Backstage: Murdered Sleep Preview

In late autumn, I always look for some kind of creepy game to check out for Halloween and the beginning of winter. This year I came across a title that seems like a mystery-horror game called Backstage: Murdered Sleep. This is actually a sequel to the game Backstage: A Nightmare In One Act which was released in 2005. I haven’t gotten a chance to check out that first game, but seeing the trailer for this second title with its pixelated characters, unsettling music, and freaky story, I knew this was going to be a game I needed to check out.

The game starts off with a prelude featuring two characters, Marlowe and Chambers. These two are modern-day witch hunters (Knights Templar), who, by our standards, would definitely be classified as serial killers. They kidnap young women, burning them at the stake to protect the world from their demonic practices. These Templars are heavily equipped for their mission: stun gun, tranquilisers, Beretta M92F, prybar, lockpick, duct tape, zip ties, shotgun, and rounds; they have definitely done this before. Oh, and I forgot to mention gas, water, and acid too. 

Their target is Leigh Kochisky; her file states that she is a midwife and a witch. Marlowe is new to the job and questions if it’s absolutely necessary that she has to be alive when she’s burned. Chambers explains that the Templars have always operated in this manner. Marlowe fights back, saying that he doesn’t want to think of himself as a fucking monster and not kidnap, torture, and execute innocent you girls; it’s not part of being a halfway decent human. Apparently, burning the physical body sterilises any trace of demonic influence and also eliminates all the physical evidence.

After playing through their mission, the game fast-forwards two years, where we meet Anna Molly Grace. She introduces herself as an art student at Stanford University and is inflicted with horrible nightmares. This isn’t a normal way to introduce yourself, so these bad dreams must be important to our story. She explains that these are night terrors and that she suffers from sleep paralysis where she is trapped in the bed, with a heavy weight on her chest like a demon sitting there staring at her. She can’t breathe, move, or get up; she can’t even scream. This demon looks like a person wearing a blank mask with no expression and blood red eyes. I am curious to see how these two different storylines will collide.  

The feeling of these dreams haunts her, but fortunately, she doesn't remember much of what happens in them. She tries to sleep as little as possible using espresso, Red Bull, and cigarettes to stay awake. Once she can’t anymore, she self-medicates with booze, over-the-counter medication, and cannabis to send her into a dreamless abyss. Anna heard about a study that the American Sleep Institute clinic was conducting, and she quickly volunteered to have her “weird-ass brain” checked out to figure out what the newest science could do to help her.

Once inside the Sleep Institute, she checks in with the receptionist and collects the $200 for participating in the study. Anna starts to fill out the usual paperwork with name, address, and birth date, then she sees a message written on the top with a black Sharpie: “Are you any good at video games?” You are presented with two difficulties to select from: Normal and Easy. Normal is for players who are familiar with 2D action games and survival horror titles; Anna is fragile, and the monsters that you encounter are deadly and unpredictable, plus resources may be scarce. The Easy setting is for people who don’t really play survival horror titles and want to focus on the story; Anna and Marlowe’s base Health is tripled, a medkit will heal twice as much, and you have a Bottomless Shiv, so you will never be totally defenceless. You can still die, but death is a lot easier to avoid 

You get hooked up to the machine that will monitor your stats and take your melatonin. Anna quickly falls asleep. Suddenly you hear stabbing sounds and loud breathing; there is blood all over the wall. Anna says to herself that this isn’t real, but the Plague Doktor in the room assures you that it is real, and welcomes you home. You’ve apparently been here before? There is a creature that looks like a mushroom with tentacles that came out of the other patient in the room. When monsters and other things appear and frighten you, you will lose some of your Nerve. Once you run out completely, you will panic and have a nervous breakdown as you hyperventilate. When you are panicking, your Stamina meter will be depleted, cutting your accuracy and defence in half until you can restore some of your Nerve with Booze, Cigarettes, and First Aid Stations. At this point, I was barely into the game, and all this bizarre stuff was happening; I can’t even imagine how it would escalate from here!

This game is intense and frightening. I don’t want to spoil the events of the story, but be prepared to jump, especially if you wear headphones when you play! I never expected a 2D title to be this suspenseful and scary. With it being set within a horrible dream, the developer has free rein to create the most messed up things possible. You come across a lot of gruesome things in Backstage: Murdered Sleep! Nothing is worse than a creature chasing you when you try to attack it and end up having a panic attack with disturbing hallucinations popping up on the screen. The combat is real-time, so it is brutal and sometimes unforgiving. Made even worse when the sharp objects that you use as weapons can break, adding to the stress. Be sure to save your game whenever you see a VCR because you will be dying and restarting from the last save point a lot! 

Backstage: Murdered Sleep isn’t just a frightening horror game; it is also a mystery game where you need to investigate and solve puzzles. Some doors that you come across require a code to open, so you will need to search the rooms that you are in for the numbers that could be used in the code. Be sure to look everywhere for hints and try to keep track of all the different locked areas that require these numbers. The blend of the two genres works very well, and there are six different endings to obtain, so even when you complete it once, you will come back for more. 

Will you be able to figure out what is real and what is a delusion in this game? Is there anyone you can trust, or are they all working together against you? If you already suffer from horrible nightmares yourself, this may not be a fun experience for you! I just hope I don’t start having messed-up nightmares like the ones in Backstage: Murdered Sleep. I can't wait to see the complete game when it leaves Early Access.