Sleeping dogs is a game developed by Square Enix and United Front Games. The Story revolves around an undercover cop named, Wei Shen, who is tasked to infiltrate the triads of Hong Kong. You control Wei through the vibrant and flashy city, completing triad missions and solving cases from the police. If you have played any of the Grand Theft Auto series, then the sandbox world that Sleeping dogs offers will be of no news to you. You get to steal vehicles, interact with the open world, interact with live-like pedestrians, purchase from shops and restaurants, and much more.
The game looks beautiful. When traversing the city in a car you can notice details ranging from the unique design on Hong Kong taxis all the way to the flood of signs reaching out between buildings while listening to Chinese or English tunes on the radio. However, the game does suffer some major blur on the console versions. For example, when a pedestrian happens to stand in front of the camera, their face will get blurred out. Sleeping dogs does not offer the best animations for character expressions but it does the job. However, in certain parts of the game I encountered some glitches in character movement. Other than that, the concentration on the overall detail and the close depiction of Hong Kong that this game portrays is quite amazing.
The story that Sleeping Dogs tells, is very engaging. It follows the old Hong Kong style triad movies such as the "Goo Wak Jai". Wei Shen is presently an undercover cop who grew up in an area of Hong Kong called "Old Prosperity". In his youth, he went to America to train and study to become a police, and then ends up returning to Hong Kong tasked to infiltrate the triads through the "Sun On Yee". Characters that you encounter throughout the game are deep and vary in personalities, ranging from sly and evil, to honest and loyal. As for Wei Shen himself, he is an honest and respectable character, despite being undercover. He is loyal to his friends and is not afraid to kill when justice is needed to be served. Throughout the game you will find Wei struggling to balance his identity as a triad member and as a cop. None the less, Wei is a very likeable character and he makes you want to fight for his cause.
The game structure and the gameplay itself in Sleeping Dogs is very similar to the Grand Theft Auto series. Wei's missions are scattered in various locations across Hong Kong which you can locate on the mini-map. Missions include taking pictures of evidence, car tailing, car highjacking, car races, beating up thugs, doing favors for triad members, drug busts and dates. For every cop, triad and favor mission you complete, you gain points for your next upgrade in their respective categories. Each category have their unique set of upgrades which will aid you in combat and missions. Sleeping dogs offers responsive combat mechanics. Wei's basic move set involves punches, kicks, grabbing and counter. Each of these can be combined for dishing out combos and massive damage. Wei can also learn new techniques from his old martial arts master, after helping him recover lost jade statues. The game emphasizes a lot on countering, when you successfully pull off a counter, it is very satisfying to watch Wei return a devastating attack on his enemy. Not only can Wei handle himself in hand to hand combat, but he is also proficient with guns. Nothing too special here though. Sleeping Dogs' gunplay involves searching for cover, shoot at enemies when they peak from their cover, and repeat until they are all dead. Wei is also able to shoot from his vehicle. Sleeping dogs uses slow motion mechanics, similar to Max Payne. For example, Wei can hop over a counter or leap from a car and shoot in slow motion.
The game offers a wide range of vehicles which include taxis, normal cars, sports cars, vans, suvs, mini buses, double decker buses, trucks, mopeds, motorcycles, and boats. The vehicle control feels very arcade-like. If you asked me to give a comparison right now, I would say the vehicle controls are more similar to the Need for Speed series as opposed to the simulation style controls in the Gran Turismo series. Throughout the game, you will find yourself being chased by cops and one of the most effective methods to lose cops in Sleeping Dogs is to ram into them. This effect is very similar to the Burnout series where you are able to force cars into acrobatic flips into the air when you crash into them. Wei's ability to stay on a motorcycle is very impressive. Even after some heavy crashes, Wei will still be on his motorcycle ready to go. However, just like in the GTA series, your character will go soaring in the air after a fast head on collision. Wei can purchase new cars from impound lots and chop shops. All vehicles that you own can be accessed from the parking lot near the condo Wei is living in. On the other hand, if you are feeling lazy, you can take a taxi around the city for a small fee.
Once you complete the single player story mode, there are a load of collectables and side missions such as drug busts, favors and races for you to complete. Drug busts trigger a mini-game where Wei will hack a camera then return home to catch the suspect on his computer. As for the collectables, they include health shrines and blue item boxes. Sometimes a lock picking mini-game may trigger when opening one of these boxes. If all that is not enough, there is also the social hub, where you can compare your vehicle races and mission time trial high scores with others online.
Overall, this open world game successfully incorporates a good story, fun combat, cool missions, badass cutscenes, fluent controls, and a beautiful recreation of Hong Kong and it's corruption involving triads.