It's a good game but nothing amazing. A City Sleeps is a bullet hell shooter with some minor musical aspect, your projectiles are affected by the beat and it sounds when you attack. That was a bit of a disappointment on a game from Harmonix and I feel this system only detracts from the experience. It's quite short, only three stages with 3 chapters each and some incentive for replayability in form of unlockables and new difficulties. It's a pretty beautiful game and even though I'm not a fan of Electronica the soundtrack is good. It could really benefit from a new free add-on with at least a new stage but it's a good enough game as it is.

This game is awesome and the soundtrack is really amazing and really good
the only thing that will make me not recommend this game is that there are only 3 levels
each level have 3 stages and boss fight .. and each level have 5 difficulties
still it's not worth the price for me
wait for sale

A really well polished game with an amazing art style and soundtrack that go well into the game mechanics, and despite short length offers for a fair amount of fun.

The bad:
-Relatively short at only 3 very short level.
-Not much to do or collect besides the leaderboard and finishing the game on every difficulty.

The good:
-Amazing art style and soundtrack that go right into the game mechanics. You shoot in the beat of the music.
-Great in short bursts. Short level.
-Unlockable special abilities change up the levels and add highly to replayability.
-Although short, the game is relatively challenging and offers a variety of difficulty levels to unlock.

For every fan of the sadly scarce Shoot 'em up genre that enjoy a vibrant soundtrack that compliments the game well this is a must have. With it's beautiful art and fluid gameplay, it offers high replayability despite the short length. It is a sadly (at launch at least) overlooked game that in the terms of production quality and overall gameplay is at the top of its genre. If you enjoy the art style and are a fan of this genre, as well as are intrigued by the idea of the music pretty much dictating the game flow, this is a game you shouldn't miss. For everyone else, at least at a sale, it is worth a shot and will probably end up being a gem in many people's game library.

Everything about this game is pretty awesome aside from the fact it comes with a pathetic THREE levels.

There are six difficulties for each level sure, but three levels just aint enough for the price in my book, sorry. Wait for a sale.

There is a system where you unlock different modifiers you can place in slots in the level, that seems to be where they are aiming for replayability. Harder difficulties change up enemy types and how many, so it's not like the level is exactly identical for every difficulty.

I still don't feel it's enough, maybe they are aiming for DLC, but I feel like this game is at least 2 or 3 extra levels away from being worth the asking price.

It's worth mentioning i'm not a hardcore bullet hell guy so I don't really expect to grind out the last few difficulties with any success. It's also worth mentioning that every other aspect of this game is pretty great, so anyone who is a fan of this genre in particular might get their money worth out of it from the difficulties alone.

What do we have here?
A City Sleeps is a horizontal shmup in which the spawning of enemies and your own rate of fire is determined by the rythm of the games music. Another nice feature is the ability to put one of five ghosts on available points on the screen to create shooting turrets or healing points that aid you in your battle.

What is good:
1. The soundtrack... its awesome and very well done.
2. The difficulty. The game is hard and unforgiving like a good shoot em up should be.
3. The ghost mechanic gives the game additional replayability as you probably will want to try a different approach on a level you've already beaten.
4. Varied bullet patterns. If you've played a few bullet hell shmups you'll be surprised to see a few quite well done and interesting patterns here.

The bad:
1. Controls feel clunky. You either feel like youre not fast enough to dodge the onslaught of bullets or you use your dashmove and overshoot. This of course gets better with practice but right of the start controlling Poe (the main character) never felt quite right to me. To me it felt like the dash move was originally intended to make you invincible for a few frames but then they cut that feature out at the last minute.

2. Gameplay. Despite having scrolling backrounds this is basically a twinstick onescreen arena shooter like geometry wars. Enemies spawn on screen and you try to kill them as fast as possible. Most foes take a ridiculous amount of damage though and often times fighting those bigger enemies feels slow and repetitive. At the end it all boils down to which ghosts to use at what point in the level and i didn't find this particulary exciting. Never before have i played a shmup in which destroying enemies felt so unsatisfying. They don't explode or scream or have nice death animations. Killed enemies just vanish without a sound.

