The Sinking City 2: Our New Hands-On

The Sinking City 2 is almost here, the date to mark on your calendar is August 18, 2026. After all, less than a month ago we already had a first contact with the game that allowed us to understand the direction the developers want to take with this sequel (you can read our preview directly here).

What we will do in this new "field test" is to take you through two new, albeit brief, scenarios, where we navigated the alleys of Arkham while looking for a solution to save the woman we have always loved. It wasn't a very successful test, to be honest, and not because of the gameplay quality, which all in all has its merits, but rather because of a far from optimal PC optimization that made progress extremely difficult. 

It must also be considered that The Sinking City 2 is still in development, and therefore imperfections, bugs, and certain elements may appear around every corner. However, we believe that in the full release, "work" will be needed on PC optimization, which currently did not seem so brilliant to us.

Survival horror with a touch of investigation

From the very first moments of the game, the nature of this supernatural adventure is so clear, evidently drawing some of its inspiration from classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, while maintaining its exquisitely Lovecraftian nature. As illustrated from the outset, with an on-screen message from the Ukrainian team, The Sinking City 2 places a greater emphasis on survival while keeping investigations as an optional element. The goal is clear: the experience must be more challenging than previous Frogwares titles.

This doesn't mean that investigation is set aside; in fact, the first part of our test saw us solving environmental puzzles to open optional safes and unlock gates via a control panel. Our protagonist will thus be able to access the Investigation tab and examine all the clues collected during the journey: the various pieces of evidence can be linked quite intuitively to allow us to solve the various mysteries. And fortunately, we won't be able to miss anything along the way: in fact, the quantity of clues to be found in a given location will be indicated at the top of the investigation tab, making everything extremely more precise. 

Obviously, in our arsenal we also have a pistol, essential for taking down those undead animated by not-so-friendly worms. Calvin Rafferty (our hero) can aim his pistol and shoot at the opponent's weak points to ensure optimal damage, with the possibility of upgrading it as the adventure progresses (but we will have to test this thoroughly in the full release). Of course, Calvin can dodge, defend himself with some physical attacks (though not very functional), and enhance his innate talents. Unfortunately, we didn't get to experiment with upgrades as the demo prevented us, but we believe they could make the experience even more immersive.

It's difficult at the moment to elaborate further; some uncertainties remain at the gameplay and narrative level, as we had already anticipated. What must be acknowledged to the developers is their courage and desire to experiment with a genre change for the first time, which could also prove extremely successful. 

While the demo of The Sinking City 2, despite some issues, is playable and exploration is quite convincing, the same cannot be said for the overall quality and performance on PC. 

Poor optimization (currently) on PC.

Keeping in mind that the game is still in a pre-launch phase and, for obvious reasons, still needs some structural adjustments, we cannot completely overlook the countless technical problems. The Sinking City 2 does not automatically detect the optimal settings to run "decently" on PC, and even when the player tries to "tinker" with the various options, the result is always among the worst.

Yet, in the video settings, there are several options, including enabling NVIDIA DLSS and Frame Generation. Well, despite our configuration allowing us to perfectly run titles like Resident Evil Requiem and Forza Horizon 6, we were unable to get The Sinking City 2 to run at a decent frame rate (60 FPS on PC is the minimum), even by lowering all details to the minimum.

The feeling is that one needs a very high-end computer to enjoy this experience, an aspect that in 2026 is not even remotely conceivable thanks to all the optimization solutions for video cards. It is probable that the developers are already working on a solution, but it was necessary for us to dwell on this aspect.

What can we expect?

The Sinking City 2 seems to have a personality, and probably the narrative structure could even astound us with its unsettling and mysterious nature. It is a third-person survival horror that improves its gameplay and focuses entirely on atmosphere, in order to create something intrinsically new and probably unforgettable.

There are aspects to fix and others to discover: giving you a judgment on a title after having tried so little is almost unfair as well as premature. What is certain is that the guys at Frogwares have worked tirelessly to shape this work in the right way, while also listening to community feedback. The appointment is set for August 18, 2026, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series, so there isn't much time left to explore this new portion of the paranormal.