Sleeping Dogs is set in Hong Kong and has open-world gameplay, with an intense undercover cop drama for its story. Developed by United Front Games, the team behind Modnation Racers and LittleBigPlanet Karting, this is one of the best games of the generation. Sleeping Dogs' Hong Kong is heavily based upon the actual city, if you have ever been to Hong Kong, you might notice some landmarks within the game. You get to explore the four suburbs of North Point, Central, Kennedy Town and Aberdeen. Being such an authentic rendition of Hong Kong, the city is amazing and fantastic to explore. There will be skyscrapers towering over you, double-decker buses and trams travelling on the road, the iconic red taxis and the apparent disparity of wealth between North Point and Central through the types of cars and litter on the streets. The map is big with a lot of streets; the developers took some liberties and made the streets wider to make driving easier since the city is so alive and dynamic. There will always be pedestrians and cars along the streets, the city never sleeps. The game has a day and night cycle, which changes to how the city looks due to the additional lighting that comes with the night.
The weather in the game will change too, when it's raining, people will be travelling with umbrellas and when there's bright sunshine, everything is brought out in detail. The graphics itself are passable and will take some getting used to especially in the character models. There's just something off with the faces like they're flatter than they should be. The story is about Wei Shen, an undercover cop who returned from the United States back to his childhood home of Hong Kong. There, he infiltrates the triad Sun On Yee in an effort to bring it down. As with these types of stories, Wei builds true friendship with the triad members and their view of honor slowly becomes entrenched into his personality. It is an engaging story since it keeps moving forward with tangible villains. You will definitely side with Wei, especially when the lines between a cop and triad start to blur. The major events in the story will affect you deeply since you have built solid relationships with each and every character. The ending was fantastic in that it brings up the rage and anger within the player towards the villain. You will have no qualms with Wei finding justice on those who have done him wrong. The plot is deeper than expected with a few nice twists.
The plot is well written and elevates the game from being just an open-world where you free roam and do whatever you want. It is one of Sleeping Dogs' strongest aspects. By the time the ending comes and the credits roll, you'll find yourself craving more. Sleeping Dogs have mission based gameplay. You advance the plot through driving to specific points in the map. This means that there is a lot of time spent driving around the city but because the driving mechanics are so natural, and the city itself is so vibrant, this never gets boring. Plus, you're easily distracted from your intended path thanks to the numerous optional content. Sleeping Dogs had addictive gameplay where there is always something to do. The sidequests involve street races, a karaoke minigame and favors which is helping out other Triad members to get Wei's name out there. You can bet on cockfights, bust drug dealers and participate in assisting the police in cracking cases. Then there are the obligatory collectibles. Health Shrines are scattered around the map and will increase Wei's maximum health. Lockboxes contain costumes, money and weapons. Security Cameras are there just because they are. Then finding Statues will allow Wei to learn additional moves to use in combat. All in all, there are too many collectibles which means you'll probably get bored before you've found them all.
There are various other minigames you'll encounter during missions, such as picking locks, hacking cameras (a number puzzle) and GPS tracking via a phone. They're not obtrusive and are fun in their own right. Wei will encounter mostly fist fights and the combat system is fairly simple. It can feel clunky at first and since Wei's abilities are so limited int he beginning, it strays towards being counter-heavy. You will wait for an enemy to attack so you can counter. Eventually, once you've unlocked more moves, Wei can be more aggressive. He'll be able to use various weapons like knives, cleavers, umbrellas and even a fish to strike enemies. Wei will also get into gunfights. Guns are hard to come by in Hong Kong, which means you'll usually only get a gun when there is a gunfight coming up. The aiming and shooting are mapped to the trigger buttons; once you get used to the controls, shooting feels great. The cover system works fine and enemies are not bullet sponges, which makes these gunfights brisk and packed with adrenaline. A questionable choice in the controls is that running is mapped to the X button. Would have preferred running to be mapped to the shoulder button instead because the current controls does't allow you to run and move the camera at the same time.
Sleeping Dogs have an experience system, but with three different types of experience: Face, Triad and Cop. Levelling each one will unlock different abilities. What makes the game more authentic is the mixture of Cantonese and English into all dialogue. There's actually a surprising amount of Cantonese, especially during free roam. This mixture makes it sound weird when characters use both languages within the same sentence, forcing you to use subtitles. Either speak fully in English or fully in Cantonese but don't awkwardly force the two together, especially when Wei himself only speaks in English. There's actually a lot of swearing in the game, way too much in fact, both in English and Cantonese. Understand that the characters are Triads but when there's swearing every three words, it makes it hard to take it seriously. The game takes around 10 to 14 hours to finish, depending on how many of the sidequests you decide to do before finishing the story. Overall, Sleeping Dogs is surprisingly an amazing game. It is heaps of fun with an engaging story, and addictive gameplay. The gameplay feels smooth and responsive after you've spent a while in the game. Frankly, Sleeping Dogs is one of the best games in the generation and should be played by as many people as possible.
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