You can stumble onto different conclusions for each investigation, and there’s a very satisfying feeling to piecing together factoids in your mind palace - which can result in serious narrative consequences. I eventually resigned myself to abusing the geometry - lamping their heads through a wall as their limbs contorted and flailed - I can see you judging me, but if they can use the same logic to ragdoll me then I think it’s fair game! Some enemies move far too quick for you to ever get a read on them - others hurl devastating viscera hairballs at you from any angle. Guns feel like pea shooters and trying to land a decent shot can be unbearable. Once you get over the jitters, you’ll soon realise combat in The Sinking City is lifeless. It’s such a shame then that they’re such a bore to kill. The way they’re animated is deeply unsettling, and the fleshy designs really bore their way into your head. After dealing with small fries in the early game I eventually opened a door to one of the game’s more substantial eldritch horrors - I screamed aloud in my living room at two in the afternoon. The boorish beasts come to the fore in the game’s infested areas which are designed for you to find extra crafting materials and bullets. It’s not quite Eternal Darkness, but it does the trick - though I found one of the more common visual frights of Charles hanging limp from a noose fairly gratuitous…

Linger indulgently and the walls will turn to static as your vision warps, and half-opacity overlaid clips of enemies lurch towards you in claustrophobic chaos. When you’re perusing crime scenes you’ll often run into Wylebeasts and other unnerving foes - stare too long at them or nurture your mind’s eye and you’ll induce The Sinking City’s insanity effects.

Download free the sinking city switch