Despite great action movies coming out of Hong Kong, there aren’t a huge amount of games set in the city. The Deus Ex series occasionally travels Hong Kong side, but it’s an exception rather than a rule. The lack of exploration leaves a huge amount of untapped potential in the setting. Sleeping Dogs takes advantage of the history and culture of Hong Kong. It’s also one of the few GTA clones to focus more on hand-to-hand combat rather than guns. It’s suffered from its similarity seeming similarity to Grand Theft Auto, but I think that it’s worth another look.

Welcome to Hong Kong, Puk Gai. That's one of the many Cantonese swears you'll be learning. Get a notebook handy.

Sleeping Dogs uses Hong Kong as a beautiful, gritty, and enveloping backdrop. The world is so full of detail and charm; anybody who has traveled to Hong Kong might notice the resemblance to real places, or just the same general feel of the in-game world. From the humid night markets to the glamorous shopping districts to the lush greenery, Sleeping Dogs overflows with well-thought out touches that bring the city to life. People mill about and form crowds which are common in the city and rushing through them feels as chaotic as it should. Exploration is important for any open-world game, and Sleeping Dogs makes its map inviting. With visually distinct areas, you can navigate without the minimap easily. Shrines that increase your health and hidden caches of money or clothing are hidden give you a solid incentive to explore beyond the beaten path.

Don't you wanna get out there and find a food stall? Something about all the rain and neon draws you in.

As mentioned in my 5/18/16 article, the martial arts in Sleeping Dogs are fantastic for the most part. Moves feel fast and powerful. You can chain together strikes, grapples, and throws to take down enemies. The heavy focus on hand-to-hand plays into one of the main sidequests of the game. One of your old Gong-Fu master's students has stolen his jade statue collection. By finding and bringing it back, Sifu teaches you knew moves. The quest merges gameplay, world, and setting nicely; a hard trifecta for most games to pull off.

The Gong-Fu school you learn in is nicely designed. It's very spartan, which suits Sifu Kwok very well.

The use of “Face” is fun and an interesting way to “gamify” a part of culture, though I don't know enough about the culture to say whether it's a respectful handling of the idea. Missions and small favors to people increase your Face, which allows you buy more socially daring and sophisticated items, clothes, and cars. It does fit very well with the idea of somebody rising through the ranks of a major criminal syndicate. In a more immediate way, your Face meter builds up throughout combat and regenerates your health when full.

As you rise in Face, you get bonuses that affect how your Face meter works in combat. This really helps you feel like you're progressing throughout the game.

What goes up must come down; nothing good lasts forever, and Sleeping Dogs is no exception. Firstly, the combat is way too easy. You can counter too easily compared to normal fighting and use too many trump moves that turn combat into a joke halfway through the game. It’s a letdown considering how novel the focus of the game seemed at the beginning.

Sleeping Dogs could use some more sidequests. Generally, sidequets help show you more of the world and the people in it. The Hong Kong setting is so interesting it’s a shame that there’s not more quest based exploration of it. Some of the Face quests are interesting because you get a little insight into the lives of people in Hong Kong connected to, but not involved with, the gang. The police quests are interesting because you can forget that you’re part of the police as well as of the gang and the quests help remind you of that.

Most Face quests are just little favors that you do for people, but they're fun.

Lastly, the “dating” minigame is stupid and sexist as hell. There are three women you can “date”, most of which consists of cringe worthy dialogue and walking from point A to point B. Completing each woman's storyline leads to a perk in game, like the ability to see the health-increasing-shrines on your minimap, so each woman just becomes something to check off, rather than a good character.

Worth Playing?

Yes.

I called Sleeping Dogs a GTA clone, but I honestly think it's better. It explores a place that most games don't, it's hand-to-hand focus is more interesting than just shooting, and its story is more gripping. Any fan of open world games should play Sleeping Dogs, as well as anybody who wants to pick up some Cantonese swear words.

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