Citizen Sleeper : Game Review
When I first started Citizen Sleeper for the first time, it immediately impressed me with its concept. Its futuristic transhumanist pitch – being a digitally-controlled consciousness of the human body, that is implanted in a robot created to serve a giant corporation It is unique in the cyberpunk genre of games. Its clean, sleek, and distinctive art style, as well as its music that is a Tycho-like take on sci-fi beats, convinced me I would be in for an enjoyable experience, and I had a feeling that the game would work. It did, but at the beginning, I was not certain if it would to, as the first few minutes are overpowering, with a flood of innovative techniques and systems that define the first half hour. I was rewarded for staying to it, as all aspects that are part of Citizen Sleeper, including its gameplay, captivated me following the introduction. 7 hours after, I was able to roll credits for one of my top gaming experiences of 2022.
You wake up as a Sleeper or robot that is driven by a mind that belongs to someone else. In this case it’s a person who owes the mega-corp Essen-Arp money and, to pay back this debt, their mind is digitally digitized and placed into a machine specifically designed to help them. this is the normal life of Sleepers. However, you’ve been able to escape, and the story of Citizen Sleeper begins here and continues to unfold as you learn how to survive and flourish.
The story of Citizen Sleeper’s is as simple as it gets: Evade Essen-Arp’s bounty hunters who are determined to take you back while creating a new the future you want for your self. Erlin’s Eye, the space station that served as my refuge prior to being my home for the next few years, forms the background of this. I am awed by how I became very familiar with the city in the course of time. Citizen Sleeper gently helped me understand the space station as an outline of my goals and a platform for enhancing my friendships with its inhabitants. In order to achieve this, I had to accomplish various goals at Erlin’s eye, from paying the bounty hunter in order to get through the day, to purchasing medicines I needed desperately to repair my ever-deteriorating body.
In the end, Citizen Sleeper is less an attempt to critique capitalism itself and, in its defense, has been repeatedly done in the cyberpunk world, and more of an opportunity to show how the people who are under its control remain resilient and thrive in spite of it. Its optimistic and inspiring message is backed up by a heartfelt, layered narrative as well as a thrilling game play loop that makes it difficult for me to get rid of. In addition, it has a beautiful design and style, and my favourite music score of 2022 thus far it’s clear that Citizen Sleeper is a game I’ll be considering for a long time to come.