Sleep Awake review Gary Numan cameos in an overly straightforward sleep-deprivation horror

"But here is an end-of-year curio: psychological horror game Sleep Awake serves us synth-rock pioneer Gary Numan stepping into what is perhaps the schlockiest role of his life a gigantic floating head named Hypnos. This late-stage cameo is not quite indicative of the game as a whole; the handful of hours prior to Numan's arrival are more mournful than madcap."

"Mostly, you explore the dilapidated, tumbledown streets of what is thought to be the last city on Earth. This setting is a magnificent work of imagination. You see it through the eyes of a young woman named Katja, who moves along rooftops, gazing out upon a barren, lifeless hinterland, into labyrinthine streets whose darkness and arcane logic recall the stirring subterranean etchings of Italian artist Piranesi. How has the planet become so inhospitable, so thoroughly wiped of life? That never really becomes clear."

"Like every other perpetually exhausted person here, Katja plops a few drops of stay-awake serum into her eyes. Suddenly, she sees psychedelic visions and kaleidoscopic refractions of space. Katja seems to be losing the plot; everyone else certainly has. What remains of society has crumbled into the sleep-deprived paranoia of rival gangs. Driven initially by a desire to care for an elderly relative, you direct Katja in first-person through the game's many grotty, decaying spaces."

Sleep Awake places the player in a dilapidated, tumbledown city believed to be the last on Earth, viewed through Katja, a young woman who moves along rooftops and into labyrinthine streets whose darkness and arcane logic recall Piranesi's etchings. A disease called the Hush forces residents to use stay-awake serum to avoid disappearing into an inaccessible realm, producing psychedelic visions and kaleidoscopic refractions. The player navigates decaying interiors, pursues an initial goal of caring for an elderly relative, and encounters factions such as gas-masked cults. Stealth encounters lack tension because enemies follow rote patrols. The game culminates in a late-stage cameo featuring synth-rock musician Gary Numan as Hypnos, a gigantic floating head.

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