys really nailed it with this game, full stop.
Story
I remember a couple of years ago, when I worked on Alan Wake 2's review, I mentioned that a sub-genre called Resident Evil-like should become a thing, because these days, so many games are trying to replicate Capcom's formula, and many of them fail, but in the case of The Sinking City 2, the concept hits its mark right in the centre.
The story of The Sinking City 2 seems like a simple concept, but it is not. You play as Calvin Rafferty, an adventurer and investigator who is trying to leave the city of Arkham after the great catastrophe, which turned the entire city into a huge lake. The streets are full of water, and the only way to navigate them is by boat. In addition to everything being flooded and the government advising citizens to leave the city by any means necessary, monsters of unknown origin are starting to appear as well.
The only reasonable thing to do in such a situation is to leave and never look back, but Calvin cannot do that. His beloved wife, Faye, is stuck in Arkham. The two of them are mystery chasers, and while doing a forbidden ritual, she got lost in Dreamland, while her body is still in Arkham. Calvin must take care of her body by putting a mysterious mask on her face for a certain period of the day, or her body will perish, while at the same time, he must look for a way to set her free from this awful state.
Those events are revealed at the opening moments of the game, and they pretty much set the whole plot in motion. From that moment on, Calvin will navigate the streets of Arkham, trying to break the curse and set Faye free. Of course, the story is way deeper than this. It includes supernatural elements, obviously; it is extremely emotionally charged, and you can feel the love poured into this project by the developers, they really put their hearts and souls into this game, and such a labour of love is immediately recognisable.
Gameplay
If Resident Evil Requiem wasn't enough in 2026 for you, and you still feel that survival-horror itch, The Sinking City 2 is here for you. A deliberately slow-moving protagonist, a gruesome and deeply unsettling world along with its disgusting inhabitants, a limited inventory that will keep you on your toes all the time thinking which item to pick up and which one to get rid of, crafting and healing mechanics, interconnected levels – all that and many more await you in The Sinking City 2.
First of all, The Sinking City 2 takes obvious inspiration from Resident Evil games, and this is something the game never tries to hide. However, The Sinking City 2 is not a mere copy of those games. Since Calvin is an adventurer and also an investigator, an entire mechanic regarding clues and their investigation is implemented in the game.
While exploring the levels, you'll find a simple concept introduced by Resident Evil 2 Remake. Each part of the map, once visited, will be coloured in red, and once you fully explore it, it will turn blue. In those rooms, you'll be finding items and crafting materials, but also documents, radio transmissions, and clues in general that will help you figure out what's going on there. Those clues will have a special section called "Investigation", where you'll be putting everything you find for future reference. You'll be able to group different sorts of clues together to figure out puzzle solutions and story progression, and even to find your way out of a certain level you're currently in.
While I'm mentioning puzzles, I must add that they are designed very well. Solving them isn't the hardest job ever, but on several occasions, they gave me a bit of trouble. You can choose a different puzzle difficulty as well, but it doesn't make any significant difference. Harder puzzle difficulty only removes the colour from the keywords inside the clues.
The level design is extremely linear in The Sinking City 2, which means you'll be following a very narrow path the game intends for you, usually limiting your movements by some obstacles. There are more open areas, especially indoor areas, where you'll be able to freely explore every nook and cranny, and in such places, those famous doors that "open from the other side" will also be there, connecting the rooms and creating shortcuts – the well-known design seen so many times in, you guessed it, Resident Evil games.
Traversing between levels is done with a boat, and this mechanic serves only to fill in the empty space. What disappointed me a bit was the lack of creativity in this very segment of the game. Once you arrive at one of the game's levels, your goal will be to move forward towards an objective the game gives you; nothing really unusual. However, almost always your path will be blocked by some obstacle. At first, you'll be opening flood gates and later, removing other obstacles like dead whales or some such things, but the concept stays the same all the time: clear the level, open the gate, move to the second one, and, of course, you cannot proceed because something is blocking your path, and you'll have to clear that obstacle. A little variety wouldn't hurt anyone here, and although it is effective, it becomes rather boring the more you progress through the game.
The mysterious mask Calvin puts on Faye's face every day is more than just a mask. Ability upgrades run through the mask too, and it's a smart touch that they take a tangible form instead of sitting as blank squares in a menu. As you progress through the game, Calvin will find special materials that can be invested in upgrading the mask and enhancing his abilities. The mask has only a few slots, while the abilities you unlock are really varied, so you'll have to choose wisely which ability best suits your playstyle.
The Sinking City 2 is a survival-horror, third-person shooter, and the shooting part here deserves special mention. It is deliberately slow, which, of course, enhances the feeling of horror; however, the shooting itself feels a little off. The game is set in the nineteen twenties, and the guns are from that period of time: a pistol, a shotgun, a Tommy gun, and the like, and all weapons can be upgraded.
