Sleeping Dogs Review

Despite its severe setbacks, Sleeping Dogs is finally here. Back in 2009 the game was known as True Crime: Hong Kong, a name that excited long-time fans as they eagerly awaited the revival of a long-absent franchise. Unfortunately, Activision lost faith in the project toward the end of its development cycle and dropped United Front Game’s game, but not before plenty of coverage articles had littered the internet praising the upcoming True Crime title’s potential. Then, late last year, Square Enix came riding in like a knight in shining armor, saving the nearly-finished game and changing its name to Sleeping Dogs to avoid legal issues with Activision.

Engaging Story

Now, players can finally step into the shoes of Wei Shen, an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating a Triad organization known as the Sun On Yee in Hong Kong. Wei quickly learns that his objective will force him to forget the rules laid out by his law enforcement superiors and push him to perform unspeakable acts, ones that will plague his mind. Since the law and the Triads promote and demand completely opposite actions, Wei will have to make certain choices to maintain the balance between his two lives. These twist themselves around a compelling story that is intense, dark and emotional. The game reminds the player of past sequences by replaying important dialogue when Wei goes to sleep, causing him to wake up startled due to the night terrors. This ensures that Wei and the player never forget what grisly situations they have been caught up in. It isn’t too common for open world titles to contain such an engrossing narrative, but Sleeping Dogs pulls it off and, once you begin to experience the horrors that can accompany undercover work, you won’t want to stop until you’ve seen how everything ends up for Wei.

Solid, Diverse Gameplay

In order to live this edgy lifestyle, one must be skilled. Luckily, Wei is skilled in nearly every aspect that matters when it comes to taking down opposition. Wei Shen is an expert fighter and can effortlessly take on groups of men, thanks to the fluid multi-directional combat system that is reminiscent of the recent Batman games. The face buttons control the ability to to assault enemies, grapple and counter attacks. It’s a simple set up, but it is an in-depth system once you get into it. If Wei gets overwhelmed, he always has the environment to back him up. Launch a spinning back kick off of a wall; grab a tire iron out of the trunk of a nearby car; toss a gangster into a dumpster. The options are all there and they’re quite varied. It adds substantial depth to the fighting system as the player has several options, whether they’re taking on a single enemy or ten. In the event that you end up taking on ten crooks, you may end up receiving a few harsh blows. Further enhancing the experience, Wei’s appearance will change as he takes damage, which is shown through bloodied clothes and skin. It’s much more satisfying when the enemies are the ones looking worse for wear, but it is a nice touch reminding us that our hero is only human.

When Wei’s fists just won’t do, he’ll wield firearms with deadly efficiency. The third-person shooting is solid and event contains contextual slow-motion, which can turn the entire Hong Kong playground into one huge John Woo movie. As is expected with most third-person shooters, a cover system is present. However, differentiating itself from other cover-based shooters, Sleeping Dogs encourages offensive play. Leaping over obstacles is rewarded with momentary slow-mo, making it more beneficial to transition quickly from cover to cover instead of sitting still. Each gun feels and sounds powerful, making them a pleasure to utilize.

Now that we’ve covered fighting and shooting, let’s focus on Sleeping Dogs’ third pillar of gameplay: driving. Driving scenarios are usually dreaded when it comes to free roam titles, but given United Front Game’s background, driving is an absolute treat. Cars and bikes alike drive smoothly, able to drift around corners with ease. And boats are no slouch either. Because of the solid driving mechanics, the races that I wished to avoid in games like Grand Theft Auto become events I looked forward to. Part of the enjoyment also stems from the fact that cars can ram in any direction, much like we saw in the game The Wheelman, although it’s handled much better here.

Customizable Experience

Surprisingly, all of your time won’t be spent roaming the streets. The player will spend a fair amount of time in the menus allocating points in different skill trees. Since the Triads and cops handle situations differently, the game awards the player for playing either role. Perform lethal kills and the Triads will be pleased; keep reckless driving to a minimum and be mindful of civilians and the cops will know you’re still on their side. You can spend these points in their respective upgrade sections. The obtainable abilities range from special ammunition to increased melee damage to new moves all together. The constant flow of unlocks makes sure the game feels fresh even when you’re well over 10 hours in.

Through locating jade statues and completing side missions, Wei can upgrade items in the Martial Arts and Face trees. For every jade statue returned to the martial arts instructor, Wei is taught a new move of his choosing, my personal favorites being the arm and leg breaks which cause surrounding enemies to flinch in horror. By helping out the locals in random, varied side quests, the Face Meter begins to fill up and will level up. Gaining “face” does more than just award a skill point; it also allows the player to purchase nicer cars and equip fancier clothes to match Wei’s new face level. With 28 cars and 179 different clothing options, players will be busy for a while customizing Wei’s look and ride to their liking.

Tons of Mini-Games

Hong Kong is filled to the brim with activities and, many times, these activities lead to mini-games. Wei’s personal closed-circuit television in his apartment is a part of an engaging side activity. By clearing out specified spots of hostiles, Wei can hack nearby cameras by figuring out the proper numerical combination. In turn, these cameras stream live video back at the apartment. While viewing the video feed, Wei can highlight important criminals remotely, at which point an officer will spring into action and arrest the selected individual. This one type of optional side mission contains three parts, two of which are entertaining mini-games. Other mini-games, such as lock picking, appear as progress is made throughout the story. One of the most interesting is Karaoke, where Wei can show off his vocal talent in front of a hostess. By using the left analogue stick, Wei can sing recognizable songs like a pro. However, mess up and feedback from the mic will override Wei’s impressive singing voice. Interestingly enough, even conversations are transformed into mini-games with button prompts briefly appearing when Wei needs to think on his feet to talk his way out of a situation. It may not be the best replacement for being able to select your own conversation topic, but for an open-world title, it’s impressive to see so much jam-packed into every aspect.

Slightly Outdated Graphics

While Hong Kong itself looks beautiful bustling with people, cars and shops, the characters vary from acceptable to down-right ugly. During certain cutscenes, faces lack detail and animations look a bit stiff. This is partially remedied during scenes with rain as the characters glisten from the water, creating the illusion of more visually pleasing characters. With the game having dealt with delays and cancellation, the graphics may not be as detailed as they should be given that we should have seen this title earlier. That’s not to say that they’re terrible by today’s standards; they could have just used an extra layer of polish.

Noticeable Screen-Tearing

Would you be surprised if I said Sleeping Dogs didn’t contain a single performance issue? Yeah, me too. While gawking at the insane scale of Hong Kong, I noticed occasional screen-tearing as I moved the camera about to take in the lively environment. With so many positives backing this game up already, it’s hard to put too much weight into this issue. Minor screen-tearing is a small price to pay to gain access to everything this expansive title has to offer.

Final Thoughts:

Sleeping Dogs is a huge step forward for free roam games and with Grand Theft Auto V’s absence this year (so far), it may very well snag the top spot in its genre. The money is well worth the amount of content contained in this game and with several months of DLC planned on top of the already lengthy campaign, Sleeping Dogs is sure to hold the attention of many for the foreseeable future. Even though a few issues can be found here and there, it would take much more to really detract from this engaging experience. I must agree 100% with Mike Fischer of Square Enix, Activision was crazy to drop this game.