As I delved into Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, I couldn’t shake the imagery of a ‘whale fall.’ For those unfamiliar, when whales pass away, their hulking carcasses drift to the ocean floor, creating sustenance for a myriad of deep-sea life. Similarly, within the world of Citizen Sleeper, society grapples with the aftermath of the once-mighty Solheim corporation’s downfall. This once-dominant entity’s crash has ushered in a new way of surviving—living off the remnants and scraps of its former existence. The journey of the Sleeper is but one among countless tales, all thriving in the remains of this giant.
Reflecting on the first Citizen Sleeper, I initially felt it didn’t need a follow-up. It seemed complete, with little else to explore in its universe. However, I was swiftly re-engaged with this beautifully harsh transhuman world, finding myself genuinely saddened as the credits rolled. Much like its predecessor, Citizen Sleeper 2 offers a thought-provoking, immersive sci-fi journey that is hard to step away from.
Taking on the role of a Sleeper once more, you find yourself as a human consciousness dwelling within a prosthetic body composed of wires, skeletal frameworks, and synthetic flesh. Awakening without memories, only lingering traces of a distant past, you’re thrust back into danger. Outrunning your corporate creators is one thing, but now, you’re evading a former ally who has turned adversary. Space gangsters, it seems, aren’t thrilled when you attempt to reclaim control over your being.
In this sequel, you live as a fugitive, relying on gig work and dice rolls to survive. The narrative unfolds through rich text, where your Sleeper vividly describes the surrounding environment through the senses. On the visual front, you mainly interact with location exteriors, clicking on markers to view ongoing events. Citizen Sleeper employs a dice-based RPG system. At each new day (or cycle), you roll five dice and apply their results to actions, advancing objectives as you go. The outcome improves with higher rolls, and so gig work becomes essential for ensuring energy and finances remain manageable.
The first game limited you to a single space station, allowing you to familiarize yourself with regular work spots, the best local eats, and familiar faces to trust. In Citizen Sleeper 2, that sense of safety evaporates. Your Sleeper must hop between various places; staying put too long means being discovered.
Your life now unfolds across a vast network of stations and satellites called The Belt, preventing any real sense of security and maintaining the thrill of staying one step ahead of your pursuer. This transience highlights a significant shift from CS1 to CS2: tension—a truly delectable tension. Citizen Sleeper 2 elevates the stakes and stresses of life on the run. The first game allowed for a somewhat comfortable existence relatively easily—this isn’t the case here. The realization hit me hard on Day Two when I was abruptly woken by my shipmate declaring, “we’re in trouble.” The Sleeper’s struggles are relentless, and so are yours.
Intense yet exhilarating, Citizen Sleeper 2 introduces fresh mechanics that ramp up the excitement. Contracts are a standout addition—daring missions promising significant rewards, yet bound by time constraints. You’ll need to assemble a capable crew, with each member bringing specific talents and dice to the table.
The potential for disaster during these contracts adds layers of complexity. Failing skill checks impose stress counters; too many, and crew members might withdraw from missions altogether. If your Sleeper accumulates excessive stress, it can damage your dice, leaving them unusable until repaired—certainly a bad scenario. Moreover, failed checks might trigger crisis events demanding resolution to keep missions on track.
With the dice, stress counters, and potential crises to juggle, these Contracts are wickedly engaging. Assigning crew dice, weighing probabilities, and occasionally risking failure brings the sensation of delicate machinery that might explode at any misstep. Numerous times I found myself hoping against all odds that a 50% negative outcome would spare me. The thrill was addicting, pushing me to take far greater risks than I ever did in the first game.
Choosing the right crew is paramount. Mitigating and predicting potential pitfalls is crucial. The Sleeper has RPG-style classes with abilities to improve, but one skill remains permanently inaccessible. This requires leaning on others’ strengths, mirroring real-life dependencies.
Facing skill checks that outstrip your crew’s abilities can spell trouble. Though initially, crew members might seem like mere sets of dice to utilize, over time, they reveal themselves as fellow survivors with unique stories. As players, you can decide who becomes a permanent part of your crew, building genuine connections with these characters. They’re more than just resources; they’re like-minded souls adrift in The Belt. Your ship evolves into a sanctuary, a refuge for those in need.
Old acquaintances might appear during your travels. While your current Sleeper differs from the first game’s protagonist, meeting these characters can be comforting yet bittersweet. After all, time has marched on since the first installment, leaving its mark on them—roughened and hardened by corporate cruelty.
Citizen Sleeper 2’s profound writing encapsulates this human experience, echoing the brilliance of the original. Gareth Damian Martin crafts intricate, evocative narratives, enlivening cityscapes and machinery alike. So many beautifully written passages had me capturing screenshots, preserving them like treasured pages from a beloved novel.
The narrative prowess shines through even when things go awry. Storyline decisions, guided by your skills, lead to captivating outcomes whether they align with your intentions or not. I’ve dived deep into asteroids, faltered in provoking ship mutinies, aided colonization efforts, conversed with a fading machine mind—each moment a whirlwind of adventure.
One memorable narrative thread centers around Serafin, a pivotal character you encounter upon waking. Though your past connection is a blank slate to you, it remains vivid to him. This loss of shared history weighs heavily on both, offering a poignant, fully realized portrayal of human relationships. It underscores the game’s core theme: renewal from ruins.
Amid discussions of transhumanism, capitalism, and power, are genuine tales of everyday people. Citizen Sleeper 2 grounds itself in stories of junk scavengers, hardwired engineers, repair artisans, cargo transporters—and all who occupy this haphazard asteroid belt. Forsaking the sleek allure of titles like Starfield, Star Wars Outlaws, or Cyberpunk 2077, it presents heartfelt narratives about ordinary individuals—a truly captivating start to 2025.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector launches on PC, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5 on January 31. This review is based on a PC version courtesy of the publisher.
