Sleep Awake Review: Psychedelic Horror Masterpiece or Too Abstract Nightmare?

Dreams have fascinated our species since the dawn of time, and we all ponder the meaning behind particularly vivid nightmares. Sleep Awake is about confronting trauma directly in the form of challenging the topics represented in the nightmarish sleepless world. This game is a visual spectacle with disturbing horror elements. Strong audio and visual direction elevates a provocative storyline. If you want to survive in this world, you cannot sleep. 

This plot device underlying the game is an excellent foundation for building a horror-thriller. Sleep Awake is an anthology of dreamlike chapters that all take place in a dystopian future where humanity has been utterly devastated. Society has collapsed under the chaos caused by an extreme threat, and we play as Katja as she endures life in a place known as The Crush.

The Crush is in ruins as the majority have fallen victim to a paranormal entity that kills people in their sleep. People are able to drift off for moments at a time, but during the delta phase of deep sleep, the person appears to be taken by some evil force that leaves nothing behind but an echo. There are pharma-based solutions to the sleep problem, but without proper sleep, people go absolutely insane; the human mind will break down. 

This phenomenon is responsible for the fracturing of civilization as different factions emerge in the aftermath. There are death cults that embrace the end of times as well as paramilitary forces. Each of these factions seems to have their own way of avoiding sleep, and that strongly contributes to the atmosphere of dread. All of the horror elements of the game draw from the heavy atmosphere that is established in every corner of this post-apocalyptic world.

The audio direction of Sleep Awake is one of the strongest parts of the game - a major element of dread that is constantly suffocating the player. The voice acting is well done, and I absolutely recommend playing with headphones because the spatial audio is key to the experience. Moving around the chaotic mess of The Crush is accompanied by the constant wailing and sobbing of the survivors. No matter where you go, the sound of profound suffering cannot be ignored. The last whimpers of humanity permeate the ramshackle walls and illustrate the misery of the setting. These moments are haunting and memorable.

The visual storytelling elements are a strong feature as well. Cinematic moments in the game will often bombard the player with a series of disturbing and graphic images that flash on screen in an uncomfortable way. Even including real-life imagery, these images may depict violence, abuse, despair, and general suffering that fit well with the design of the game. Similar graphic content can be found outside of cinematics as well. It is common to find evidence of disturbing behavior such as abuse and alternative ways to stay awake. In addition to pharmaceuticals, people have developed ways to shock or otherwise torture themselves to stay awake. Finding evidence of these people often reveals that the countermeasures did not work and something horrible and grotesque probably happened. Everything in the environment points to an unavoidable conclusion: Sleep Awake is less of a daydream and more of a waking nightmare.

The subjective and interpretive nature of the game is going to be a big turn-off for a lot of players. The establishing lore is a very rich skeleton for the story, but the plot of Sleep Awake is far more abstract. Our protagonist, Katja, is forced to take these anti-sleep drugs often, and in plot terms, we are seeing her character growth each time she uses the eyedrops. Each time we see the eyedrops, the setting and subject matter will change to another traumatic theme. I found the moment-to-moment story mostly incomprehensible, but the sheer mystery motivated me to keep going. As a fan of horror, I was invested in getting to the bottom of it, and that meant combing the environment for clues. The echoes of the dead can be found throughout the game and are a decent incentive to explore the depressing environments.

Exploration is the main focus of the game. The action segments are very subdued and include basic stealth sections and the occasional puzzle room. The stealth sections are mechanically very easy to complete and felt like they were included for plot progression purposes. The stealth is there to push you along, but the puzzles act as speedbumps and are similarly shallow. There are far too few puzzle rooms in the game.

We’ve seen them before: Read the clues in the room. Tune the radios to the right frequency. Done.

This formula is repeated a few times, but the game would have benefited from something more Resident Evil-style. Ultimately, the action parts of the game are secondary to the wild dreamlike visuals. The visual elements of Sleep Awake are incredible! Dark and detailed grime in The Crush is reinforced by the disturbing dark imagery flashing between every chapter. The mood is dictated by the upsetting combination of what is on screen and the soundscape. The tight corners can be frustrating to navigate in one chapter but completely different in the next. Later chapters are quite the opposite at times with bright fantastical colors. The difference can be surprising, but it was welcome after the particularly depressing first half.

Sweet dreams or a beautiful nightmare?

Sleep Awake is a complicated experience from start to finish. The gameplay is intuitive and easy to control, while the plotline and environments can be almost nonsensical. The audio/visual experience is very recommendable, but the ending might leave you with more questions than answers. Objectively, these concepts definitely justify the experience. Subjectively, the story is way too abstract to follow.