The Sinking City 2 Review (PS5) - The Resident Evil Within

August 17, 2026 - 20:05

The original The Sinking City was a sprawling, ambitious detective game. It threw you into a drowning, cursed version of 1920s Oakmont and asked you to piece together a cosmic mystery through investigation, not just combat. For its sequel, developer Frogwares has made a bold choice: they have cut the fat. The Sinking City 2 is a tighter, more focused survival horror experience, and while it loses some of the unique flavor of its predecessor, it gains a level of tension that the first game never quite managed.

The shift is immediate. This is not a game about interviewing witnesses or cross-referencing clues in a mental map. Instead, you are a survivor, scavenging for resources in a city that is actively trying to kill you. The combat is heavier, more deliberate, and every bullet feels precious. The atmosphere is the real star here. The flooded streets, the decaying architecture, and the constant, oppressive dread are rendered with a level of detail that is genuinely unsettling. The sound design deserves special mention; the creaks, the distant screams, and the gurgle of water create a constant state of paranoia.

However, this new focus comes at a cost. The intricate, branching investigation system that defined the first game is largely gone, replaced by more straightforward objective markers. The narrative, while serviceable, lacks the compelling mystery that drove you to explore every corner of Oakmont. It feels less like a detective story and more like a standard descent into madness. The game also borrows heavily from the Resident Evil playbook, with its limited inventory, safe rooms, and puzzle-box level design. It does this well, but it never quite reaches the heights of the titles it is clearly inspired by.

Despite these criticisms, The Sinking City 2 succeeds in its primary goal: to be scary. The resource scarcity and the constant threat of death create a palpable tension that the original lacked. It is a leaner, meaner experience that respects your time and delivers its scares with precision. If you are looking for a deep, investigative narrative, you might be disappointed. But if you want a solid, atmospheric survival horror game that knows exactly what it wants to be, this is a journey worth taking, even if the water is cold and the dark is closing in.