Released last year to a mostly positive reception, Suicide Guy is sort of a hit for the folks associated with ChubbyPixel. It’s an intriguing puzzle-platformer that pits the player against a myriad of situations and locales. Such a setup certainly catches the eye more than, say, the relatively ordinary antics of ChubbyPixel’s other series, Woodle Tree Adventures. This year, they’ve decided to follow-up on it with a “new chapter” to the game with the subtitle of “Sleepin’ Deeply”.
Story
Just like the original, the game stars an alcoholic that unwittingly naps while watching TV. In this game’s case, it’s due to the new “extra strong” beer that our protagonist happens to possess in his fridge. Just after he sips it, he’s knocked himself out. Like before, the game takes place in his dreams; if he kills himself in his dreams enough times, he’ll be able to bring himself back to his cozy reality. The official description for the game has a “twist ending” as one of the bullet points, but let’s be real here: You likely already know what it is after I’ve described the premise.
Graphics
Virtually nothing is different about the way this game looks. If there weren’t assets reused for the game, there were new models that fit right in with its soft cartoon look. There’s an admirable amount of detail featured in the bigger areas, and the use of color never feels out of its element. The visuals aren’t without their hiccups, though. Depending on the scope of an area, the frame rate can dip at slight intervals. I also noticed draw distance pop-in in the level with the giant beer bottle.
Audio
The game continues the strange tradition of playing the background music through an in-game radio that appears in every level. You can turn off the radio if you pick it up, which I advise you do if you don’t want them to annoy you. It’s not that the soundtrack is bad per se. It consists of pretty safe pieces that are only there to provide some sort of atmosphere. However, their short duration causes the long levels to get audibly aggravating.
Gameplay
Suicide Guy: Sleepin’ Deeply sticks to the fundamentals of the original game closely (perhaps to a fault, since any flaws the mechanics and physics had before aren’t fixed). You scour a dream world for clues to figure out the elaborate way the game wants you to kill yourself. The only real difference between the games are the puzzles you solve. In this case, we actually only have a handful to figure out here. A few levels are much longer, but the game is still shorter by a significant margin. If the hints become clear quick enough, you could breeze through the thing far under two hours.
This would be fine if Sleepin’ Deeply was jolly fun throughout the venture. Unfortunately, it does hit some snags that keep it from getting to that point. Of the six levels in the game, three of them are speedy while the latter half over stays its welcome. The desert level has so many puzzles in it the process gets quite tedious; the Tamagotchi homage also pads itself out by having you repeat its tasks three times in a row with no change-up. Top things off with the same lack of polish as the first Suicide Guy and you have an experience that obviously could have been better.
Verdict
Overall, Suicide Guy: Sleepin’ Deeply is a weaker entry than the original game. While the ways clues await to be discovered and the premises of each level continue to be creative, the execution leaves more to be desired. For every moment I spent enjoying the game, there were more moments where I was waiting to get back to the good parts. If you desperately crave more Suicide Guy, I guess you can buy it; other than that, you may be better off just playing through the original instead.
Review copy provided by ChubbyPixelÂ