While Harmonix keeps teasing the eventual return of Rock Band, that hasn’t stopped them from exploring other projects and concepts. For proof, just look at today’s announcement of A City Sleeps. The game is a side-scrolling shooter of the “bullet hell” variety that also mixes in music (of course) and an interesting art style.
A City Sleeps follows Poe, youngest member of The Silk, an ancient clan of dream exorcists that can enter the minds of sleeping hosts to rid their dreams of demons. When the residents of SanLo fall into an endless slumber, only Poe can rescue them from a never-ending nightmare. Equipped with her legendary Koto-sword “Heartstrings”, and flanked by her stable of powerful ghost familiars, she must cleanse their dreams, and uncover the city’s dark secrets.
As with all Harmonix games, music drives much of the gameplay including “player projectiles, enemy spawning, movement, and bullet patterns.” For the more traditional shooterati, Poe’s trio of ghosts will offer offensive and defensive bonuses including powerful “damage bursts” and “healing bullets.”
And we won’t have to wait long to get a chance to play it. A City Sleeps will be available to try out during this weekend’s PAX Prime convention and the game will be released on October 16 via Steam for Windows PC and Mac.
