PC Review: Sinking Island

Have you ever wanted to be a detective and solve crimes? Do you spend too much time watching every version of CSI and say to yourself, "I can do that"? Well if that's you, then Sinking Island may be a game that you would enjoy.

Sinking Island is a game with a decidedly "BioShock" flavor to it. When looking at the environmental art work, the gadgets, as well as the lighting and shading, you will assuredly see the similarities, though that is where it ends. Sinking Island is not a shooter-style game but is very much an adventure game. And as such, is greatly slowed down from those twitch-shooter games too.

You will be playing the role of Jack Norm, a detective assigned to investigate the death of billionaire Walter Jones. Mr. Jones it seems has met his fate by going over a cliff in his wheelchair. Your chief of detectives wants you do resolve this case quickly and quietly, because this is assuredly a death by accident or natural causes. But when Det. Norm arrives and sees evidence that the death is not from "natural causes", he finds that the case will take a little more time than he was first lead to believe.

Now Det. Norm sets out to investigate the crime. Like all investigations, this entails physical observations, talking to people and asking LOTS of questions. But one of the most important parts of solving crimes is keeping all of the facts and stories organized. This can be quite a chore for any detective, but Jack Norm has a little easier time of it in this case because he has the aid of his very high-tech PDA. Well, kinda' high-tech in a Flash Gorden kind of way.

Norm's PDA is actually a PPA, or Personal Police Assistant. If stores a character database, clue database, and also keeps track of just how you are progressing using a puzzle-based screen. The character database keeps track of all of the players, from the victim to his lawyer, family and business associates. It also keeps track of what they say or do, and where they are located to make it easier for you to question them. The clue database keeps track of all physical evidence, photographs, documents, and declarations of those questioned. It also helps you tie clues together using a comparison feature. For example you can compare footprints in the sand and match them to a picture of someone's feet.

Now all of this is good and helps with the story, but there is very little that can overcome the repetitive nature of the game. Sure, real criminal investigation means asking lots of questions, but usually one asks different questions of different people, and not the same questions over and over again. I mean, you have 10 people to question and you end up asking exactly the same question of every one of them.

And of course Sinking Island is a game where you will be doing a lot of walking and a lot of talking. For those who are big twitch-shooter fans, or have to have action at every turn, this may be pretty tedious for them. But for those who like a more laid-back game that requires thinking things out and working through puzzles, then this could be just what the doctor ordered.

Sinking Island is not a rich brightly colored environment, but a fairly dreary world. The detail to the environment is good, but it's not a place where everything is interactive either. You point to a place on the floor, click it and your character moves there. And unless a hand shows up to replace the cursor, you won't be able to interact with it. Sometimes the camera cursor will pop up and you know what you need to do then.

The sound isn't bad in that the voice acting is fairly well done. The problem again is that it's the same questions over and over again and so the answers won't vary a great deal either. There is a constant background music decidedly of a mystery flare gently playing in the background, and of course, the constant irregular pulse of the ocean waves rolling on the beach that can be heard just about everywhere you go in the game.

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Sinking Island will likely be a game that you will play through once, and if you really want to test your skills, you can play a mode that has a time limit as the island sinks into the sea. But generally there will not be a lot of replay ability to the game, as if there were a multiplayer or co-op mode.

Overall, Sinking Island is not a bad game at all and will appeal to those who are more interested in slowing things down a little and doing some thinking about what you are playing. I would consider that this is more of a thinking-person's game allowing the player to puzzle out clues and evidence and a lot of dialog. It is not a game that will appeal to those looking for fast-paced action. And so for what it is, it will have an appeal to a limited audience. But don't discard it too fast because it can be very relaxing to just slow things down a little and exercise your brain. Most of us can use that afterall.

Overall Score: 7.2 (out of 10)

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