Sleeping Dogs Review

After years of tumult, Square Enix's Sleeping Dogs has emerged from the tempest triumphant and proud. Once meant to be a title in the now-dead True Crime series, Sleeping Dogs follows in the tradition of ultraviolent Hong Kong cop/triad movies. From the onset it was compared to Saints Row 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV, but I'd dare to say that it trumps the former and edges out the latter. Wei Shen is an undercover cop from America sent to bring down the Triads from the inside. He must seek to rise up the cut-throat ranks of the Sun On Yee whilst conducting drug busts and arrests for the Hong Kong Police Department, always trying to keep both sides of his life separate from the other. 

The story here, is strong, more grounded in reality than even the GTA franchise. Fellow triad members switch into Cantonese to emphasise points, a beautiful touch to make the scene seem realistic, whilst nearby passersby converse in a mix of English and Cantonese about the latest events. You soon realise that not all of the Sun On Yee are die-hard killers, whilst not all of the cops you meet walk the ruler-straight line of justice, creating a challenging, powerful, compelling story that makes you want to keep exploring. And that's just the story. Walking out into the streets is almost like visiting the city itself. The whole city operates on a day-night cycle, and at night Hong Kong comes alive. Fire-breathers wander through the wide plazas, whilst models for sports drinks announce their wares, vendors call out specials and food stall owners offer yu their fresh-cooked meals. Elsewhere, old men and women eat noodles outside cafes where owners banter with their customers, young women talk about their boyfriends and men grumble as you push past. It's also great how the city's inhabitants can directly affect you; bowls of noodles or ice-creams from vendors give you health regeneration, massages from dubiously-clad women make you gain experience faster and Buddhist health shrines dotted around the city allow you to restore your health. There's also a kung fu school which you find early on in the game which allows you to try out your moves without getting hammered by the stronger Triad and police factions.

The mechanics in this game are an odd mix on paper, but in game they come together wonderfully. There's an amount of free-running allowed in the game, and when vaulting over certain objects you'll either be able to bring down an enemy behind it ala Gears of War or enter slow-mo for gunfights eg in Max Payne. The vehicular combat is pretty tight and reminiscent of Just Cause's hectic car battles, and you are able to hijack cars much like in Eidos' Wheelman. The melee combat is similar to Arkham City and other brawlers, with a series of counters, kicks, punchs and grapples allowing you to demolish the opposition. You can also perform environmental counters which involve bloody 1-hit kills that throw enemies into fans, fishtanks, vents, vending machines or dumpsters. What makes the game stand out from its other open-world counterparts is the way it handles police. In both GTA and Saints Row, you can enable cheats with which you can easily wipe the floor with police opposition, making them little more than pests. In Sleeping Dogs, there is no such thing, and you are actively punished for attacking and killing civilians or even ramming other cars and causing property damage. In all missions you have three bars of XP; Police, Triad and Face. The first two affect how the two factions treat you, and the third is how the general populace will see you and in turn respect you. The Police bar will always start full and the Triad bar empty whilst the Face bar will continue to gain experience. Police 'points' are lost if you kill civilians or damage property, and Triad points are gained from various combat-centric actions. At the end of each mission your total points gained will go into separate pools and skill trees, allowing you to gain abilities like vehicle hijacks, slow-mo, increased damage and discounts at city stores.

Overall, this game is a highly polished package, combining many other games' techniques and gimmicks into one excellent piece of entertainment. The graphics are great (jaw-dropping with the free High Texture Pack), the story stronger than any other open world game, the vehicles varied and fun, the locations memorable, the environment and atmosphere vibrant and the combat fast-paced and visceral. I'd say that Sleeping Dogs is one of the biggest surprises of the year, smashing other hopeful third-person games like Inversion, Binary Domain or Risen 2. It won't be able to compete with the heavy hitters like Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed 3 or Black Ops 2, but like Eidos/Square Enix's past title Deus Ex: Human Revolution, it will have a reputation for a polished, memorable title. 

9.5/10