“Wei Shen… Is perfect for this job,” and truer words were never spoken. The main protagonist of the Hong Kong action game, “Sleeping Dogs” is nothing to mess with. Wei is an undercover cop who is looking to take down the top bosses of the Triad gangs. His reasons aren’t simply to comply with the line of duty; he also has some vengeance he wishes to enact for his dead sister. Wei is stuck in a constant balancing act between good and evil, and it’s hard to stay in the light, when you’re digging a pathway to hell.
Going undercover is the roughest thing a police officer could do. Wei is in the center of a triad war, and that means he’s going to have to get his hands dirty. In proving himself to the triads, he could downright alienate himself from the police. Yet, if he gives away too much information on the criminals he’ll be discovered. Wei has to find the perfect balance between justice and injustice, so that he can return to a normal life someday.
Players don’t have a choice on which side they will actually choose. The story itself is on a linear but highly interesting pathway. Once you get used to everyone in Hong Kong speaking English, you’ll notice how great the voice over work is. There are some impressive performances wrapped up in this open-world game. It may even make you wonder just what Activision was thinking when they decided to drop this game studio.
Sleeping Dogs, is littered with wall-to-wall action. It’s clear that much of Hong Kong cinema was the driving point of this title. Wei Shin gets into a lot of trouble, from ridiculous street fights, car chases, and balls to the wall shoot-outs. It looks remarkable and it plays even better than it looks. Wei can take down his enemies with a flurry punches and kicks. This is realized by a multi-directional combat system, where Wei can respond to counter-attacks, and grapples in real-time.
Mr. Shen, will gain new skills as he earns Triad and Cop experience. He can also pick up new collectibles that will earn him new martial arts moves. This will give him additional melee and gun-fighting aptitudes that he can use to massacre his enemies. Wei has the ability to vault over objects that are directly in front of him, and he can shift into slow motion if he holds down the aim button while doing so. It’s all the more impressive when used in a high speed chase, as the player can slow down the action and not completely lose control of their vehicle.
Much like Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row, players can navigate a city and take vehicles at any time. Sleeping Dogs has introduced a more flexible method of getting a new car. Players can put the pedal to the metal and catch up to unsuspecting victims. When the vehicles are close enough to each other, Wei can open his door and leap onto the car of his choice and take it as his. Not to mention that vehicles have a completely arcade feel to them. So players can hop into any vehicle and drive it as if physics was just a hilarious joke someone told.
When mentioning the amount of content in Sleeping Dogs, the word “Staggering” comes to mind. The open-world feel is more daunting and highly intriguing the further you get into the story. Players are allowed to venture the entirety of the city from the start, and there is so much to do that one can easily forget there was a main story line worth following. Karaoke, surveillance, brawls, and shopping, are just some of the things that will keep you saying… Oooo! Piece of candy! I personally did not even get too far into the storyline early on, as I was distracted by the vast amounts of collectibles and making my character look less like a worthless thug.
The visuals offer us something completely different from the gray stone buildings that have taken over open-world games. Hong Kong is shown as a vibrant and vivid city in, Sleeping Dogs. Bright colors and tight narrow streets pave the way for this title. The character models themselves could use a little more oomph, but they look detailed enough to complete the task. The citizens are alive with chatter and the soundtrack is full of bass booming tracks. When all of this holds together, you have one of the most appealing open-world games in years.
When it doesn’t hold together…. Some of the funniest things can happen. There are tons of little glitches scattered throughout the game. My major gripe with the game would have to be the waypoint system. It stinks and can make or break a timed event, or just cause you to wander around the city looking for the real entrance to a location. The small police missions are also pretty boring. You can hack, beatdown some thugs, and do surveillance to arrest the same guy every single time. They really should have fleshed out these activities a little bit more. My final gripe would be the free run system; it can often cause more trouble than anything in the entire game.
Even with those minor gripes, Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic ride. As the story gets deeper, you are drawn to Wei and his need to protect his cover and the Triad gang he’s become attached to. The action is truly top-notch, and there are literally hours of gameplay awaiting you. Sleeping Dogs receives an A- from Half-Ass Gaming
. The game that could have become abandonware, turned out to be one of the best games of this year.
