Frogwares has released an extensive overview trailer for The Sinking City 2—and it’s more than just a collection of pretty shots. It clearly demonstrates a genre shift: instead of a detective story with horror elements, we’re treated to a full-fledged survival horror in the vein of Resident Evil and The Evil Within. The game releases on August 18th on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam, Epic, GOG), and a free demo with an hour of gameplay is already available. The studio is clearly surpassing its previous efforts, and this is evident even in the trailer.
In short: the game will be released on August 18th on three platforms. A demo with DLSS support and approximately an hour of playtime is already available on Steam—the only way to experience the game before release without risking money.
The protagonist, Calvin Rafferty, arrives in the flooded Arkham Asylum to rescue Faye Bennett. The girl has fallen into a coma after a failed ritual, but can be communicated with through a mysterious mask. They are voiced by Andrew Weldon-Dennis and Gemma Elizabeth Whelan, and their voices are already showing signs of life: the dialogue sounds lively, without the cardboard seriousness that marred some scenes in the first game.
The gameplay is built around resource management. Your arsenal includes pistols, shotguns, and submachine guns, but ammo is scarce. Instead of the usual rush through locations, you’ll have to carefully plan every shot. Dream Essence allows you to unlock skills and customize your style, and the game also features a second-chance item—it resurrects you after death if you don’t lose your composure at the most inopportune moment.
The most intriguing feature is the finishing move mechanic. Enemies are possessed by parasites, and if you don’t trample their remains, they revive. It’s a homage to Dead Space, but it works in its own way: insects control corpses, and a missed step is costly. You have to choose between wasting ammo or risking getting close and finishing them off with a kick.
The detective storyline remains, but it’s become deeper. The trailer showed a tethered siren begging for freedom, and riddles with ciphers on the map. This isn’t just a clue for show—you’ll have to match environmental elements and solve puzzles to progress the story.
But the most important thing is the demo. It’s already available on Steam, and it features about an hour of gameplay. The developers have equipped the demo with DLSS Super Resolution and multi-frame generation support—on high-end graphics cards, the game delivers smooth gameplay even in the thickest fog. The demo’s system requirements are moderate, but for a comfortable experience with RTX, a card of at least the 4070 is recommended.
Where can I watch the trailer? On the official Frogwares YouTube channel and on Steam, links lead directly to the game’s page. There you can also download the demo, add the game to your wishlist, and prepare for release.
In summary: The Sinking City 2 isn’t just a sequel, but a reimagining. Frogwares has focused on horror and resources, and it exceeds the expectations of even those skeptical of the first game. The demo already gives you a sense of whether the game is worth picking up—and after August 18th, it will be clear whether it can compete with the established genre giants. So far, the signs are encouraging.
