DaRmaZat With a free playable demo now available, Frogwares is offering a first glimpse at The Sinking City 2. After spending roughly an hour wading through its flooded version of Arkham, one thing becomes apparent almost immediately: while the setting of Arkham is similar to Oakmont from the prequel in terms of visuals and atmosphere, this sequel takes a radical departure from its predecessor in both narrative and gameplay. Where the original game leaned heavily on slow conversations, methodical investigations, and a tedious amount of backtracking, The Sinking City 2 wastes no time throwing personal tragedy, Lovecraftian horror, and more direct action straight at you.
A More Personal Story
At the heart of this sequel lies a genuinely tragic premise. The demo opens with Calvin Rafferty dreaming about himself and his partner, Faye Bennett, enjoying a quiet dinner together. Calvin has brought along the Book of Dreams, a mysterious tome filled with eldritch lore and forbidden knowledge. Before long, however, the dream transforms into a horrific nightmare, until Calvin wakes up in bed beside Faye. Apparently, she is in a sort of comatose sleep from which she cannot awaken, her spirit seemingly lost within the Dreamlands.
Calvin’s entire journey is driven by the desperate desire to bring her back to consciousness amid the Arkham mayhem, as most people have already left the city because of the horrific events unfolding around them. His first objective is clear: reach the city’s flooded library annex and obtain a rare magical book containing a resurrection ritual that might bring his loved one back.
Arkham Steals the Show
Arkham itself is deeply intriguing and, at the same time, packed with unease. Evacuation sirens echo throughout the streets, authorities have effectively declared the situation hopeless, and residents are lying dead in pools of blood throughout the city. Meanwhile, red, slimy worms known as the Slither constantly snake across the environment. Once they burrow into these corpses, they trigger a horrific reanimation process that converts the dead bodies into aggressive undead. But the atrocious transformation does not affect the dead alone. This is evidenced when you meet Corentin, a particularly disturbing character who mutilated his own eyes.
If there is one area where The Sinking City 2 consistently fires on all cylinders, it is the audiovisual presentation. Complemented by a fitting soundscape, Arkham looks and feels convincing in Unreal Engine 5, with its tide-stained streets, decaying interiors, and deeply flooded districts combining to create a city that feels genuinely doomed. Calvin, Faye, and Corentin are the first three, but also the only characters you encounter in this demo, and they all leave a positive first impression, helped by strong voice acting across the board.
That said, not everything is smooth sailing just yet. Like many recent Unreal Engine 5 titles, The Sinking City 2 currently suffers from noticeable stuttering and occasional performance hiccups. However, in a message displayed when booting up the game, Frogwares openly states that optimization is still ongoing, so we shouldn’t worry too much just yet.
Thick Atmosphere, Familiar Gameplay
Instantly, The Sinking City 2’s core gameplay will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has kept up with modern survival horror. Typically for the genre, you will need to find fuses to restore power and unlock passage for your boat. Navigating Arkham remains fairly linear throughout this opening hour. The city’s streets and interiors are compact, your path is clearly guided, and reliable maps ensure that finding your way shouldn’t ever be a hassle. On top of that, very Resident Evil-like Safe Rooms also make a welcome appearance. In these brief havens, you can manually save using an old-school record player, access your storage stash, and inspect a Talent Table that will eventually allow you to unlock upgrades.
However, those hoping for brain-cracking puzzles will have to wait for the full release. This slice of the game contains only a handful of straightforward challenges, such as restoring power through fuse boxes or connecting electrical circuits via intermediary junction pieces. None of these will pose much of a challenge. Likewise, Frogwares’ signature detective mechanics barely feature during this opening section. While you can already collect Evidence, and the familiar deduction system returns to let you connect clues within an Investigation menu, much like in the previous Sinking City and Sherlock Holmes titles, these systems stay completely unused in the demo as the focus lies on the action.
When it comes to combat, you’ll be dealing with hostile creatures by targeting grotesque, bulbous weak spots on their bodies, all the while managing limited ammunition. And fortunately, it feels serviceable and reasonably satisfying. A quick dodge mechanic helps you avoid incoming attacks, melee strikes remain highly viable against weaker enemies, and downed opponents can be finished off with a heavy stomp. And when you get grabbed, you can still break free by mashing a button in a quick time event. You can also stumble upon equipment upgrades if you bother to explore. In this demo, one tucked-away supply crate contains Voss’s Compensator, a useful muzzle attachment for the starting handgun. Basic crafting is introduced here as well, allowing you to combine collected pills, chemicals, and gunpowder into vital supplies.
Because enemy encounters are relatively limited in this preview, on Normal difficulty, which is one of four available settings, it is pretty easy to overcome them with melee combat and by dodging to conserve ammunition. Most opponents consist of mutated humans whose fleshy growths serve as obvious targets, although larger eldritch creatures, reminiscent of the first game, do make an appearance as well.
Preliminary Thoughts
While the technical performance needs work and the deep deduction systems that traditionally define Frogwares’ games have barely had an opportunity to shine yet in this demo, I have a good feeling about this one. After a somewhat uneven first game, The Sinking City 2 feels like a surprisingly confident step forward.
Its blend of survival horror vibes, a wonderfully grim interpretation of Arkham, an intriguing Lovecraftian premise, and a more emotionally grounded story immediately make for a stronger first impression than its predecessor ever managed. While the thick atmosphere clearly carries the experience, the combat feels fluid enough, so there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, and I’m genuinely curious about where this will lead.
Additional Information
Release Date: August 18, 2026
Previewed On: PC. Demo download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Frogwares
Publisher: Frogwares
Relevant links: Available on STEAM.
