Sleeping Dogs

You play as an undercover cop by the name of Wei Shen, sent to Hong Kong to infiltrate a notorious triad known as the Sun On Yee and take them down from the inside.

The story hearkens back to Hong Kong action films like Hard Boiled ( 1992 ). It’s great, well written, and well-delivered thanks to the high caliber cast with the likes of Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Vol. 1), Emma Stone (Zombieland, The Amazing Spider-Man) and Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day, Total Recall (2012)) just to name a few.

No one really feels like they’re phoning it in here (A problem that can often arise when you get film actors to try and do voice work).

It’s good stuff, and definitely fits within the True Crime series as a whole, even if it doesn’t carry the moniker anymore.

Let me start by saying the game is quite gorgeous. The city of Hong Kong is very detailed and feels alive, more so than most Open-World games like this that I’ve played.

Characters get wet when they enter the water, or when it starts raining. Their clothes become stained and wet with blood in vicious fist or gunfights. Neon is vibrant, and windows reflect their surroundings – it’s a beautiful game to watch.

The framerate runs pretty stably – I never ran into any bad framerate drops during my time so far – even when the game was getting hectic, with enemies, allies, guns, and explosions all around. However, they do exist and happen from time to time.

The sound work is great too. Guns sound aggressive, fists and legs impact with solid thuds, bones crunch and snap unsettlingly. The soundtrack isn’t bad, but if you don’t like it, you can use a custom soundtrack.

This is done (On the PS3), by simply going to the XMB, selecting the song/playlist you want to play, and then starting it up. It works, and while you’re in a vehicle it disables the in-game radio. However, it also continues to play while you’re out of the vehicle, and on foot.

It would have been nice to see a true custom soundtrack set-up, though.

The in-game soundtrack is pretty good, though, featuring music that runs the gamut from Electronica and D’n’B, to Death Metal, to Hip-Hop. Some of it even Cantonese/Chinese. It features artists such as Trivium, Dream Theater, and Flying Lotus. Radio stations seem to be split by record labels, so there’s Roadrunner Records, Kerrang Records, NinjaTune, etc.

I honestly never used the custom soundtrack option, as the chosen music fits the bill perfectly – the guys at UFG have pretty good taste.

My favorite part of the overall game, honestly. The controls work really well and don’t get in your way too much. The camera can be a bit wonky, but it’s not so bad that it makes the game unplayable. It doesn’t fight you at every turn – it can just get a little temperamental in some spaces, usually of the closed-in variety.

Gunplay works well enough – L2 aims, R2 fires, and the right stick controls your aim. That’s all there is to it, really. You aren’t exactly using guns all the time – this isn’t GTA and you aren’t going to be carrying a massive arsenal with you at any given time.

You can also fire while vaulting/action-hijacking, the game slows down time while in this mode so you can aim better. You’ve seen it all before in other games, and it’s not done any better or worse here.

The hand to hand combat, on the other hand, is phenomenal. Wei has a multitude of attacks and counters at his disposal, and they are all simple to pull off. This is honestly the first game of this style where I’ve genuinely wanted to fight hand-to-hand more than with weapons.

Enemies have different classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Normal enemies are fairly straightforward, but other enemy types throw a wrench into your plans. Brawlers block a lot of your attacks, and can’t be interrupted while attacking. Grapplers rarely block at all, but are difficult to grab, and can inflict heavy damage. Weapon carrying enemies are very dangerous, and can make short work of Wei if you don’t counter them well.

Vehicles handle decently – some more than others. Bikes in particular are a little hard to control. L2 brakes, R2 accelerates, the Square button performs a ramming move that you can use in any direction [other than directly behind you] to take out other vehicles, L1 aims your weapon if you have one, and R1 fires.

When aiming from the car/bike, the game slows down time when aiming at an enemy vehicle. This allows you to accurately shoot either the driver, or the tires of the vehicle. You also don’t need to stop driving, and can even steer the car while aiming.

Another ability at your disposal is the “Action Hijack”. This is eerily similar to the stunt hijacks of another Square Enix published title, Just Cause 2.

It’s a nice addition, and it works, but it’s not exactly necessary. You won’t find yourself using it much outside of the times where a mission actually makes you use it or when trying to hijack an armored truck to sell for some extra cash.

Throughout the game, you earn 3 different kinds of experience – Cop, Triad, and Face. Cop XP allows you to unlock new weapons and vehicle abilities [Such as earning a key to open up Cop Car trunks to obtain firearms. You start with max Cop XP for a mission, and depending on things you do [Injuring/Killing innocents, property damage, etc.], you lose it.

Triad XP allows you to unlock better attacks and also strengthens your base attacks either bare-handed or with weapons. You earn Triad XP by fighting enemies. The more you vary your attacks, the more XP you earn. You also gain it for environmental attacks and special moments during missions.

Face XP gives you different perks, such as regenerative items lasting longer, nullifying enemy abilities, and making your attacks un-interruptable. However, most of them only become active when your Face meter is full during combat [Which you fill by landing attacks] – and the meter only lasts a short time. You earn Face XP by completing “Favors” – side missions and events found throughout the game world.

There’s a lot of content here, with Square Enix confirming at least six months of extra DLC, including mission packs.

However, once it’s all done, there’s nothing really left. You can always replay missions and try to go for a higher score and compete against friends who have the game thanks to the Social Hub that tracks your stats, but that’s really it.

The game’s trophies/achievements are also fairly straightforward, but it will be a time-consuming 100%/platinum that requires you to complete the game to 100% – and there’s a lot to do. Thankfully, the game tracks everything – from the collectibles you’ve found, to the cars and clothes you’ve purchased, and all of the stat challenges you’ve completed.

The game even shows you where collectibles are located on the map, making it easy to find them.

The game is a lot of fun. If you’re a fan of Hong Kong action movies – check it out. If you’re a fan of open-world games – give it a whirl. At the very least, give it a rental – but I think you’ll be plunking down the $60 for it before you know it once you start playing.

It’s just that enjoyable.

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