In order to make the most out of your time with Sleep Awake, you need to buy into its narrative proposition. Set in the last city on Earth, a decrepit, maze-like metropolis known as the Crush, people are disappearing in their sleep. In a dying world ruled by oppressive institutions, staying awake is the key to survival. Over the course of 12 chapters, this psychedelic horror game from Cory Davis (the Director of Spec Ops: The Line) and Robin Finck (guitarist for Nine Inch Nails) blends dreamlike visuals with nightmarish concepts to make for a mesmerising experience.
The story of Sleep Awake revolves around Katja, a kid who is more or less alone to survive the Hush (what they call the phenomenon that makes people disappear in their sleep). She sets out on her routine as normal, but as the day goes on, the layers are peeled back. Of the world. Of Katja. Of the family she once had. And it all comes to a climactic crescendo. For better and for worse, Sleep Awake is steeped in its own lore. There are constant references to the Crush, the Swell, the Hush, and more that are pivotal to the inhabitants of its surrealist dreamscape. At first, it’s easy to think that Katja is merely the vessel with which we’re introduced to this world. However, as time goes on, we start to realize why she’s the one in focus.
Perhaps I find the game to be neatly segmented into three chunks simply because that’s how I played it, but I do think there’s a case to be made for that structure. The first third of the game is spent setting up the world. Establishing a norm before letting Katja out into the Crush. Here, she’ll witness some of the devastating lengths people will go to stay awake. (Like the Pain Eaters.) In the next third, the game becomes more introspective, allowing you to move through Katja’s own trauma and regrets. This world has taken a lot from her, and all she knows is to keep going. In the final third, Katja’s own perspective on the Hush changes, and late-game revelations ensure that the game ends on its loudest notes.
Two things hold all this narrative intrigue together: visuals and sound. Sleep Awake blends in-game cinematics, strong filters, and full motion video clips to create a visual experience that’s not often seen in its contemporaries. Gameplay sequences bleed into each other in cool ways, and loading screens are disguised as trippy montages. Even the way the game is checkpointed is designed to keep you out of in-game menus. I cannot overstate just how psychedelic the game can be. In a genre of games that rely on visual flair, Sleep Awake carves out a unique aesthetic that effectively evokes the dreamlike imagery the citizens of the Crush avoid so desperately.
Then there’s the auditory experience. When it comes to sound, Sleep Awake is firing on all cylinders. Playing with headphones lets you really appreciate the environmental sound design and, especially in the latter half, the soundtrack from Robin Finck and Cory Davis can be downright transportative in tandem with the visuals. Also in that sound mix is the voice acting. There are a few voiced characters in the game, and they all have their fair share of whispers and mutterings, but it was Katja who didn’t land for me. While she was written to be relatable (dropping the appropriate amount of expletives throughout the game), her lines were too dry in delivery. Looking at the narrative as a whole, I feel that my investment in the character came from my own initiative to put myself in her shoes, rather than any particular moment in the performance.
So what about gameplay, then? Sleep Awake features standard first-person gameplay, and a majority of your time with the game will be spent running and sneaking around. Points of interest push the story forward, and collectible Void Shadows, Tapes, and Microfilms help flesh out the world while also getting you achievements. Along the way, there are minor puzzles to solve. These might require you to scribble down the odd symbol or two, but they are not that challenging to decipher. Katja will occasionally encounter enemies, and, of course, there are no weapons to shoot or combos to pull. This means Katja, and you as a result, can only scamper away at the sight of danger.
This is where you can see some cracks in the game. Enemy AI, particularly for the DTM Agents that roam the Crush, is pretty bad. They almost work on playground rules, which is to say that as long as you’re in the determined “safe zone,” you won’t be caught, even if they can see you while you’re supposedly hiding. This leads to horror-standard chase sequences that play out like puzzles where you need to understand the pattern and make a move, rather than a dynamic game of cat and mouse where you actually feel hunted. By and large, for a psychedelic horror game, most of the “horror” comes diegetically through the worldbuilding rather than a direct antagonistic force.
There are a few other things worth mentioning about Sleep Awake before you head in with eyes wide open. I came across some minor bugs in my 5.5 hours with the game. The most significant of which happened near the end, when a doorway that was supposed to have taken me somewhere else did not. This was fixed by reloading the last save, but it did take me out of the experience for a few minutes as I wondered if I was the one doing something wrong. I also mentioned earlier that the game ends on its loudest notes. I meant it as a good thing, but I also have to acknowledge that that means the game ends just as things get really intriguing. Lastly, I want to include a photosensitivity warning, as the game can be quite hard on the eyes at times, making it more difficult for some than others to get through.
All’s that to say, Sleep Awake functions sort of like an interactive art piece. It’s more focused on giving you an experience to remember than a challenge to play through. And it’s a game that feels like it’s trying to say something. I just don’t know how well it gets that message across. At its best, Sleep Awake is a trippy narrative experience with brief horror elements. At its worst, Sleep Awake is a slow walking simulator with occasional hiccups that can impede an otherwise smooth gameplay experience. Either way, the game is bold, intentional, and it can still be a hell of an audio/visual trip for those who partake in extracurricular activities. Sleep Awake is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
