Horror is such a subjective thing. Something that scares the pants off you might not even phase me and, equally, you might find my irrational fear of mimes, (come on guys they’re unnecessarily quiet clowns, they’re bloody evil!) a tad silly. There are certain things though that make us collectively uncomfortable. This is where NeverAwake comes into play. This game isn’t about psychopaths, zombies, or suspiciously silent people in imaginary boxes. This one follows some very real scary scenarios if, of course, you happen to be a kid.
Coming from the very talented folk over at Neotro Inc. and publisher Phoenixx, NeverAwake is now happily haunting the Steam Deck, PS4 and 5, and Nintendo Switch. You really shouldn’t have too much trouble finding something to play this game on if twin-stick shenanigans are your thing. Speaking of Steam … If you’re like me and you don’t have bottomless pockets for fancy bits of hardware; and just want to play on your PC you can obviously do that too with the same handy link I’ve already provided.
As I’ve just very definitely mentioned, NeverAwake is a twin-stick shooter that follows a little girl into her nightmares. As the player, you will have to fight through Rem‘s vivid imagination and face her biggest phobias. We’re obviously talking about some really frightening stuff here, from a trip to the dentist and a face-off with vegetables to dogs and conflict at school.
You’ll battle against all of the adolescent troubles I’ve just mentioned and more using a variety of powerful weapons and accessories. With your arsenal at hand, you’ll create mind-blowing attack patterns as you bob and weave across more than 80 action-packed levels. There will also be a series of absurd bosses in your way that you’ll need to overcome if you are to succeed.
“After our Steam release, we received numerous requests to bring NeverAwake to consoles,” said Azusa Kawamura, Producer at Phoenixx. “It’s a dream come true to bring NeverAwake to Switch and PlayStation consoles, and we are beyond excited for gamers to get their hands on the latest version!”
What is this “latest version?” I hear you ask. Well, this title has been on PC for a little while now, so these newly released ports are coming in lock-step with NeverAwake V1.1. This comes in line with the latest Steam update and features six new accessories and the secret HIMITSU CHALLENGE. This is only available to those of you who have completed world 8 though, so you’ll need to get your game on if you’re going to see what it is. This doesn’t mean a vast amount to those of you playing for the first time as it’s all going to be new, but if you’ve already played the Steam original you’ll notice that a few bug fixes, general optimizations, and the quality-of-life stuff that we all love to see are also wrapped up in the update.
So there you have it. If you love some bullet-hell action and you think it might be fun to look at the horror genre in an entirely different light; NeverAwake might be a really fun way to go. What scared us when we were kids might not be a problem now we’re older but wouldn’t it be nice to get back at some of the stuff you remember giving you nightmares? I’ve certainly got a few scores to settle, so you may hear a little more about this one in the not-so-distant future.
