A City Sleeps marks a bold new direction for developer Harmonix. After spending the last several years working on the big-budget Rock Band and Dance Central franchises, Harmonix is now scaling back its internal studio culture, forming small independent teams within the company to encourage new gameplay concepts that can be fleshed out quickly.

A City Sleeps is the first project to launch in the wake of this major shift for the studio. While it doesn’t require any musical instrument peripherals to play, the finished product retains much of Harmonix’s signature charm, skillfully implementing rhythm-driven gameplay elements in the context of a side-scrolling, arcade-style shoot-’em-up. A City Sleeps succeeds on many fronts, but its short length and uneven difficulty curve make it a tough prospect even for hardcore shooter fans.