The Sinking City 2 Review: Should Resident Evil Fans Play This Lovecraftian Horror Game?
It took about 15 minutes to see the shape of The Sinking City 2: this is Resident Evil in a fedora. The comparison points to the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake in particular, with its over-the-shoulder shooting, limited ammo, item puzzles, and tense exploration.
That familiarity is not a problem on its own. Frogwares copies the formula with care, then gives it a strong identity through 1920s Arkham, flooded streets, cosmic horror, and some of the best environments in the game. The result is a survival horror sequel that feels familiar but rarely feels empty.
The Sinking City 2 review: Arkham gives the game its identity
A 1929 flood gives Calvin Rafferty a clear purpose
You play as Calvin Rafferty, an occultist who wakes up during an apocalyptic flood in Arkham, Massachusetts. The disaster threatens to wipe out the city, but Calvin has a more personal reason to keep moving.
His partner and paramour, Fay, lies in a coma-like state after a half-remembered expedition into Lovecraft's surreal Dreamlands. That mystery creates emotional weight from the opening chapter and gives the slow early sections enough momentum.
Calvin is a classic pulp horror hero. He is hard-headed, brave, and often reckless, with a taste for danger that puts him in the path of far more powerful beings. He starts as a familiar action lead, but small details give him more depth as the story unfolds.
Distinct locations keep the horror campaign fresh
Each chapter moves Calvin to a different part of Arkham. The opening areas feature flooded streets, boat travel, and ruined buildings before leading into a haunted hotel. Later chapters visit an abandoned hospital and the Arkham Fish Market, both with their own visual style and threats.
The hospital is the strongest section for scares. It includes an unkillable stalker with clear echoes of Mr. X and Nemesis. The constant threat changes how you search rooms and spend resources, since stopping to investigate can put Calvin in danger.
Arkham's texture work and sound design make every location feel damp, old, and damaged by disaster. Hotel rooms seem lived in before the flood, while hospital wards show signs of panic and decay. Cutscenes and facial animation can look uneven, but strong voice acting helps the characters stay convincing.
The Sinking City 2 review: Resident Evil-style combat keeps the pressure high
Scarce ammunition makes every fight a choice
The Sinking City 2 gameplay follows the modern Resident Evil model closely. Calvin collects several guns, but ammo stays scarce enough that killing every enemy is a bad plan. Searching drawers for one more round can feel as important as the next major story event.
That scarcity gives each encounter a cost. You can fight, run, or risk using melee attacks to save bullets. Treat ammunition as a strategic resource, and avoid assuming that every creature must die.
Melee combat is useful, but it is dangerous. Even basic zombie-like enemies can hurt Calvin at close range, so saving ammo may mean spending healing items instead. The best approach changes from room to room.
Some footage shown for the game comes from New Game Plus and its Exoblivion mode. Unlockable perks, including unlimited machine-gun ammunition, can make that footage look far easier than a standard first playthrough.
Calvin feels capable without becoming a superhero
Calvin is tougher than Resident Evil Requiem's Grace, but he lacks Leon S. Kennedy's action-hero power. That balance works well. He can handle himself, yet a few careless hits can still ruin an entire section.
The controls, inventory, herb crafting, and healing system will feel familiar to anyone who has played recent Resident Evil games. So will the puzzles that ask you to find several items and place them into a locked door.
This design helps new players understand the game at once. It also limits originality. The Sinking City 2 feels less like a new survival horror blueprint and more like a well-made extra course while waiting for Capcom's next release.
The Sinking City 2 story keeps cosmic horror clear
The plot is easy to follow without losing its scale
The story deals with Dreamlands travel, occult forces, and entities beyond human understanding. Despite those large ideas, the plot remains easy to follow and does not demand an ending explanation after the credits.
That clarity helps the emotional scenes land. Character motives create a few good twists, and the mystery around Fay gives Calvin's mission a personal center. The story does not hide behind confusion.
The game also engages with Lovecraft's heavier ideas. Human beings are small, knowledge can be dangerous, and some forces cannot be understood through normal thought. The writing captures that fear without making every scene hard to understand.
Mythos references reward fans without blocking newcomers
Fans of the Cthulhu mythos will find many familiar names, themes, and hints across the campaign. Some eldritch figures appear only in part or remain suggested, which helps preserve their sense of scale.
Arkham fans should enjoy the small references scattered through the setting. Newcomers can still follow the main plot without knowing every detail of Lovecraft's work. The game also avoids leaning too hard on parts of that fiction that have aged poorly.
One missed opportunity is the lack of a sanity system. Reality bends during several sequences, but Calvin rarely questions whether his experiences are real. Lovecraftian horror can work best when the threat affects perception as much as the body.
Runes and clue boards make replaying worthwhile
Four rune tiers reward risky play
The rune system gives Calvin powerful perks that can change how you approach combat. One rune increases damage while the flashlight is off, encouraging attacks against enemies you cannot see clearly.
That kind of perk creates a useful risk-and-reward choice. You can keep the area visible, or accept greater danger for stronger attacks. Four tiers of runes offer more power as you progress.
The strongest runes cannot all be unlocked in one playthrough. That gives New Game Plus a stronger purpose than repeating the same campaign with better weapons. Players who want the best builds should expect to play more than once.
Clues turn investigation into useful progression
Written clues appear throughout each area and can be arranged on a red-thread conspiracy board. Connect related clues correctly, and you earn progression points. Some groups reveal story objectives, while others point toward valuable optional treasure.
The rewards make careful searching worthwhile. Keep notes in mind and revisit old areas after finding new information, since some clue chains require backtracking.
Puzzle difficulty can be changed separately from combat difficulty. The harder setting removes highlighted text and icons that show which clues belong together, but the deductions remain fairly simple. One later optional puzzle requires more thought, though the detective work overall needed more bite.
Boss fights weaken an otherwise tense horror game
Infinite pickups prevent soft locks
Some boss battles and large arena fights include ammunition and healing items that respawn forever. An in-game note explains the strange behavior and prevents players from becoming stuck after using every supply.
The fix is practical, but it weakens the game's best idea: resources should run out. Infinite pickups remove much of the pressure that makes room-to-room survival so effective.
These battles are among the least enjoyable parts of the campaign. The normal exploration sections create stronger tension because every bullet and healing item matters.
New Game Plus gives the campaign a second life
Achievements unlock perks for later runs, and the rune tiers encourage different combat styles. Exoblivion mode can change the balance even more, especially when perks provide large advantages such as unlimited machine-gun ammo.
That structure works best for players who enjoy replaying horror campaigns. A first run offers the intended resource struggle, while later runs let you experiment with stronger builds and unusual tactics. Trying to unlock every rune path at once is not possible, so plan for multiple playthroughs.
Conclusion
This The Sinking City 2 review reaches a clear verdict: Frogwares has made a strong Lovecraftian survival horror game, even when its mechanics borrow heavily from Resident Evil.
The detailed version of 1920s Arkham is the main attraction. Scarce resources, memorable locations, a clear cosmic horror story, and useful New Game Plus perks give the campaign a strong foundation. The weak boss fights, easy detective puzzles, uneven facial animation, and missing sanity system keep it from reaching the genre's highest level.
Fans of modern Resident Evil should feel at home here, while Lovecraft fans get a setting and story with its own personality. If you want tense exploration wrapped in flooded streets, occult mysteries, and creatures beyond human reason, The Sinking City 2 is worth playing.