SLEEPING DOGS Review

SLEEPING DOGS Review - So John Woo and Michael Bay took a crack at a Grand Theft Auto-type Game called Sleeping Dogs. Not really, but you can’t blame me for making the assumption. Well, with all of Hijack-Jumps, the roundhouse kicks, mid-air car explosions, and slow-motion bullet time moves, it’s easy to see why I might think that. The truth is that Sleeping Dogs was originally supposed to be part of the True Crime franchise but was canceled. Square Enix swooped in, bought the IP, and then made this little beauty under the new name. Sleeping Dogs puts you in the very capable Kung Fu-kicking shoes of Wei Shen and throws you into the robust city of Hong Kong. Wei Shen is an undercover cop attempting to infiltrate China’s most powerful organized crime syndicate the ‘Son On Yee’ so it goes without saying that Wei Shen is in a very difficult situation. 

During Wei Shen’s journey he’ll meet some interesting characters along the way and have some ups and downs, but Wei’s endeavor is constantly a struggle of morality that blurs the line between what is right and wrong, justice or vengeance. Not everything is so Black and White in Hong Kong. Hong Kong itself is one of the most interesting characters of Sleeping Dogs – it’s bright and lively with a lot to do while simultaneously looking fantastic. Although, in one extreme it does have some very cheap-looking storefronts at times, but, in the other, the brilliant lightshow from the refractions of neon signs off the wet pavement while racing down a city street is mesmerizing. But Hong Kong isn’t just skin deep: There’s street racing, cock fights, side-missions, fight clubs, wardrobes, collectables, and much more. 

Man there’s a lot to do here. And this is all in between the branching story quests that will take you through some fantastic cinematics and fun scripted events. Like, high speed car-jumping, hostage situations, stakeouts, and crazy car chases to name a few. Upon completion of these various story quests Wei will increase his rank in either Cop or Triad experience. These increased levels will unlock perks like cheaper prices, special disarm abilities, or even unique attacks for combat. Which is great because combat is definitely Sleeping Dogs’ strongest aspects. The melee combat is visceral and raw. In melee Wei fight’s very similar to Batman from Arkham City. He can attack directionally with various punch and kick combos while also utilizing grappling attacks and timed counters for devastating effects. Also, while grappling with an enemy, different environmental hazards will highlight red to indicate a place to execute an enemy. Yeah, the combat is ruthless and I love it. It’s a good thing too because on the other side of the spectrum is the gunplay, which isn’t that great. 

There are some pretty nifty slow-motion moves like hurdling over cover or diving from a car, but overall it’s subpar – the aiming reticle lacks finesse, the physics seem spotty, and the cover-to-cover mechanics are clunky. When you’re not beating the crap out of a group of enemies or shooting them full of led, then you’re making your escape in some fashion. To flee Sleeping Dogs has some pretty interesting avenues to pursue; Wei can make way on foot with some parkour-esque free-running, or there’s always to the option to jump in one of the games’ many cars to make use of the active ramming ability. Really, it’s all just quite entertaining and using a car as a weapon is always interesting. 

Any game where you can listen to The Who or Queen while doing doughnuts around your enemy is pretty awesome in my book... my work here is done Sleeping Dogs tries to have all of these things: the amazing combat of Batman, the intuitive free-running of AC, and the gunplay of Uncharted or Gears, but It falls short of the excellence those titles bring to those gameplay aspects. That doesn’t mean Sleeping Dogs is Bad at any of them, it’s just not the best in class. This makes Sleeping Dogs seem like it's a Jack of all Trades, Master of None – which basically true – but when you add up the sum of all its parts; Sleeping Dogs is more along the lines of feeling like the jack of all trades, Master of Fun.