3. Graphics. Stylish but Cheap. Everything looks like a cardboard cutout and is barely animated at all. Think of old flash games. Disappointing.

4. Content. Yes there are ghosts and relics(passive boosts) to unlock when beating the levels at certain difficulties but at the end of the day there are only 3 different levels. They change according to the music at higher difficulties but to me everything felt quite samy.

5. The whole rythm affects gameplay thing. A great idea that fascinates at first but eventually shows its downside: It makes the game unpredictable. Pushing the "shoot" button to kill a near enemy but you are not shooting? Yeah, because the music at this very moment does not allow it. This wouldnt be that bad if you could actually predict the music and play accordingly but the whole soundtrack (as good as it is) sounds like some kind of everchanging rave/techno/remix stuff. Try to predict this. :)

As you can probably tell i do not like A City Sleeps. Compared to other shoot em ups its slow and repetitive, looks cheap and has not enough content to warrant its price tag of 14€.

Youll be far better off to buy stuff like Crimzon Clover, Jamestown, Deathsmiles, Akai Katana or any other shooter from cave.
The only redeeming thing about A City Sleeps is its soundtrack. Yeah. buy and download the soundtrack, its awesome.

Here we have a pretty good rhythm-based sidescrolling shmup, done by the company you probably know for their Rock Band series, as well as Dance Central, Amplitude, Frequency and a few others.

By their pedigree, you know they know what they're doing with music-based games. This is another case where they do things wonderfully, but the only problem is that there are too few music tracks (or levels) to recommend besides on sale.

Sure, they have harder versions of the same levels to mix things up a bit, including the music, but the learning curve is a bit intense, and of the difficulties, the lowest is the only one I can get through consistantly. I know I might just need to 'gitgud', though.

I would like to see some expansion to the game, more levels to play, because I really like the direction it goes. But wait for a sale if you're interested.

+ Pretty and sharp graphics
+ Solid soundtrack
+ Idol system is a cool idea

- Only a couple of levels
- Game relies on replaying levels on harder difficulties
- Is sometimes too difficult or just too chaotic

[Rating: 71/100]

The end boss is probably the closest you'll get to being encouraged to stab the essence of dub step with a sword.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxC_IoJ7Lo4

A City Sleeps,

I don’t know how the hell anyone can get any sleep with all that loud banging! The music… I am talking about the music…. No seriously… A City Sleeps is a music driven shmup brought to you by the masters of music gaming… Harmonix! The game has some fantastic systems built in such as Music/Gameplay Sync and the Idol system. Both add great depth and elements of strategy to the game that will keep you coming back for more.

You progress through the levels and difficulties of the levels. Unlocking new music, new ghosts, and new relics. The mobs vary from level to level. The bosses are pretty insane. The game is filled with tons of adrenaline and that is just the start.

In the game you play as Poe whom is the newest member of an ancient clan of dream exorcists… What? Did I say that right? EXORCISTS?! YARP! These Clan members can enter the minds of sleeping hosts to rid their dreams of demons. DEMONS!!!!! I love killin’ me some demons! So of course when the city of SanLo falls into an endless slumber…. Poe is their only hope! Even the name of her sword wants to tug on your “Heartstrings” … See what I did there?? Yes, her sword is named Heartstrings. Ironically enough some of the stuff you…. exorcise looks like hearts. Really makes you wonder if you are the nightmare or if you are in your own nightmare.

So, the story is great. The gameplay is phenomenal, and the sound. My god … the sound! The music is great. All of the sound effects are built into the music itself. The soundtrack is great and you will want to pick that up for sure.

The price of the game might seem a tad high but the game has depth with it’s unlocks and many strategies you can use to play the game with the different unlocks you find throughout. I definitely recommend picking this game up ASAP! Plus … STEAM TRADING CARDS ARE A BONUS!! Oh and leaderboards for those that love ccompetingwith others. Let’s just hope Harmonix does a good job at preventing leaderboard hacking.

