I've played this game to death when I was a kid and it still holds up today. It's space stage is perhaps the main selling point as it opens up into the ultimate space empire builder. You can negotiate deals between alien civilizations, create trade networks, go to war, make contact with pre-space stage civilizations, and terraform planets. As a Star Trek nerd, this game happens to fulfill the Star Trek fantasy more effectively than most official Star Trek games. And with thousands of player created creatures, missions, and content, there is no end to the amount of fun you will have.
Just got this on GOG, but I've been mostly playing on my Xbox. A major critique I've had about The Sinking City was how little the Open World had to do with the core investigation gameplay loop. Often, Investigations required using the in-game map to locate the approximate location of the next investigation site and trekking there. In The Sinking City, this was a problem as it tended to break up the flow of the investigation with tedious navigation in a static world filled with lifeless wandering NPCs. (Just to be clear, the art direction and world itself were very well done, but the gameplay didn't fully justify the Open World format which was my major gripe) This game solves this issue by actually injecting some life and purpose into the open world format by introducing a new mechanic that allows the player to interrogate the NPCs in the world to learn new information regarding the case. While there is still a longer way to go to fully justify the Open World format in this game series, this game does a decent job of integrating the open world into the investigation gameplay loop while also experimenting with new and unique combat mechanics that asks the player to do more than just aim and shoot. In short, this is a very good game.
