Sleeping dogs puts players in the role of undercover cop Wei Shen. His mission is to invade the triads of Hong Kong from the inside out by any means necessary. This set up has been used in several movies and TV shows, and probably more than a few video games. Here, the developers make good use of the setting and story to create a truly great open world action game.
The most prevalent aspect of the game is the fist fighting. You are told by one of Wei’s superiors that guns are something of a scarcity in Hong Kong, so the primary means of getting things done is the old fashioned way. And here, the game borrows liberally from the Batman Arkham games. You can press a button to pull of basic moves, and counter when the time is right. There are a few standout details, though. For one, there is a heavy emphasis on grappling enemies. Most thug classes beyond the basics can block your strikes, so you must grab them to make them vulnerable. From there, you can run and throw them, or pull off a three hit combo. The most notable feature, though, would be the environmental kills. While Batman may have a strict no killing policy, Wei isn’t concerned with getting some blood on his hands. When you grapple an enemy, you can drag them to an object in the environment to perform a one hit kill.
Some of these are rather basic, such as throwing a guy into a dumpster or tossing him into a bunch of boxes. Others, though, are much more brutal. One has you shoving a guy’s face into a fan, while another has you impaling an enemy on a dangling fish hook. The takedowns help mix things in fights, and helps it stand out. One good thing is that they never feel over done; there’s never so many objects to use that you can take out an entire group of enemies without some countering and fist fighting.
This focus on hand to hand combat helps the game stand out. And it needs to; it’s structured just like every other open world crime game on the market. You wander the map, driving from place to place (or taking a taxi), completing various side activities and story related missions. This, however, also works in the game’s favor, since the side tasks are usually quite fun. There are various odd jobs to do, and they range from chasing down a thief to intercepting a bunch of trucks filled with drugs. All of these jobs serve to give you Face experience, which can apply bonuses during combat the higher your level.
The standouts in missions are the story ones. Each one is like a scene from an action movie, throwing Wei into a whole hell of a lot of tough situations. Some have you collecting protection money from local vendors, while others have you delivering payback to various people who have wronged the triad in some way. One thing is certain throughout them all; they are always fun.
This remains true during the shootouts that are placed every so often. The mechanics are loose, but fun, especially the sliding move that allows you to seamlessly move out of cover and shoot at enemies in slow motion. It feels empowering and great. Gunplay also extends to chase sequences in cars, though. Here, it’s still quite fun, and the mechanics are good enough that shooting out the tires of pursuing vehicles remains just as fun the fiftieth time you do it as it did the first. However, issues arise when all you want to do is drive in a straight line and avoid crashing, since you’ll be turning the camera to aim. It’s not usually a huge deal, but it can be annoying at times. Still, the fact that shootouts are rare makes them that much more exciting when they do happen.
During missions, you are given experience in two different areas based on how you performed. Cop experience comes from not destroying property while driving, not harming innocents, etc. Triad experience comes from taking your enemies down in varied ways. It’s usually possible to attain the maximum amount of experience in both areas in many missions, but Triad tends to be remarkably easier due to the nature of the fact that every mission has you taking enemies down. That, and the loose driving controls and intense chase scenes make avoiding running into anything very difficult. Each experience tree gives you helpful upgrades, giving a nice sense of progression.
This is on top of the better than average production values. Even though many of the character models don’t look fantastic, the visual design of the city is dazzling and unique. Bright neon signs adorn the shopping districts, while refuse litters the ground in the poorer areas. It gives every area of the city a unique feel. The sounds are also quite well done, especially the voice acting. Not every character has a great actor, but the ones that matter do. Wei Shen, in particular, has a terrific actor, helping to sell the character and make him more sympathetic than he should be.
The story is also quite good, even if it does take some predictable turns. Wei’s struggle as he deals with troubles on both ends of the law is well written, as are the many characters that he meets along the way. It gives several of the events in the game a big impact, and it all pays off in one epic shootout that belongs in the finale of any good action movie. Like I said, it’s mostly predictable, but it’s still quite well done.
The only real issue with the game outside the occasional glitch is that there aren’t too many opportunities for player made chaos. Evading the cops is never too much of a challenge, and getting in shootouts is tough since gunplay isn’t very common. Still, find a gun and a fast car, and there’s some delightful havoc to cause.
Sleeping Dogs is a resounding success. With good production values, solid story, and ridiculously fun story missions and core combat, it has all the makings of a terrific open world game. While there is the occasional glitch to deal with, and causing mayhem without context is tough, that shouldn’t stop any fan of the genre from playing the game.