Sleep Attack Rapid Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fast Facts

Title: Sleep Attack
Developer: Bad Seed
Publisher: Bad Seed
Website: https://www.badseed.it/sleepattack/
Genre: Strategy
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 3
Release Date: 23/01/2020
Price: £6.29 – Rapid Reviews was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

Story

Sleep Attack is all about a purple creature who is playing his favourite console when all of sudden he falls asleep and dreams about himself starring in a video game. He isn’t your ordinary legendary hero though – he is a sleeping oaf, dreaming of himself being attacked by strange little masked creatures advancing on his position.

Spin it!

This is where YOU come in. The plan is to keep our unlikely hero safe and sound by placing turrets in glowing spots around each of the 24 maps.  From here, you turn the outer and inner plain of each level independently with the left and right analogue sticks, changing the paths of the enemies on the fly and creating your own bottlenecks, or dead ends, to funnel enemies down the paths you want them to take.

Dreaming!

There are six dream worlds to play with a total of 24 levels in all. Each world has its own theme which will change how you play, and the strategies you make while playing them. Completing levels will reward you with one to three stars and there is a total of 72 stars to collect which adds in some replayability.

Turret R Us!

No tower defence game is complete without some serious artillery. Thankfully, there are 9 different turrets available which unlock over the course of the game. Each turret unlocked will be added to your compendium and it’s here you can view all your turrets as well as see brief descriptions on their basic functionalities. It also includes stats for their damage output as well as their four upgradable states.

Towers/turrets come in a variety of different attack types such as standard basic shooter to more advanced towers like the Zapper that can cause damage to multiple enemies with its conducive electricity. Upgrading your turrets and towers will make them far more effective on the battlefield.

Enemies ahoy!

Sleep Attack has over 17+ enemies for you to encounter and destroy including boss battles that can be found at the end of each area. Again, each enemy unlocked during play will appear as a notification on top of the screen which you can press and view the information – just like the turrets.  A small description, the type, speed, armour and damage can be viewed. These enemies will also appear in your compendium for you to look at later on. Each enemy will have their own weakness against certain turrets and they each have their own movement speeds and abilities.  Using the right towers for each enemy will make these encounters a lot less stressful.  

Unique twist!

Before starting a game, you will be allowed to select from a few towers that you may want to use in battle.  You only have a few seconds to place towers before a wave begins.  Sadly, you don’t have complete freedom to place your turrets anywhere you want, instead, you need to place them on glowing circles which appear over the course of the session. 

You can place and upgrade your weaponry in these spots as well as sell them if needed.  Holding L bumper and cycling through the glowing spots with the analogue stick can sometimes feel little clunky.  But after you’ve found a spot, all you need to do is press the A button and select a turret or tower to place it in that circle.

The most unique thing here is the ability to turn the outer plain, inner plain of each level whenever you want.  Turning plains can stun enemies while in motion and change their paths, making their routes longer or shorter depending on the circumstances.

It’s really easy to do and uses just the right and left sticks which turn this genre on its head, making for battles which are a lot more engaging.  In a later level, you’ll find some areas of the map without any spots to place turrets on and you’ll need to turn each plain around so that all roads leading to your hero are protected from the onslaught of attackers.

Your hero – which acts as your base – has a level pool which is indicated by a number on his belly.  Each enemy that reaches that point will deplete from that pool and once it reaches zero, the game is over.  Now and again, jellyfish will fly over the level, in this instance, you press R bumper to receive an increase in your currency which will allow you to build more turrets or upgrade them.

Waves

Each wave can be different and comes with its own difficulty. A timer will tick down in top left-hand corner showing when that current wave will end, and above that is how many waves are left.  You can speed up waves with the Y button and freeze time with + button.  Bosses will also appear at the end of each level adding to the challenge.

Graphics and sound!

The music in Sleep Attack is cheerful and whimsical, with a new song per area. Each of the enemies has their own calls and screams too. The graphics are also really nicely done with beautiful dreamlike animated environments. Each turret/tower and the enemies themselves look detailed and are animated well.

Mobile roots/issues

Not only a Nintendo Switch title, Sleep Attack is also available on the Playstore priced at £4.99. When compared to the £6.49 price tag on the eShop, I wonder if that is just a bit of added switch tax? Also, the Playstore version comes equipped with achievements and leaderboards which is where the Switch version seems to be lacking.

I’ve been playing with the Pro controller which worked fine in levels even though placing turrets can feel clunky. That being said, I’ve had some issues in the menu where I couldn’t pick levels with the Pro controller and could only cycle through areas for some reason. It works fine when I use the joy-cons so I am putting that down as bug. It’s also a shame they didn’t add any extra modes like Survival, for example, meaning that after you’ve completed the game there’s very little else to do.

Final words

I like Sleep Attack – it’s a fun tower-defence title and I like the unique twist mechanic as it’s a welcome addition to a well-trodden genre.  Sadly, apart from collecting stars, there’s nothing else to do once completed. There are no achievements, leaderboards or extra modes which is a shame as the core gameplay mechanics are solid.  However, I do love the unique turning mechanic that turns this tower defence title on its head!

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can purchase Sleep Attack from the Nintendo eShop on the following link, https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Sleep-Attack-1711153.html#Overview