This haunting, dreamlike horror captivates visually, but its stealth mechanics feel a bit worn out.

“What if you could never sleep again?” is the chilling premise of Sleep Awake. In this stealth horror experience, a mysterious disaster known as The Hush has struck, leaving everyone unable to enjoy even a brief nap without facing dire consequences. It’s a gripping horror concept, reminiscent of a nightmare lurking around every corner, and it certainly makes you crave a strong cup of coffee just to think about it.

However, it seems the developers at Eyes Out might want to ease up on the caffeine, as Sleep Awake bombards players with a barrage of stimuli right from the start. The game features bizarre visuals, live-action segments, an overload of proper nouns, intricate world-building, and a plethora of horrific imagery. Yet, amidst all this chaos, the core gameplay is surprisingly more restrained than its surreal presentation suggests.

You step into the shoes of Katja, who begins her journey by concocting an eyedrop narcotic for herself and a character named Amma, who lives far away. Given that both women reside in a dystopian police state filled with aggressive enforcers, they might want to rethink their living arrangements. Most of your 3-4 hour adventure in Sleep Awake involves navigating this grim city, which even the mayor of Silent Hill would likely deem in need of a thorough cleaning.

As you explore, you’ll encounter rundown apartments, a theater where unethical anti-sleep experiments took place, and totalitarian propaganda plastered across decaying walls. While the atmospheric horror settings are effective, much of what you see feels familiar. However, the game does deliver visual surprises through frequent hallucinations, as Katja’s exhaustion begins to take its toll. Filing cabinets appear to dance from the walls, and a turnstile gate ominously fills with spinning knives.

Creepy? Absolutely. But these moments rarely evoke genuine fear—unless you’re foolish enough to engage with the knife-filled turnstile. The most imaginative visuals often occur when you’re at your safest, with montages of live-action people screaming and close-up shots of eyeballs being unsettling yet passive experiences. It takes a while before any real threats emerge in gameplay.

When they do, they manifest as the aforementioned aggressive enforcers wielding large sticks and donning gas masks, a classic horror trope. You’ll need to stealthily maneuver past them by crouching to slip under gaps and through vent grilles.

While the tension can be palpable, the mechanics feel far from groundbreaking. Last year’s standout title had a similar stealth approach but featured a uniquely terrifying enemy that kept the gameplay feeling fresh. In contrast, Sleep Awake often lacks that novelty, making it feel more like a snooze than a thrill.

Perhaps my attention would have held better if the story were more captivating. Katja has suffered the loss of her father and brother, which explains her somber demeanor, but her dialogue often leans more toward profanity than personality. I can relate to being poor company when sleep-deprived, but the characters often come off as mere vessels for exposition, weighed down by heavy jargon and proper nouns.

You occasionally uncover memories of those who succumbed to an ill-fated nap, but these fragments of backstory feel too abstract and disconnected to resonate. The game’s narrative might make sense if you meticulously read every file and book you find, but I found the documents to be dry and lengthy, lacking the engaging flavor that makes similar games shine.

Sleep Awake does pick up in its second half, as the surreal visuals and stealth mechanics begin to intertwine more effectively. One late-game enemy introduces a clever mechanic that requires you to avoid looking at it, paired with unsettling sound design that jolted me awake. But why did these nightmarish elements take so long to appear, and why are they so fleeting?

Another late-game creature, while not as impactful, still brings innovation that the gas mask-wearing foes lack. I finished Sleep Awake feeling a mix of exhilaration and frustration, aware of the potential that lies within the game. It’s a title that offers sporadic scares but leaves you wishing for a more consistent experience. I just wish I hadn’t felt like I was sleepwalking through much of it.