We give this game a Drastik Measure…. 8.5/10

For more game reviews also check out: http://www.thedrastikmeasure.com

You get out of it what you're willing to put into it.

A City Sleeps is basically my first experience with a bullet hell game (apart from a half-hour spent playing Ikaruga once). I really enjoyed how everything - your bullets, the enemy spawns, and the enemy bullets - is determined by the music. There are three stages - each stage contains two checkpoints on your way to the stage's boss. There are three difficulty levels, with challenge twists on two of them - effectively making for five difficulty levels.

You control a character who shoots bullets and controls ghosts, which she can place as power-ups at certain times in the level. The ghosts can help you deal with enemies or refill lost health. There's also a close combat mechanic which you can use to charge up for a unique and powerful move. As you progress through the game, you unlock relics (buffs) and more ghosts, which make for some nice variety.

This is not a big budget game, but I enjoyed the art style; it has a nice charm to it. I really love the music in this game too, which is important when so much of the gameplay is tied to it.

The more time I put into the game getting better, the more rewarding it felt when I finally beat a tough level - sometimes after 15-20 deaths. I might have given up on some games with that kind of death count, but I felt compelled to keep going and challenging myself with this game.

I agree with others who wish there was some more content. There is a lot to master here (at least for someone like me who had little experience in this kind of game), but another stage or two would have been great.

I'd love to see some more games with this kind of music-infused gameplay.

Harmonix has attemped something completely new from what most people are familar with and it completely pays off with A City Sleeps. The game takes the combination of a shmup and turns it upside down with a very stylized and memorable soundtrack. It's nice to see a developer take a chance on such a obscure genre, that I believe is only really popular in Japan.

The gameplay is fluid and flows perfectly, the art is beautiful and each enemy stands out. As for the soundtrack I could go on about how amazing the soundtrack is! (buy the deluxe edtion!) I found myself playing the Empress level multiple times just to play the last boss fight with the music.

Some people might be turned off by the fact that the only only features 3 levels, but after you complete a level on a certain difficulty you will unlock an even harder diffculty for that level. The harder difficulties really feel different and aren't the same level you just played. The bullet patterns change and really has you really thinking over your stategy and trying to memorizes the certain bullet patterns.

If you are a fan of shumps and/or music games or if you are looking to play something completely different this game is just for you!

A City Sleeps is a music driven duel joystick bullet hell shooter. Your attacks as well as enemy attack and spawn patterns correspond to the different elements of the soundtrack, creating a unique shoot em up experience that can best be described as a mixture of the frantic action of games like Beat Hazard with the tight, music timed level structure of REZ.

You're character Poe has a standard multi directional attack and the ability to equip ghosts and relics.
Ghosts are active powers that can be activated in multiple slots of the levels. Each ghost has two forms. The basic attack ghost Anger for example can either be used as a fast paced homing shot or as an AoE, while the positional orientated Master ghost can be used as either a heavy sniper attack or a leash, damaging enemies between you and the slot. There are multiple ghosts to unlock, adding a huge emphasis on experimenting with different tactics based on your ghost load out.
Relics are unlockable passive abilities, that buff your ghosts or standard attacks.

The soundtrack is the highlight of the game. Unlike many other music driven games there is no importing of your own songs via beatmatching. Instead you have a game that is designed around it's soundtrack. If you played and enjoyed REZ, you know exactly the trance like state that you fall into, dodging enemy bullets and timing your attacks to the beats and sound of the music.

One of the short comings of the game is the level variety. You have 15 levels that are 3 levels (songs) in 5 different variants each. While I personally think that the game justifies it's price point with the highly addictive gameplay, some might find the lack of level variety off putting.
I highly recommend A City Sleeps. It's a unique shoot em up experience that everyone that likes either music games or bullet hell shooters should give a try.

