The developers of this generation are obsessed with Open World games. They are everywhere and it takes a special game to stand out among them. What can stand up to the Assassin's Creeds and Grand Theft Autos of the sixth Generation? United Fronts has brought us Sleeping Dogs, a game that used to be True Crime: Hong Kong. It tries to bring the Hong Kong movie flair to an open Grand Theft Auto-style game. Is it a vicious predator? Or is it a tiny sleeping puppy?
You play as Wei Shen; an undercover cop that is to infiltrate the local Triad, known as the Sun On Yee, and take them down from the inside. Turns out, Wei Shen was born and became involved with the Triad in his youth making him the perfect candidate for the job. He meets up with one of his old friends and they begin their way up the Sun On Yee. While he is doing this, he is tasked with helping out the local, and frustrated, Inspector Jane Teng with some of her cases. This makes for an interesting story, it's well written and authentic, but it's poorly paced I found. The story moves far too quickly and there aren't a whole lot of story missions. Still, it's got great characters and the tension between Wei's torn loyalties makes for great entertainment.
The game plays a lot like Grand Theft Auto, you roam around an open world and perform tasks while doing missions to progress. The driving handles much better than in Grand Theft Auto IV and there are a lot of cars to choose from. While driving, you can charge into other cars with the push of a button and this makes chases better to play rather than some boring nudging. You can also do an Action Hijack which let's you steal someones car by jumping from your own car. This helps make chases even more entertaining and it's just plain stylish. You can race around the city as well, overall the driving is just plain better.
The main part of the game is the melee combat, it plays a lot like the Batman Arkham games. You punch enemies and perform combos. As enemies attack you, they glow red, allowing you to counter-attack. This is necessary and the timing is a little tighter than Arkham, but it works the same. Attacks can be charged and you can learn new abilities in three different ways. You can learn new moves by leveling up your Cop points, Triad points and by returning Jade Statues to the local dojo. These new combos are pretty powerful and make the combat more enjoyable. The most enjoyable things about combat, however, are the environmental attacks.
You can grab an enemy and move them over to any item flashing red to enjoy a brutal takedown. Some are just downright brutal and using them to your advantage is a must. You mostly fight with your fists and rarely get guns. There are melee weapons and when an enemy holds one, they can't be grappled and they block a lot more meaning they have to be countered. Guns are a third part of the gameplay and they handle like you'd expect. You take cover and pop in and out to your advantage. The two special things about them are the disarm and the slow-down. If you vault over cover into an enemy holding a gun, you'll tackle them to the ground and steal their weapon. If you vault over cover while aiming, time will slow and you can get some free kills. It makes the gunplay a lot more enjoyable and not as standard.
During missions you gain Triad points from damaging enemies and enemy vehicles and doing certain things earns you more, such as headshots and charged attacks. You also have Cop points. Cop points start off maxed and decrease as you hurt innocents and damage public things, such as phone booths. This makes getting max Cop points in missions such as chases pretty difficult, but Cop points are easier to level up than Triad points, evening things up. You can also do other missions such as favors for people Wei knows. Doing these give you Face Points and leveling these up give you other rewards. There is plenty to do in this game and it's all very enjoyable and the gameplay feels more polished and just more fun than other Open-World games which sacrifice gameplay for content.
The voice work is very well done and it's very authentic. As is the soundtrack and the licensed music doesn't hurt either. The sound effects are very fitting and don't get tiring. The script is very well written and melds well with the voice work. Thanks to the voice work, the characters are super believable and you grow attached to some of them. The game definitely feels like it is in Hong Kong.
The visuals are not as impressive as some other open-world games, but they are still very good and Hong Kong is a very interesting place to explore. The city is nice looking, but it looks much better at night with all the neon lights. The character models look great and the facial animations during scenes are good as well. What's awesome here are the combat animations, they look like they hurt and some of the environmental attacks are brutal enough to make you flinch. It's an open-world game so you're guaranteed to run into glitches, but they don't get in the way at all. It doesn't push the envelope, but it's still good looking.
PROs
- Fantastic combat and gunplay
- Lots to do
- Leveling up is an enjoyable way of getting new skills
- Interesting story filled with torn loyalties
- Great characters
- Authentic, even if the city isn't exact
- Licensed soundtrack is great, if a little small in number
- Driving is fun and easy to control
- Action Hijack is enjoyable and stylish
- Main characters look great
CONs
- No real improvement visually
- Can be glitchy
- Gameplay can get repetitive
- Pacing is off
- Gunplay is nothing really special
Overall, Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic first attempt at a new franchise and every fan of open-world games should give it a go. Wei Shen is a likable main character and the other characters are pretty entertaining as well. The combat is enjoyable and the driving is fun. The gunplay is nothing special, neither are the visuals. It's fun as hell and it's exciting to think about the franchise continuing.
Story: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 9.0/10
Audio: 8.5/10
Presentation: 8.0/10
TOTAL: 8.5/10