Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Square Enix's Sleeping Dogs

Ladies and Gentlemen: Are you prepared for yet another Grand Theft Auto clone? Well regardless whether you've enthusiastically answered "yes" or a slow sigh of "no," Sleeping Dogs takes the open-world formula and wraps it in some spicy Cantonese flavor.

Yes, this game takes place in the gritty, neon streets of a fictional Hong Kong. The city itself boils of clashing triads and a less-than effective police force. Well, that is until the Hong Kong Police Department receives its newest undercover agent.

Explosions. Guns. Kung Fu. 

Players take the role of Wei Shen, a Hong Kong born badass whose police work in the United States has brought him back to his native city. He's tasked by his superiors to infiltrate the Sun On Yee, one of the dangerous triad groups hellbent on city-control. Wei starts off as a foot soldier, first set out for simpler tasks such as extorting local market-owners. Before long, Wei climbs the gang-hierarchy and treads the fine line between  his duties as undercover cop and a ruthless triad of the Sun On Yee.

Sleeping Dog's plot doesn't do anything new. Players are given their good guys, their bad guys, some betrayals, motives for revenge and anything else you'd find in a typical action adventure. The beauty of Sleeping Dogs, however, revolves around the immersion felt from Hong Kong and its inhabitants.

You don't mess with Mrs. Chu

Sleeping Dogs manages to depict Hong Kong as a vibrant mesh of tradition and modernity. While some areas are spacious and luxurious with cloud-breaking skyscrapers, other neighborhoods feature cramped apartments and humble markets and food stands. The streets are also littered with Chinese-accented npcs.

The voice-acting for this open-world game is top notch. The mix of Cantonese and English create a superb layer of immersion for the fictional city. Market vendors shout out for passerby's to try their wares and npcs often have conversations with one another. However, I was disappointed that many of the major characters spoke strictly in English. While English is actually a major language in Hong Kong, it would have been nice to have more characters like the hot-headed Mrs. Chu who conversed only in Cantonese. (Check out the video to see the real Hong Kong's influence on the Sleeping Dogs)

In regards to gameplay, the focus of Sleeping Dogs stems from its driving, free-running, and strong combat. The driving mechanic is handled as well as other open world games, but it's the arcade feel that makes driving so much fun. In the drivers seat, players are able to use a sort of sideways slam on enemy vehicles that damages them and eventually puts the receiving  vehicle out of commission. This arcade-P.I.T. maneuver  adds to the intensity of driving sequences. Dodging oncoming traffic while taking out droves of motorcycle-riding baddies with just your car produces plenty of "Oh, hell yeah!" moments.

Free-running is a quirky addition that's fun to use and sometimes a spectacle to behold, especially when running through the neon-streets and falling through thin glass. Free-running is typically used for chase sequences. A bad guy may have stolen some cash from you and it is your duty to quickly follow him and eventually take him down. The parkour system, unfortunately, is not perfect. There were times I was hellbent on chasing down a baddie only to have an ankle-high structure impede the flow of running and slow me down or sometimes even bring me to a complete stop. These hiccups aside, Sleeping Dogs' parkour is versatile enough for a lot of fun sequences.

"FINISH HIM!" 

Okay, one of the biggest driving forces of Sleeping Dogs is its combat. Borrowing heavily from Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, the fighting mechanics works on a similar system of strikes and counters. So, the combat is extremely enjoyable. Wei Shen doesn't flow as well as the caped crusader, but his kung fu efforts produce a hefty and brutal barrage that's fun to use and fun to watch. Combat is also further stylized through automatic slow motion moments that emphasize strong finishing attacks.

Sleeping Dogs also introduces environmental kills. Outnumbered and weaponless? No problem. Players can grapple enemies, drag them to dumpsters, hooks, car trunks or even swordfish snouts, and dispose of them accordingly. Environmental kills help players even the odds and just plainly make you feel like a total badass. Through a simple-rpg level system, players may upgrade Wei's arsenal, making him more resistant to damage, stacking more "oomph" behind a roundhouse kick, or overall expanding his kung fu repertoire.

Though a rarity within the Sleeping Dogs realm, this open-world beat 'em up game does feature gun-play. It's not the most polished shooting system. The guns are powerful, but rarely precise. And with a press of one button, Wei may take cover. From here, he can fire blindly, pop out to take pot shots, or even vault over objects for a cinematic, slow-motion moment. Shooting is rather the clunkiest feature compared to the other aspects of Sleeping Dogs, but these rare gun-toting moments are filled enough action to satisfy until the next gun fight.

The gritty aura of Hong Kong's criminal underworld make exploring Square Enix's fictional Cantonese city worth while. Though Sleeping Dogs doesn't add anything new to the open-world genre, it does provide a fun romp with its parkour mechanics, arcade style of driving, and Batman-like combat. Not to mention, the excellent voice-acting further immerses this gangster-driven tale of revenge and justice. Overall, Sleeping Dogs is a great game.

Sleeping Dogs gets a 4/5.

So, buy it, rent it, or even borrow it. Stay tuned for Subculture!