Sleeping Dogs

[Guest Marney-1]

This open-world game from Square Enix looks action packed. Here's the official site but you might just want to check out this gameplay video first to see what it's offering, hand-to-hand combat looks pretty decent plus because it's set in Hong Kong you get to drive on the correct side of the road.

Release date: August 14th 2012.

[DuPz0r 5361]

Looks a little rusty around the edges, and I'm not keen on the glowing red objects and guys, but i'm willing to try it out. It's an open world sandbox after all... I'd like to see if there's more to the world before i decide anything though. At the very least this is probably going to be worth a rent.

[snoepzakje12gta5 27]

http://www.youtube.c...e&v=jzDxttuq5fY 40 min gameplay of sleeping dogs with commentary.

Another walkthrough

Edited July 25, 2012 by snoepzakje12gta5

[DuPz0r 5361]

Here's some open world gameplay.

[Brian 972]

After Activision announced it was a Hong Kong undercover true crime, I'm sure that's why it went to shit with them. The game looks terrible in my opinion and I will not try it out. I wanted a police game just like True Crime LA or Streets of New York City. True Crime LA was a huge hit with many people and they should have went somewhere with that route.

[CFO Charles 827]

The whole open world criminal sandbox genre is past it's peak imo. And personally I've found every open world game Square Enix is involved in falls short, way short Cough Justcause 2 uncough. Like dup said it'll be worth a rent.

[Massacre 7646]

uncough

Gtfo of here.

Also, as with pretty much any open-world game, I'll pick this up when I can get it for less than $20 used. If it's shit, I'll return it.

[Bronson 702]

The hand to hand combat looks very well done.

[snoepzakje12gta5 27]

Does someone knows how big the map of sleeping dogs is. like GTA 4 big or smaller.

[Samurai_tbag 27]

So, has anyone played it yet? I've ordered mine today, should come Friday or Saturday. It's had pretty good reviews across the board so far.

[DuPz0r 5361]

Does someone knows how big the map of sleeping dogs is. like GTA 4 big or smaller.

Looking at the map it seems like they've only taken a quarter sized chunk from Hong Kong and used that for the map. It doesn't seem as big as GTA IV in my opinion, but i could be wrong. So who knows. It just seems like there's not that many roads, and that makes it feel less detailed.

I've not played it yet, so can anyone who has/will be playing it soon let us know how it is?

[CaPn bOnEs 8527]

i almost rented this yesterday, but it wasn't available...

[Mekstizzle 25]

Looking at those maps, definitely doesn't seem as big as True Crime LA/New York was, which was what I was kind of hoping for. Map seems quite basic, but the game itself ought to be good anyway. At least it's a different location than your usual open-world video games.

[Samurai_tbag 27]

Looking at those maps, definitely doesn't seem as big as True Crime LA/New York was, which was what I was kind of hoping for. Map seems quite basic, but the game itself ought to be good anyway. At least it's a different location than your usual open-world video games.

Yea it looks about the size of Liberty City without Alderny? The previous two TC games were WAY to big to enjoy.

[Stoic Person Eater 159]

I am interested in checking out this game, but I'll wait until it's $20-30. Never played any of the True Crime games, but I am sucker for kung-fu and asian chicks.

[DuPz0r 5361]

I am interested in checking out this game, but I'll wait until it's $20-30. Never played any of the True Crime games, but I am sucker for kung-fu asian dicks.

I read that as^

The old true crime games weren't all that to be honest. They were fairly big maps for ps2 games, especially streets of LA., but they never held a torch to GTA.

[CaPn bOnEs 8527]

i honestly don't care about the map size at all in any open world game... if the content packed into the streets are fun and abundant, it makes the world feel a lot bigger anyways... if it's gigantic but empty, like LA noire, then it feels like a waste of space and a chore to drive anywhere... even mafia 2 kept their map to a tolerable size to hide the fact that there wasn't a lot to do outside the story missions...

amazingly, sleeping dogs sounds like it might be able to not only work well in a small map, but also provide lots of distractions as well... i still think the name sucks, but i have read nothing but positive reviews so far... plus it's been said over and over that the balance of your actions, for the first time, actually makes sense in an open world... you're a cop, but you also have to look like a gang banger to keep the mob from raising suspicion...

it's got a "donny brasco" feel, which one of the reviewers mentioned... i can see it too from the previews and reviews...

[Samurai_tbag 27]

My copy is arriving today, so as soon as I've given it a couple hours I'll let you know what I think.

[Samurai_tbag 27]

So I've been playing it a couple of hours now and I have done enough to just about give a basic review of what I think.

Essentially, the game plays a lot like SR3 in terms of controls/gameplay/physics/driving - it actually almost feels like a re-skinned SR3 to be honest. As the other reviews have mentioned, the story is pretty engaging, the voice acting is convincing, the melee combat is great and the atmosphere of the Hong Kong they have created feels pretty believable. There are some pretty cool features that you have probably heard about in the other reviews, so I won't into them.

