The Sleeping Dogs origin story has been documented ad nauseam, so I won’t do that here. Nor did it matter to me much, anyway. I’d never played a True Crime game before, and even after it came out to mostly positive press, it still wasn’t a game on my radar. Had it not been for its awesome demo, I probably would have let this one slide. Though I can’t speak to the game’s quality before it came out, the end result is pretty rad. This is one of the most fun open world games I’ve played since Grand Theft Auto IV, and might be my favourite one yet.
Assuming the role of undercover cop Wei Shen, you’re tasked with bringing down the Triad from the inside. From there, he struggles with finding the balance between being an undercover cop and actually being a bad guy. As far as its plot and story beats go, this is well-worn territory in every medium, but it’s entertaining enough and the voice acting for the main characters is handled very well. The story also ties in with your on-screen actions very well, so there isn’t a disconnect between the story being told and the moment-to-moment action.
The true star of the show is the game’s combat. Unlike most games in the genre where conflicts are solved with guns, Wei solves most dilemmas with his martial arts skills. Much of the game is spent brawling with opponents in a system reminiscent of Batman’s Arkham outings, where you can counter your opponent’s attacks with a timed button press. Besides this great defensive ability, he has no shortage of bone-crushing moves at his disposal. Best of all, the game makes great use of your environment for context-sensitive attacks. For instance, if you’re near an air conditioning unit, you can throw your opponent’s head into the blades. It all comes together in a way that makes fighting highly enjoyable. Though I was trying to power through this game for the purposes of reviewing it, I couldn’t help myself whenever I saw a random group of enemies just hanging out. Because it’s so fun to lay the smackdown, I went out of my way to beat up everybody.
With that said, guns do factor into the gameplay at times when the story permits them. I wish that the game took some cues from Stranglehold for its gunplay, as this would have been the perfect place to bring that game’s crazy bullet-time systems back. Instead, its straightforward shooting save for moments when it slows down as you hop over cover. Because the objects you hop over are generally narrow, you’re rarely in slow motion for any noteworthy duration of time. These sequences aren’t as strong as the hand-to-hand stuff, but they’re entertaining as well.
The backdrop for all of this is present-day Hong Kong. Not many games take place here, which definitely adds to the freshness of the experience. It’s extremely well realized through the details in the environments, to the life that the NPCs add to the world and all of the things you can do while you’re in the city. Beyond the dozens of main quests, there are a ton of side quests and mini-games to partake in, though not everything is up to snuff. The cop missions are great and the karaoke mini game is a hilarious diversion, but the dating missions are pretty throwaway. While they provide you with a tangible reward for partaking in them, they don’t really go anywhere from a story perspective, nor are they written very well. I would have preferred that they either flesh them out or cut them completely.
Sleeping Dogs doesn’t necessarily re-invent the wheel, but its a fine open world game. It grabbed me right away and stayed awesome throughout. If you’re a fan of action or open world games, this one is easy to recommend. Not sure if there are any plans for a sequel, but I’m gladly up for more.
In Third Person 
Ya hype game for real. Loved the Asian setting. Really well done on the style front as well with great animation, music and voice acting.