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Somewhere between Resident Evil 4’s village and H.P. Lovecraft’s Innsmouth lies The Sinking City. The upcoming third-person horror game from developer Frogwares (opens in new tab) gives players an open world to investigate filled with historical grime, otherworldly abominations, and a healthy terror for what lurks beneath the ink-black waves. The studio gave us a special behind-the-scenes look at the game, which we’ve put together in video form for your enjoyment – as long as you don’t mind tentacles. You might have a difficult time if you’re troubled by tentacles.
The setting for the game is the titular sinking city of Oakmont, Massachusetts in the (not so much roaring but definitely shrieking) 1920s. You play as Charles W. Reed, who was drawn to the town by stories of its supernatural ties, not to mention all the flooding and the weird aberrations left behind in the water’s wake. This isn’t normal flooding, you see; it can come torrentially down at any time, ruining whole sections of the town, and even warping the unlucky residents it catches into something unnatural. If you’re a Lovecraft fan you’re probably shouting “Deep Ones!” right now, and you’re not wrong – but angry fishpeople are far from the end of Reed’s worries.
After the floodwaters come, you’ll still be able to navigate by hopping aboard a small boat with an outboard motor. Unfortunately, a thin layer of wood and/or aluminum isn’t much to protect you from the great tentacled beasts lurking below. And don’t think you’ll be safer on solid ground when you can barely trust what you see; Reed’s perspective may flit back and forth from a bloody massacre in a hotel lobby to a cozy scene at the same location, for instance, leaving you uncertain as to what’s really happening at any given point.
All of these strange events are framed by a larger world full of feuding families, cults, and law enforcement officials who may or may not have the best interests of the city at heart… not to mention all those sucker-studded horrors lurking just beneath the surface. Put on your best gumshoe hat and load up your favorite beast-slaughtering Tommy gun, because The Sinking City (opens in new tab) wants to submerge you in its world of third-person horror.
The Sinking City launches on March 21, 2019 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
