There's nothing quite as revolutionary as the first time the Grand Theft Auto series made its first transition to full 3-D in 2001. Not only did it change the overall feel and look of actually playing video games, the ideology, philosophy and mentality of once we call a 'past-time' activity has reached new levels of nuance, expression and artistry. So it's not surprising to still see the revolutionist continue to stand firm in its reign in this particular genre. Many have tried to copy its success in the hopes of securing such huge fandom and consumer acclaim but safe to say none has managed to top the king that is Grand Theft Auto. With games such as the notable True Crime series and Saints Row series striving for a similar spot where GTA had been in the past, it's quite amazing to still see Rockstar time and time again excel in a full-fledged blowout fashion both financially and critically against its competitors.
The struggle continues on though as what was once destined to be a True Crime game, set out to separate itself from this franchise and branch out as its own standalone game. Sleeping Dogs, published by Square Enix and developed by United Front Games, is unsurprisingly an action-adventure title hugely similar to its relative games of the franchise's past. It's still the game where you get to shoot guns, drive cars, punch people, and stroll around a non-linear environment. In what may seem to be another indistinguishable title however, Sleeping Dogs manages to somehow juts its neck out in hopes of getting attention through its finicky yet unique gameplay mechanics that despite its generic framework, still delivers an engaging, paying off adventure that excels on the things unattended by other much better games of the genre.
Playing as undercover cop Wei Shen, you start off doing spy work for the 'blues' in your hometown of Hongkong in the hopes of bringing down one of the biggest family of the Triad gangs, the Sun-On-yee. A bit conventional for a premise but to be honest, there's an inherent charm and mystique in how the writers managed to keep the narrative interesting, complex and a bit conflicting in a good way. The main protagonist's character is pretty well complex and there's a bit of a disturbed quality in the way he was handled leading to moments of intense dynamic drama of conflict whenever he's confronted of his duty against the people of his own. This slowly separates Sleeping Dogs from other open world games in that it never becomes entangled in being carefree in contextualizing fun for the sake of the activities this genre by design is supposed to offer the player. One moment you may be blowing cars off behind you in a chase while in another you're just cruising along town getting a wedding arranged without no contact with conflict whatsoever.
That the missions are bit in the service of the intimate narrative is undermining its intent. While it may be hugely grounded compared to the overly bombastic endeavors we get to have in a typical open world game, Sleeping Dogs still contains high-octane absurdities. Car chases are an absolute blast. Very reminiscent of the Just Cause games, Wei can hijack cars mid air, causing any poor driver to fling to death as Wei - at a tap of a button - clambers behind the poor vehicle prompting an immediate hurrah if that car would be an attacker. Shooting car tires inexplicably causes vehicles to explode in a somersault motion, like gesturing a huge middle finger to physics in the process. It's moments like these that punctuate the intense from the somber, the loud from the silent, the lightheartedness from the dire. Sleeping Dogs knows this balancing act and without spoiling the story, the Asian cultural backdrop of the narrative benefits hugely its impact towards the end.
Gameplay-wise Sleeping Dogs is a bit reserved in its formula, tending to stick to the tried-and-true formula of the games yore. Guns are shootable, and cars are drivable; just like what you get to do in open worlds. But with the addition of a morality meter that aligns the player to whatever side of 'morality' he belongs to according to your actions in missions, what was once a 'just cause' action now makes more sense to be held back due to the delimiting effects it adds to your rating at the end. It's a bit restrictive but it gets the narrative point just. Bad and good actions are also determined by the missions you're currently affiliated to, so doing triad missions would of course net you higher points for doing 'gang' stuff while triggering a cop mission would flip the context of those actions vice-versa. There's some thought put into this, though a but shallow to be actually meaty in its implementation. Parkour here is done elegantly, with some prethought timing required to produce an output of graceful clambers in chases in missions or whenever the itch hits you in free roam. Gunplay is a bit of a mixed bag, with them feeling overly explosive and loud while, in pure asian cinema sense, isn't exactly easy to access outside of missions. What's important here is that it manages to maintain character even outside of story events, which definitely helps reduce that dissonance we frequently face in these types of games, unless you resort to rampaging civilians down the sidewalk. In that case, it isn't on the game's behest anymore.
It's in the melee combat where this game shines though, as this is where the depth of systems comes into play. Hearkening the Arkham series' combat, melee is as expressive to perform as it is entertaining to spectate. Attacking alone spawns a complex string of diverse movesets which kinda feels like a fighting game in its own right, albeit not as implausible and as intimidating as one. The way multiple moves are contextualized across the variety of buttons is intuitive enough to keep you active across multiple opponents without halting for a quick memory refresh and there's a bit of a rush of creativity that you feel once faced with a multitude of opponents as the accessibility to the breadth of moves you perform feels innate and tempting to pull off. Also, environmental kills have never looked this good as seen in Sleeping Dogs. It's also quite a but brutal bordering gratuitous.
Now let me move on the biggest point I always focus on in open world titles - the world itself. First off, Hongkong's quite a looker. Having been to Hongkong myself, locations in-game seem recognizable enough to provide at least enough verisimilitude to keep remind the player that this really is the appropriate place to set the narrative in. However, here comes my main problem with the game itself. Hongkong isn't sufficient for emergent gameplay. Sure, peds can get into fights with the player, leading into hilarious moments of wanton melee brawls. But with such sequestered mechanics that never really goes deep upon its accessibility, the resulting surprise and awe of goofing around becomes short-lived. Even with all the collectibles scattered thoughtfully around its environment, play sessions become increasingly indistinguishable from one another as the overall flow boils down to formulaicity. This may be a bit nitpicky but it's the lack of a jump button that underwhelms the potential explorative nature of such a foreign setting. Grand Theft Auto knows well how to connect the player grounded in accordance to whatever world they set you in and it's the very simple act of jumping that opens up a whole new avenue of possibility wherein the player's character isn't permanently bound by the game floor or any predetermined vault points scattered across the map. Hongkong doesn't quite offer exploration that begs the player's interest. Exploration here comes from obligation, a necessary endeavor for those looking to fill out the checkboxes. Add to that driving mechanics which are very magnetized to the road and a bit forgetful of physics, handling vehicles can be an immediate necessity and all the while tedious in the long run. It's all these mechanics which are quite decent in and of themselves but can come clashing against one other when done in succession.
This leads me to my ultimate summary of Sleeping Dogs: It's a damn good action adventure game, just a poor open world one. It forgoes any assumption of adherence to an overly grand, explosive narrative though it knows hows to dabble into juggling action and poignancy. The payoff at the end is surprisingly well-earned, supported by a memorable cast of characters though not all of them are placed naturally within the arc itself. Playing Sleeping Dogs makes you want to do so because of what it offers differently from other similar titles. With melee combat that despite its obvious influencers greatly offers flash, variety and ease of comprehension, Sleeping Dogs is sure to please any fan of stunt-fueled, John Woo-esque films. However, while these moments are sure to plaster your attention for those identifiable moments, it's the downtimes of inactivity that demerits this game from greatness. Hongkong is a setting that despite its iconic elements, fails marginally to provide player invention and serendipitous moments worthy of sharing with. Except the well thought parkour system, navigation can a bit of slog whenever you're given the chance to grab the wheel as vehicles don't handle naturally as you might expect with respect to its presentation. This is still a good game though and in it's first attempt of offering an international adventure, it's quite worthy of a thumbs up and a moderate smile.