The Sinking City 2 Review Roundup: Scores & Verdicts

Aggregate Scores

Metacritic showed a 79 — Generally Favorable — from 35 critics at collection, with a user score of 7.8 from a small early sample. Steam sat at Very Positive, 90% of 441 reviews.

OpenCritic readings varied by source and snapshot: Wikipedia recorded 80% with 50 critics, PCGamingWiki listed 81, and a community aggregator said 82. The safe formulation is Metacritic 79, OpenCritic around 80-82 — all figures from launch week and still moving.

The top individual score captured is DualShockers’ 9/10, calling it one of the best horror games of 2026; TheSixthAxis gave 8/10.

What Critics Praise

The atmosphere is the consensus winner. The Guardian calls it pulpy action horror fuelled by scrappy ambition and Lovecraft fan fiction; Push Square says the game looks great in motion and the vibe is on point.

The survival horror loop earns respect too: Wccftech highlights strong gameplay with rewarding exploration and challenging, weighty combat. One 100% completionist reviewer called it one of the better Lovecraftian games they had played.

The flooded 1929 Arkham setting and the personal Calvin-and-Faye story are repeatedly named as the elements that hold the experience together.

What Critics Criticize

Dialogue and cutscenes draw the most consistent fire: corny writing and stilted presentation appear in nearly every mixed review. Push Square’s advice is to not let the cutscenes scare you off the game underneath.

Technical issues mark the launch window: one reviewer hit repeated crashes in the fish market area, and the worm-stomping mechanic drew complaints about inconsistent registration. Patches may soften all of this.

A few reviewers found the whole less than the parts: ACG’s verdict was wait for a sale despite ranking it among the better Cthulhu games — a taste call about the pulpy tone rather than a factual dispute.

The Genre Shift Verdict

The move from the 2019 game’s open-world detective structure to Resident Evil-style survival horror is judged successful nearly across the board. Reviewers describe tense resource management, shortcut-driven exploration, and safe-room rhythm.

Within that shift, quieter character moments get a specific nod from PSU.com — the game focuses on personal interactions between the horror beats, which is where the Calvin-and-Faye story does its work.

Technical Review Notes

On PC, one reviewer measured 60-85 FPS without upscaling, with occasional drops and stutter; HDR was absent at launch with a free update queued, and FSR was not yet available while TSR and DLSS shipped.

New Game Plus — labeled X Oblivion in reviews — adds replay incentives, with extra options and rewards plus at least one NG+-exclusive collectible feeding the under-20-hour 100% run.

Buy, Wait, or Skip?

Verdicts split on value rather than quality: the 100% reviewer says definitely a buy if you will replay it; ACG says wait for a sale. At $49.99 with a free demo and an 8-12 hour first run, the risk is low and the taste question — pulpy Lovecraft horror — is answerable in one demo hour.

For score watchers: 79 Metacritic and 90% Steam with day-two data is a strong indie-horror launch position, and the criticism pattern (writing and polish, not design) is the kind patches and price drops fix.

Score Table

Every captured score with its source and snapshot date. Aggregate numbers were still moving during launch week, so the date matters as much as the digit.

The spread between the top individual score and the aggregate is normal launch distribution, not a contradiction — DualShockers’ 9/10 sits at the enthusiastic end of a generally favorable reception.