A City Sleeps Soundtrack on Bandcamp:
https://harmonix.bandcamp.com/album/a-city-sleeps-soundtrack

A City Sleeps is a dual-joystick shmup that sort of came out of nowhere from Harmonix, best known for Rock Band and Dance Central. It's a horizontal shooter that sort of reminds me of Action In New York/S.C.A.T or Section Z on the NES, but with a much greater range of attacks and directions to fire. In addition to your main attacks, you have Ghosts you can bring into levels to use during certain sections. These Ghosts give you defensive or offensive abilities, like a healing wave, a turret, a bullet vacuum, and some more unusual abilities. Going through a level not only requires the ability to dodge enemy shots, but also knowing when and where to deploy your Ghosts to make things more managable (and replacing a ghost you've already placed is not an issue.

Since this is a Harmonix game, music naturally plays a large role. Everything revolves around the soundtrack; enemy patterns, the tempo of your shots, and when your Ghosts are active. You can think of each enemy as an instrument, and their shots are the music they play. You can use this to tell when an enemy is going to open fire or anticipate when one of your Ghosts is ready to act, which is especially useful for defensive ones. And since everything ties to the music, it helps that the soundtrack is really good.

A City Sleeps unfortunately falls a bit short when compared to other shmups. The controls feel floaty, which can make dodging tight clusters of shots iffy at best. Even if you use a passive buff you earn later to move faster, it's still not that accurate. There's also a dodge move that lets you zip across the screen quickly, but it doesn't offer any invincibility frames, so you're even more likely to run into something. There's no lives or continues; if you die, you go back to the start of whatever section in the level you were at. The sections are fairly short, so it's not really a big deal, but if you die at a boss you don't go back to the start of the boss fight. You're sent back to the start of the previous section and have to fight your way back to the boss. Even if it only takes a minute or a little more to get back to the boss, that can end up getting very frustrating.

It's also a rather short game. There are three levels, but each has three difficulties and two "Cursed" variants. Each difficulty plays differently enough that it's a significant difference, and the Cursed levels add modifiers to make the level harder, like faster enemy bullets or a larger hitbox. Beating levels will unlock new Ghosts and Relics (passive boosts you can equip, like the faster movement speed mentioned earlier and ones that will change how your Ghosts act), but it still didn't take very long to clear almost the entire game (the first level's final Curse is a real SOB and I still haven't managed to beat it).

Still, I really enjoyed A City Sleeps and I'm still going back and playing it when I have some free time. Something about the rhythm action really clicks for me. The legnth of the game is certainly going to be a turn-off for some people, but if you're on the fence about it, definitely pick it up if you see it on sale. If you're ok with a shorter game experience, then get A City Sleeps.

Good

A City Sleeps is a brilliant side-scrolling tactical shooter from the creative musical minds that brought us the award winning games 'Rock Band' and 'Amplitude'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPUZ2BWgyzw
Armed with this information, you jut know this game is going to be something special and it is. You shoot aliens to the tune of a beat playing in the background and the intensity of that fire-power is based on the musical rifts at that moment in the song. You also come across special floating objects along the way and these can be activated into bonus buffs and boosts for your character. - A clever and brilliant side-scrolling Shoot-em-up!

This is a good game, great beats

Haven't played much as it was just released but from what I've played: the music is incredible and the art is very polished and well done. Also the gameplay is great and silky smooth.

Looks like there are three levels with three stages inside each one, then there are about 6 difficulty levels for each stage. The main point is to beat a level with one difficulty then repeat the level again with a harder difficulty until you've masterd the level.

Very hard game but so far worth it.
(I will update this review as I play more)

Simply amazing.. from the soundtrack, to the beautiful world, to the crazy frantic gameplay.. amazing.

Great game, fantastic art and music. Harmonix managed to create the first Zen shmup ever!

Pretty boring levels (of which there are 3), bullet patterns aren't very interesting, soundtrack is decentish.