Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a sequel to a cyberpunk RPG inspired by tabletop role-playing games. It's a space story about a mechanical fugitive developed by Gareth Damian Martin, the founder and the only member of the indie studio Jump Over The Age, with help from artist Guillaume Singelin (PTSD) and composer Amos Roddy (The Wild at Heart, Some Distant Memory).

Plot

Citizen Sleeper 2 is, once again, set in a universe ruled by mighty corporations. The new protagonist is another Sleeper - a person whose mind was digitized and transferred to a mechanical body.

The android is, once again, a fugitive chased by former employees, though they end up in a completely different place than the protagonist of the first game. Said place is the Starward Belt on the outskirts of the Helion system, with only a derelict stolen ship, a derelict robotic body, amnesia and a bounty on their head.

To survive and escape their pursuers once and for all, the hero must fix their body and assemble a crew. As if that wasn't enough, there's a conflict brewing between two corporations. Echoes of distant battles between them reach even the Helion outskirts, in form of refugees and damaged warships.

Mechanics

Gareth Damian Martin didn't plan to revolutionize the mechanics of the first game. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector still draws heavily from tabletop RPGs. The game is divided into cycles, our main objective being to ensure our protagonist's survival and keep running from their pursuers.

At the start of each cycle we roll the dice, assigning numbers to specific actions or events (the dice placement mechanic). There are no typical quests, instead being replaced by drives. Fulfilling them is how we develop our skills, such as Engineering and Endurance.

The second Citizen Sleeper isn't just a new story set in a near identical game, however. Our hero doesn't live in a run-down space station, but on their own ship which requires maintenance and a crew. This means we need supplies that we cannot obtain without taking on risky quests, which can draw our pursuers' attention.

Thanks to crew and ship management the developer could introduce new mechanics and modify some systems from the first game.

Technical aspects

The visuals were once again created by Guillaume Singelin. Citizen Sleeper 2 thus retains the comic book-like artstyle of the first game, combining a sterile three-dimensional world with two-dimensional characters. There's no voice acting, though, as expected from an RPG, there's a lot of dialogue. The atmospheric soundtrack was composed by Amos Roddy.

Last updated on 25 August 2023