A City Sleeps

A City Sleeps is a horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed by Harmonix for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X systems on October 16, 2014.

A City Sleeps
Steam store card
Developer(s)Harmonix
Publisher(s)Harmonix
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS X
ReleaseOctober 16, 2014
Genre(s)Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

A City Sleeps is a horizontally scrolling twin-stick shooter. The player controls Poe, a dream exorcist that enters the nightmares of the citizens of SanLo City to help free them of a force that controls the city. The player moves Poe around the screen with one controller stick and aims her weapon with the other to dodge the torrent of bullets the nightmare forces fire at her and defeat them with her own weapon. The player can also move Poe close to a foe, risking more damage from their bullets but allowing Poe to defeat the foe with a sword, which helps to build a special meter. Once this meter is full, the player can then trigger a special attack that affects all the enemies on the screen.[2][3] The patterns of the appearance of enemies and when they fire are tightly connected to the game's soundtrack, reflecting on Harmonix' past expertise in rhythm game development.[1][4]

In addition to her own abilities, Poe has a trio of "ghosts" that accompany her and that can be attached to special nodes located on the levels. Each ghost has a unique ability: one can heal Poe, another can shoot its own bullets, and the third can drain health from enemies trapped nearby. The type of node will affect how these abilities work; for example, the health-generating ghost on some nodes may end up firing health bullets that Poe can take to restore health, while other nodes may create a health restoration field near the node. The player can swap ghosts and nodes at any time, though foes will continue to fire on Poe during this process.[2]

Development and release

A City Sleeps was developed by a part of Harmonix' team that worked on their first-person music-based shooter, Chroma. The title was revealed at the 2014 PAX Prime convention.[2]

Reception

A City Sleeps received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5]

References
  1. Miller, Matt (August 29, 2014). "A City Sleeps". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  2. Sliva, Marty (August 28, 2014). "PAX 2014: A City Sleeps is Harmonix's Anime Take on Geometry Wars". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  3. McWhertor, Michael (August 28, 2014). "Harmonix is making a musical shoot 'em up called A City Sleeps". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  4. Matulef, Jeffery (August 28, 2014). "Harmonix announces rhythmic shmup A City Sleeps". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  5. "A City Sleeps for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  6. Rowen, Nic (October 21, 2014). "Review: A City Sleeps". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  7. Vore, Bryan (October 16, 2014). "A City Sleeps: Songs Of The Dead". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  8. Brown, Peter (October 21, 2014). "A City Sleeps Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  9. Cowan, Danny (October 16, 2014). "A City Sleeps review: Bullet purgatory". Engadget (Joystiq). Oath Inc. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  10. Kollar, Philip (October 17, 2014). "A City Sleeps review: wake up call". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  11. Wong, Steven (October 20, 2014). "A City Sleeps Review: A Beautiful Nightmare". Shacknews. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  12. Riccio, Aaron (October 24, 2014). "Review: A City Sleeps". Slant Magazine. Slant Magazine LLC. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
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