Sleeping Dogs (Xbox 360)
I abandoned the open-world crime genre with 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I became weary of the game half-way through (having played the two previous entries in quick succession) and completely passed on GTA IV. In 2011, Volition released Saints Row: The Third and completely renewed my interest in this type of game. Sleeping Dogs, much like Saints Row, was a surprise hit and had me sucked into its world. United Front Games’ succeeds at crafting a complete experience that delivers from start to finish.
Sleeping Dogs explores the character of Wei Shen; an undercover cop from San Francisco who returns to his birth-place of Hong Kong to infiltrate the Sun On Yee triad faction. Wei, having grown-up with many of its members, easily weaves himself into the group as a low-level thug. The game uses this as a jumping-off point for story missions balanced between Wei’s detective duties and carrying out criminal activities to further infiltrate the triad. This dichotomy creates an intriguing narrative wherein Wei struggles with his identity and becomes lost in his criminal persona. Wei’s rise through the Sun On Yee, through keen manipulation and brutal displays of force, made him an eminently likeable character. While the story comes to a head abruptly, it’s filled with gritty characters, competent voice-acting and suspenseful twists.
Sleeping Dogs story and side-missions will keep you busy completing a number of tasks on both sides of the law. The game’s unique Hong Kong backdrop is populated with street races, drug busts, karaoke, car-theft and a few dating diversions. These open-world activities are all well executed, have interesting mechanics and reward the player for exploring them. Dates, for example, twist previously established activities (such as races and karaoke) and reward the player by identifying different types of collectibles on the world map. To my own surprise, I was compelled to complete everything the game had to offer.
The core game-play of Sleeping Dogs is what allows you to get lost in it for hours at a time. Combat is predominantly hand-to-hand combat, inspired by the Batman: Arkham Asylum. While it never felt as fluid as this, the system of strikes and counters will have you picking fights left and right. Through completing missions and finding collectibles, Wei learns new special attacks and maneuver to keep fights interesting. The height of the combat system is environmental attacks. Enemies can be grappled and thrown into a number of objects in the immediate area for a brutal finish. While the system starts out with throwing enemies into dumpsters, it slowly provides more brutal options to dispatch them (especially towards the end). The game introduces gun-combat mid-way through the game, but it never becomes the focus. For the times you are engaged in a shoot-out, you are easily able to snap behind cover and satisfyingly pop enemies from afar. It’s a shame there aren’t more of these encounters, if only because the developer’s got it so right. Since you’ll be doing a lot of it, it is also fortunate that driving is so well executed. High speed pursuits are easily managed through slow-motion shoot-outs and ramming. However, Wei can also force motorists to part with their vehicles by jumping from his own (mid-chase). Each game-play type is so well implemented that I was looking for any excuse to keep playing.
I recently played Assassin’s Creed III, a similar open-world action game. I found it to be an uneven experience that provided little reward for exploring its world. It is rare to find a game that is ambitious in scope and succeeds in every way. Sleeping Dogs, like Saints Row: The Third before it is a high-water mark for the genre and must be played.
Quick Thoughts:
- I appreciate when games have enjoyable mini-games. Lock-picking, cell-phone traces and safe cracking are all well-done.
- Citizens of Hong Kong react realistically to your actions. Onlookers will comment on clothes you’ve purchased, back away when you get aggressive or fight back when you’ve stolen their vehicle (with an ambulance to pick them up after).
- Where Saints Row: The Third had more overt humour, humour in Sleeping Dogs is found through your own interactions with the world i.e. bailing on your car and shooting it in slow-mo as in heads towards some gang members.
Next Up:
- Far Cry 3