Ukrainian developer Frogwares is charting a dramatically different course with The Sinking City 2, abandoning the sprawling open-world structure of its predecessor in favor of a tightly focused survival horror experience steeped in Lovecraftian dread. Set for release later this year on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles, the sequel relocates players to the rain-soaked streets of Arkham, Massachusetts, where a new protagonist named Calvin must navigate flooded corridors, ration scarce ammunition, and confront eldritch horrors to save his comatose lover, Faye.
The original Sinking City, released in 2019, was a flawed but earnest attempt to blend open-world exploration with detective mechanics and cosmic horror. It suffered from stiff combat and an underbaked world, compounded by a bitter legal dispute between Frogwares and its former publisher. Now free of those legal entanglements — though developing under the shadow of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine — the studio has opted to strip away the bloat and channel the game into the kind of claustrophobic, resource-scarce experience popularized by Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
Hands-on previews from outlets including Rock Paper Shotgun and GameSpot paint a picture of a game that has fully embraced survival horror conventions. Players will explore labyrinthine settings — a decaying hospital, a flooded graveyard, dimly lit libraries — while managing a limited inventory, solving environmental puzzles, and retreating to safe rooms complete with calming gramophone music and storage chests. Enemies include the Slither, parasitic worms that reanimate corpses into shambling threats, and the returning Stygian, aggressive spider-like creatures that prove far more dangerous when bullets are in short supply.
The genre pivot has drawn mixed reactions from those who have played early builds. Rock Paper Shotgun’s preview struck an optimistic tone, suggesting the game could finally deliver a Cthulhu-themed horror title capable of standing alongside the genre’s titans — something that has eluded developers since the days of Alone in the Dark and Eternal Darkness. The atmospheric dread of a 1920s town submerged in floodwater, combined with tight level design and genuine resource anxiety, left a strong impression.
GameSpot, however, came away less convinced. While acknowledging the logic of pairing Lovecraftian horror with the survival genre, the outlet found the execution overly familiar, describing the experience as an unchallenging checklist of post-Resident Evil 7 conventions. In an era that has already produced Alan Wake 2 and the Silent Hill 2 remake, simply adopting the genre’s proven formula may not be enough to leave a lasting mark. The concern is that Frogwares, in playing it safe, may have traded the rough-edged ambition that made the original memorable for a polished but unremarkable imitation.
Whether The Sinking City 2 can carve out its own identity within a crowded survival horror landscape remains to be seen. Frogwares has the atmosphere, the lore, and the setting to deliver something special — but the studio will need to prove it can do more than follow a well-worn blueprint when the game launches later this year.