The problem with shooting is enemies' weak spots. The enemies (called Slithers in the game) are zombie-like creatures who can move quite fast, unlike Calvin, who moves like his life isn't threatened at all. Once you shoot a Slither, it shows cluster-like weak spots you can shoot to take it down; however, hitting a weak spot alone won't take it down at all. The same enemy can get up several times and regrow many clusters on its body, and you'll have to shoot them all to kill a Slither for good, and since the enemies usually attack in groups, taking them all out will burn all your ammo.
You should know that this is a survival game, and ammo isn't a resource to squander, so in many cases, I found myself running away from the enemies rather than facing them and having proper fun, and in my book, this is a flawed design, even for a survival game.
The Sinking City 2 is a horror game, and when it comes to this segment, I have only words of praise. This game won't try to scare you cheaply (there are a jump scare or two, for sure, but they are never exploited or overused). The Sinking City 2 relies more on building a scary and unsettling atmosphere, which will make you feel the fear in your bones, not because you'll be scared to go further in the game; quite the contrary, curiosity will push you forward, but the atmosphere is built so well that you'll feel a constant anxiety all the time, the feeling Dark Souls games managed to awaken in me the first time I played them.
The monsters are so grotesquely designed, the world is dark, and danger lurks around every corner. The developers knew what they were doing when designing this world, and for that, they have my sincerest praise. Gameplay-wise, The Sinking City 2 isn't reinventing the survival-horror genre, but instead, the game takes the proven formula from one of the best games in the genre and bends its rules to its own needs, and the result is quite impressive.
Visuals, Performance, and Sounds
The Sinking City 2 is a grotesque and disgusting-looking game, and I love every frame of it, and that might be the best way to describe it visually. A half-flooded city left in total chaos, whose streets are infested with gruesome monsters, disgusting worms, and all sorts of abominations imaginable, is just another Tuesday in Arkham. But there is also a real beauty in this awfulness.
The water effects, the reflections on smooth surfaces, the lighting, and the very good depiction of darkness – all those effects are completely nailed by the designers. Every room you enter is different; every area is meticulously designed. You cannot see any copy/paste patterns because every new area, even though set just down the street and having every right to be the same, looks completely different. When it comes to the environmental design, the developers really went to great lengths. Face models and facial expressions, especially on Calvin because you won't meet many other characters through the entire game, apart from many monsters, are just amazing and really lifelike.
Regarding performance, the game plays perfectly on PlayStation 5 and allows you to choose between the Performance and the Quality graphical presets. I played on Performance because I always prefer better FPS over better fidelity, and the experience was fantastic. The game looks very good in Performance mode, and apart from an almost unrecognisable resolution restriction, it looks almost the same as the Quality preset. I didn't experience any crashes or FPS drops or anything, which means the game on this platform not only looks very good, but it plays equally well.
The sound design, on the other hand, left me a bit disappointed. Most of the time while playing, you'll hear absolutely nothing, and that unsettling silence is actually very good. The problem is the soundtrack, or more precisely, the lack of a considerable one. The music does exist in The Sinking City 2, but it is really nothing special. Once you face the enemies, different music will kick in, but that might be the only time I actually acknowledge the music exists in the game. The other sounds, including very solid voice acting, are okay and without any complaints.
Conclusion
The Sinking City 2 is proof that survival-horror doesn't need to reinvent itself to leave a mark; it only needs a team that cares about what they're building, and Frogwares clearly do. Everything the game does well, it does because someone poured real emotion and real feeling into it: the story of Calvin and Faye is genuinely moving, Arkham is one of the most memorable settings I've walked and rowed through this year, and the atmosphere of dread the developers have created is nothing short of spectacular.
Of course, the game isn't flawless. The boat traversal between levels quickly runs out of ideas, and the combat against the Slithers can feel more like a war against your own ammo count than a real test of skill, along with the soundtrack that doesn't leave any significant mark. None of these issues are gamebreakers, but they're the kind of rough edges that fully deserve mention in this review.
Still, when I weigh everything together, what stays with me isn't the repetitive boat rides or the occasional shooting frustration; it's the sincerity behind this game. Frogwares built The Sinking City 2 while their country was under siege, and instead of delivering something rushed or compromised, they delivered a game that stands shoulder to shoulder with anything coming out of studios who never had to worry about air raid sirens. That alone deserves recognition, but the fact that the game is very good on its own is what makes it worth recommending. The Sinking City 2 isn't just an admirable achievement; it's a very good game, full stop.
The Good
A genuinely moving, emotionally charged story built around Calvin and Faye- Atmosphere that builds constant, bone-deep dread without leaning on cheap jump scares
- Excellent environmental and visual design
- Well-designed puzzles and a satisfying investigation/clue-gathering mechanic
- The mask upgrade system gives progression a tangible, physical form
- Rock-solid PS5 performance in Performance mode, with no crashes or FPS drops
- A clear labour of love, built by a team that poured real heart into it
The Bad
Boat traversal between levels quickly becomes repetitive and uncreative- Combat against the Slithers' weak spots feels more like attrition than skill
- The soundtrack is largely forgettable and rarely stands out
