Horror games usually rely on a few standard tricks to scare you: jump scares, limited ammo, or monsters that chase you down hallways.
Sleep Awake, the new game from Blumhouse Games and developer EYES OUT, tries something different. It wants to scare you with a concept.
Imagine a world where falling asleep isn’t just resting—it’s a death sentence. You drift off, and you disappear into “The Hush,” leaving nothing behind but an empty outline. It is a terrifying, brilliant idea for a story. The problem is that Sleep Awake forgets that a great idea needs a great game to go with it.
Sleep Awake: A Dream Team Creates a Fever Dream
The game has some serious star power behind it. It’s directed by Cory Davis, who made the mind-bending Spec Ops: The Line, and Robin Finck, the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails. You can feel that influence immediately. This isn’t a standard zombie survival game; it is a psychedelic trip through a neon-soaked, dying city called “The Crush.”
The atmosphere is easily the best part of the experience. The visuals are a mix of 3D graphics and live-action video (FMV) that blur together, making you feel like you are losing your mind, just like the sleep-deprived protagonist, Katja. Walls melt, lights flare in strange colors, and reality seems to crack around the edges.
And then there is the sound. If you play this, wear headphones. The audio design is thick, industrial, and incredibly unsettling. It grinds and hums with a tension that does more to scare you than any monster ever could. It feels less like a video game soundtrack and more like you are living inside a Nine Inch Nails album while having a bad panic attack.
Walking Through the Apocalypse
Unfortunately, once you get past the incredible vibes, you have to actually play the game, and that is where things start to fall apart. Sleep Awake is essentially a walking simulator with some very basic stealth thrown on top.
There is no combat. You cannot fight the cultists or the police state goons who patrol the city. You can only hide. This wouldn’t be a problem—games like Outlast make running away terrifying—but the stealth here feels ten years old. You crouch behind a box, wait for a guard to walk his very obvious path, and then move to the next box. The enemy AI isn’t smart; they are just obstacles in your way. If you find a dark corner, you are basically invisible. It doesn’t feel like a desperate struggle for survival; it feels like waiting for a traffic light to change.
The puzzles aren’t much better. You’ll spend a lot of time tuning radios to match symbols or finding ingredients to brew coffee-like stimulants to stay awake. It’s busywork. For a game about the terror of losing consciousness, the gameplay loop is surprisingly sleepy. You rarely feel the mechanical pressure of exhaustion; the game just tells you that you are tired, rather than making you play differently because of it.
Performance on PS5
On the PlayStation 5, Sleep Awake runs well. It targets a smooth 60 frames per second, which is crucial when the screen is filled with trippy, warping visual effects. If the frame rate dipped while the world was melting, it would probably make everyone sick, so the stability here is a big plus. The load times are also lightning-fast. This is used for a cool death mechanic where, instead of a “Game Over” screen, you have to walk through a dark tunnel back to the light to respawn. It’s a neat trick that keeps you in the flow.
However, the game doesn’t make the most of the DualSense controller. You get some basic vibration when things get loud or heavy, but it lacks the nuanced haptic feedback that makes the best PS5 games feel “real.” You won’t feel the specific patter of the corrosive rain or the subtle heartbeat of a terrified character in your hands. The adaptive triggers also don’t get much of a workout since you aren’t shooting guns. It’s a serviceable port, but not a showcase for the hardware.
The Story Saves the Day (Mostly)
Despite the boring gameplay, I found myself pushing through just to see what happened next. The writing is dense and full of made-up sci-fi terms like “The Swell” and “The Fathom,” which can be annoying, but the core mystery is gripping. Katja’s journey to save her grandmother and figure out the truth behind The Hush is emotional and weird in a way that few games dare to be. The way it blends real-world footage with the game world creates a sense of unreality that works perfectly for a story about sleep deprivation.
Verdict
Sleep Awake is a game that is better to watch (or listen to) than it is to play. As an interactive art piece, it is a success. It looks amazing, sounds incredible, and tells a story that will stick with you. But as a video game, it is often boring and frustrating. The stealth is outdated, the puzzles are dull, and the lack of any real mechanics makes the 5-to-6-hour runtime feel longer than it is.
If you are a fan of “vibes-first” horror games like Layers of Fear or Observer, or if you just really love industrial rock music, this is worth a look. But if you want a survival horror game that challenges you and makes your heart race with gameplay tension, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a beautiful nightmare, but one you might find yourself nodding off during.
Pros and Cons
Pros | Cons |
| Incredible Audio: The sound design and score by Robin Finck are masterful and genuinely unsettling. | Boring Gameplay: The stealth sections are basic, repetitive, and lack tension. |
| Unique Visuals: The mix of 3D graphics and FMV creates a trippy, psychedelic atmosphere that looks great on PS5. | No Combat: The lack of defensive options makes encounters feel passive and frustrating rather than scary. |
| Strong Concept: The “sleep equals death” premise is original and terrifying. | Weak AI: Enemies follow rigid paths and are easily tricked, removing the fear factor. |
| Smooth Performance: Runs at a solid 60fps with fast loading times. | Underutilized DualSense: The controller’s unique features aren’t used to enhance the immersion. |
| Interesting Lore: The world-building is deep, even if the dialogue is a bit heavy on jargon. | Short but Slow: Even at 5 hours, the slow walking speed and waiting games can make it drag. |
