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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

21 Sep Posted by in News and Features | Comments
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
 


 

Let sleeping dogs lie? I think not! Canadian developers, United Front really took an almost flagging game and turned it into something awe worthy. In case you are still wondering, I am referring to “Sleeping Dogs” which was previously known as, True Crime: Hong Kong. At first glance, Sleeping Dogs looks like a hybrid of GTA style gaming, but it does provide a top notch game plot that will keep players immersed for hours at a time. As you progress through the game, you’d realize that it has got more to offer in terms of outstanding melee combat, gun play and driving mechanics, and the aforementioned plot which has more twists & turns and cliff hangers than an elaborately written Hollywood production.

Game Plot

The players would assume the role of Wei Shen, the protagonist of the game serving as an undercover cop. Your mission is to infiltrate a disgracefully vicious gang known as the Sun On Yee. Wei has to prove his loyalty to them by doing their dirty work and move up in rank. And at the same time, Wei Shen has to do tasks for the police appointed by his superiors. Working for both sides, Wei starts to lose himself in the undercover persona. The story is well written and is highly enjoyable.

Gameplay

Sleeping Dogs is an open world game, similar to the infamous GTA series. The game is divided into four districts North Point, Central, Aberdeen and Kennedy Town, and you can room free, as you like. The game focuses a lot on hand to hand fighting at the start of the game and you will be doing melee combat for quite a while. Melee combat is very deep and meticulously rendered; you can counter enemies, there are many combos you can perform and the animation is a thrill to watch. The environmental takedowns, which you can execute in almost every melee fight, are highly satisfying. Fans of the Max Payne games will like the slow motion shooting, which occurs when you slide out of cover. Speaking of cover, the cover mechanics and shooting are not the best seen in the genre, but they are good. Sleeping Dogs has a fair amount of driving sections, which are greatly done. The controls are responsive and driving around for exploration or a car chase sequence is highly enjoyable. You can jump out of the car to another moving vehicle to high jack it. Camera angle gets a little wonky in some driving parts though. Sleeping Dogs has a unique leveling system; you can spend your experience points in three different areas: Cop, Triad and Face. Players can learn melee combos at the local martial arts training centers. In order to learn from that training center, you will have to collect jade statues, which you will have to find throughout the game. The most disappointing thing for me was the short campaign; it can be completed in around 12 hours, which is diminutive for an open world game.

Graphics

Up close the game looks fine but the draw distance is very poor and from time to time texture loading problems occur. But on the plus point, the character models are good and the voice acting is top notch. The mix of English speaking and Cantonese is a really nice touch, which makes the world feel more realistic.

Verdict

Sleeping Dogs is truly a sleeper hit and is one of the best open world games released this year. There are a few problematic areas, mainly the short story mood, but fans of the genre will not be disappointed.

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