Blumhouse Games and EYES OUT have released a demo for their upcoming game SLEEP AWAKE. The psychedelic first-person game explores the realm between sleep and death, as its direct title suggests. The setting is a world in which going to sleep spells almost certain death. Denizens of a post-apocalyptic city have come up with various ways to stave off sleep. As for you, your character works to save those you care about in this bizarre landscape.
I first heard about SLEEP AWAKE when it received an announcement as part of the official selection of Tribeca Games Fest. I wasn’t able to make it out to the festival myself, but if a game appears there it’s usually worth taking note of for the future.
And SLEEP AWAKE has a fascinating creative team behind it as well. Developer EYES OUT was founded by Cory Davis and Robin Finck. Cory Davis directed the hit game Spec Ops: The Line. And Robin Finck is none other than the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails.
This seems like an odd pairing at first, but after playing the demo myself it makes sense. SLEEP AWAKE has a lot of music to it, and feels in some ways more like a playable music video than a traditional game. Whenever the main character falls asleep, a creepy montage of live action footage plays.
That said, the demo is just a snippet of the full game, and it does seem like there may be more puzzle gameplay and other mechanics involved. Most of the demo involves navigating the crumbling city you call home while occasionally falling asleep into the eerie dream-world.
Though it’s billed as a horror game, I didn’t experience much in the way of scares in the demo, with more of a sci-fi angle to the 30 minute section. But again, that could change for the full game. So far I’m intrigued, but curious to see more. Check it out for yourself here on Steam.
SLEEP AWAKE will arrive sometime in the near future for PlayStation 5 and PC.
