It’s the 1920s, the city of Oakmont is isolated from the mainland and home to strange inhabitants, not fond of outside visitors, and even stranger things lurking in the shadows. Behind the gangsters, jazz music and social instability Oakmont hides many secrets. The history of the city goes back to the 1700s, having been built on several major supernatural sites, this has shaped the individual districts and given them a unique flavour. Each district has developed its own distinct architectural aesthetic as the city expanded over the centuries. Strange religious cults, such as the Esoteric Order of Dagon and prominent families run the city, the secret war for power and influence is a constant undercurrent.
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| References to Lovecraft's work are everywhere |
This dark city dripping with atmosphere and Lovecraftian aesthetic would be more than enough to wet any genre fans appetite, but Frogwares have taken it to another level. Oakmont has been swept by an unforeseen and abnormal flood. Many Streets are submerged and the only way to travel to certain city blocks is in small, fragile boats. The flood didn’t just bring water and inaccessible streets though, terrifying eldritch beasts roam freely and have driven the city into a further state of panic and fear. The locals who have survived thus far are changing, the flood is not the only thing to have come to Oakmont, there is something in the air. People are becoming different, you can see it in their eyes, their complexion. The city is beyond the reach of the Government, and any aid it could offer. Oakmont is in serious trouble.
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| The Innsmouth look is catching on in Oakmont |
“We are building our game on the same underlying themes that Lovecraft explored, fear of the unknown, hopelessness and desolation. This is what the mysterious flood in our game represents. Nobody knows why it occurred, and at this point, nobody has any hopes for help.
People are scared of uncertainty. They realise that the flood is relentless, that it can easily devour the whole city and destroy their lives, they are basically helpless. One thing they are quite sure of is: it’s only going to get worse. It kinda shows how insignificant and powerless people are in this world, and how callous the universe is”, says lead narrative designer, Sergey Ten.
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| Flooded areas are only accessible by boat |
The Sinking City is a third person adventure game with a focus on cinematic story lead content.
Taking to the streets as a private investigator you will be free to explore and discover as you wish, finding side missions and hidden information connected to the main plot of the story. The developers are really embracing human nature and the need for exploration. Optional content will not be signposted in lights and it’s down to the player to really seek it out. Non-linear storytelling is an important part of the game, and missions will have multiple outcome possibilities.
As a P.I. You will be solving mysteries and criminal cases throughout the city, murders and missing persons are standard fare in Oakmont. Question everything is the mantra here, suspects, witnesses, surroundings, even your own sanity and perception. Shadows may be strange creatures, simply the environment or your own lapsing mental state. With cultists, abhorrent creatures and the unfriendly citizens to contend with your personal judgement is more important than ever before.
Not every crime is perpetrated by the supernatural, however. It’s down to the players and their deductive capabilities to discover whether the mysterious events are the result of blasphemous interference or the simple hubris of mankind.
The main story arc is obviously the most important of any game, and while we don’t have many details of what that may be the team have been hard at working creating hooks to draw the player in. The belief that if the content is compelling enough then the players will explore it naturally and organically. We’ve been promised strange unexplainable events that will drive the players innate curiosity. This is definitely not a game that leads you everywhere by the hand.
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| Exploration will lead the player into the darkest parts of the city |
Combat is vital in a city brimming with eldritch horrors. Players will be given a choice of whether they want to play stealthily or go in guns blazing. A suitable arsenal of period based weapons will be available. The developers have been very keen to state that this isn’t another “run away and hide” horror game. Choices are in the players hands, but it’s up to them to make sure they have enough ammunition and resources to deal with the threats at hand should they choose to engage directly. If you’re in this for some gunplay then things are looking good.
Lovecraft wouldn’t be Lovecraft without a healthy dose of insanity, and with that in mind, The Sinking City has implemented an insanity mechanic. When your character witnesses horrifying events, finds mutilated bodies or sees an unspeakable monster it will impact his mental health. Frogwares are a little tight-lipped about how this will eventually appear in the game, but we’ve been teased with visual effects such as camera shifts and tears in the fabric of reality itself.
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| Horrific monsters can and will impact your mental health |
The game is built on Epic Games: Unreal Engine 4 and the developers have created a rather clever city generating tool that has allowed them to create over 4000 buildings. You can read more about the city generator on the Frogwares blog here: http://frogwares.com/discover-frogwares-city-generator-saving-valuable-time-development-sinking-city/
One of the most interesting things about this city generation tool is that Frogwares have plans to open it up to the user. Players will be able to generate their own areas, create characters and quests. With a strong set of tools available, community support looks to be strong. I have great anticipation to see what the player base can produce.
The Sinking City is already no stranger to player generated content, as they previously ran the “Letters from Oakmont” competition, in which writers were invited to put pen to paper for a very last letter from a citizen living through the horrifying events as they unfold. They received over 200 letters and chose nine, which will be discoverable in the game.
Frogwares are aiming for around 30-40 hours of playtime to finish the main story arc and most of the side missions. However, they say that there will be many more hours for the explorers and completionists among us before we even get into user-generated content.
The Sinking City is due for release on March 21st 2019, it will be available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC.
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