Sleeping Dogs had one of the most confusing and drawn out development periods in video game history. The game started out as Black Lotus, an open-world crime drama developed by Treyarch. However, the game was cancelled early in the development process before being picked up by United Front Games. Black Lotus became a part of the True Crime series before being cancelled again for being too much of a risk for Activision. Fortunately, the story on this game was far from finished. Square Enix purchased the rights to the game, changed the name to Sleeping Dogs, and allowed United Front to finish and release the game.
Sleeping Dogs is the story of Wei Shen, an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating the Triad in Hong Kong. Wei has to start at the bottom of the Triad (with the help of his old friend Jackie) and work his way up the ranks of the Sun On Ye Triad by completing tasks for different leaders. This assignment is made more difficult by Wei’s two police contacts, Raymond and Pendrew, who are constantly trying to stop the case. These contrasting tasks cause Wei to constantly question his loyalties and how far he will go to close his case.
The different tasks that Wei must complete vary between winning illegal street races, fighting large groups of rival gang thugs, and high jacking vehicles at high speeds. These tasks are what make Sleeping Dogs shine as an open-world game. The street races only last about a minute, so losing a race doesn’t mean replaying a large portion of the game. High jacking vehicles is made easier by the use of the action button that allows Wei to leap from one vehicle to another and jump in the driver’s seat within seconds. The combat system was taken from Batman: Arkham Asylum and injected with Kung-Fu moves. United Front Games goes one step further with the combat system by adding weapons and environmental kills. Wei can pick up various objects that can be used as weapons during combat (using a fish as a blunt weapon is extremely satisfying), or he can throw enemies into objects in the environment such as air conditioners.
When Wei is not injuring every gang member in the city, he is out exploring the world created by United Front Games. The recreation of Hong Kong is a brilliant, bustling place that is filled with large markets, karaoke bars, and busy parks. The town becomes even livelier at night when the neon lights and large groups of pedestrians are surrounding Wei. The town is full of pedestrians dancing to advertise beverages, couples enjoying the evening, or drunks harassing shop owners. Some of these pedestrians will give Wei small activities to complete such as throwing someone in the trunk of a car.
Even police officers enjoy standing on garbage cans.
Sleeping Dogs is a great open-world game, but it is not without fault. Enemies or pedestrians can sometimes end up floating in the air or stuck in buildings. This can be problematic when the person stuck in the building is integral to the mission. One other issue with Sleeping Dogs is the lack of explanation during story or side missions. The game did not explain key gameplay concepts that opened up important side missions and activities.
Sleeping Dogs may not be a perfect game, but the small issues are outweighed by the excellence of the story and gameplay. Wei is a relatable character that actually shows the strain of living two separate lives, and he is willing to fight anyone that causes this strain. The troubled development cycle seems to be a thing of the past, and United Front Games should be proud of that fact.