However, I have a few major issues with the game as it stands:

- Mainly, the game feels very unpolished. It's quite hard to describe, but hose who have played SR3 will know what I mean; basically it feels as if, despite being a sandbox game, you can't access 90% of what you see. For example, many alleyways (very famous to HK) are blocked off by walls or trash and stuff; 99% of buildings are just images with no interiors, and those with interiors are clones of each other. But perhaps most annoyingly, the game forces you to stay on the street level, which is incredibly sad considering HK has one of the most impressive skylines in the world. Wherever you are in the game, you can look up and you're surrounded by thousands of balconies, perches, and alcoves that would be perfect for exploring and sniping from.

- Secondly, the radio/soundtrack is quite frankly dire. I personally thought SR's radio stations were bad, though this games selection makes the SR radio look like a GTA game's radio. I understand there's a lot of HK/Chinese music in the game, which is fine! The problem lies with the dull Western songs that have been picked. Hell, I didn't even notice one song that played that I have heard before. More importantly though, the actual radio system seems to be pretty bugged. When you toggle stations it takes up to a few seconds for the game to process the button you have pressed, and sometimes it will change to the exact station you were already on - this means that you often end up hammering the change station button and then suddenly the game bursts through the stations two seconds later.

- Thirdly, as of yet, I haven't got my hands on any guns - which is a shame. I have however engaged in plenty of melee combat with and without weapons. The melee combat itself is the only thing that sets this game above other sandbox games. The best way to explain it would be a slightly less responsive version of the system Rocksteady used in the Batman: Arkham games. Sure it can get fiddly with some odd response times regarding some counters, but in general it feels real nice to kick the shit out of a group of people in Sleeping Dogs. The melee weapons are even better, I've found a couple of knifes, a crowbar and a tire iron so far - and all have been very fun, and pretty gory. The main issue I have with the melee items, and perhaps the guns (I'm not sure as of yet), is that you can't hide them. If you pick up a knife, you have to drop it, or carry it around on full display - it would have made sense to be able to stash it in your pocket - and to be honest, to me this really ruins the 'undercover' focus of the game.

- Finally, despite the city being richly detailed with bustling markets and civilians going about their daily lives whether fishing down by the docks, haggling with DVD vendors, or just generally gassing away; I can't help but feel the city still feels a bit vacant. For example, you can go to the major market in North Point, but there's only a couple of stalls you can actually approach to buy things, and when you're surrounded by hundreds of vendors offering you all sorts of black market goods it's hard to not feel a bit disappointed. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, outside of the markets there are only a small handful of different stores available to you, a few clothing stores, some herbal medicine places and about a hundred massage parlours scattered across the map. I just feel that they could have included more stuff to do; perhaps random shops where you could extort or rob the owners, or even just a wider variety of clothing and accessories stores.

I managed to to pick the game up for £32.99 shipped, which is good for a new title, but perhaps still a little steep for this game. My advice would be to either wait till it drops to about £20/£25 (which won't be long due to the lack of MP), or rent the game for a few nights (as it only takes about 20 hours to complete to 100%). All in all a good game, but still, despite being released four years before, GTA IV remains the best sandbox crime game to date.

[snoepzakje12gta5 27]

You just convinced me not to buy it. So now im gonna wait for AC3 and Far Cry 3

[Samurai_tbag 27]

You just convinced me not to buy it. So now im gonna wait for AC3 and Far Cry 3

I'm glad to have saved you some $!

[JamieMilne 489]

yeah your review that it feels like a reskinned SR3 is enough for me not to buy it. Other mainstream reviews made it seem like a really good game.

[DuPz0r 5361]

Thanks tbag for your honest review.

To be honest, before your review, i already had the feeling it would be like that, it didn't seem like it had enough substance to keep me hooked for long. A (sandbox) game that's like SR but not quite as good, knowing GTA is out there on top.. It just isn't worth the money. I may rent it. I never intended to buy this one anyway. I do still like the look of the combat, but that's all i was caught by.

[OmenUK 3]

So I've been playing it a couple of hours now and I have done enough to just about give a basic review of what I think.

Essentially, the game plays a lot like SR3 in terms of controls/gameplay/physics/driving - it actually almost feels like a re-skinned SR3 to be honest. As the other reviews have mentioned, the story is pretty engaging, the voice acting is convincing, the melee combat is great and the atmosphere of the Hong Kong they have created feels pretty believable. There are some pretty cool features that you have probably heard about in the other reviews, so I won't into them.

However, I have a few major issues with the game as it stands:

- Mainly, the game feels very unpolished. It's quite hard to describe, but hose who have played SR3 will know what I mean; basically it feels as if, despite being a sandbox game, you can't access 90% of what you see. For example, many alleyways (very famous to HK) are blocked off by walls or trash and stuff; 99% of buildings are just images with no interiors, and those with interiors are clones of each other. But perhaps most annoyingly, the game forces you to stay on the street level, which is incredibly sad considering HK has one of the most impressive skylines in the world. Wherever you are in the game, you can look up and you're surrounded by thousands of balconies, perches, and alcoves that would be perfect for exploring and sniping from.

- Secondly, the radio/soundtrack is quite frankly dire. I personally thought SR's radio stations were bad, though this games selection makes the SR radio look like a GTA game's radio. I understand there's a lot of HK/Chinese music in the game, which is fine! The problem lies with the dull Western songs that have been picked. Hell, I didn't even notice one song that played that I have heard before. More importantly though, the actual radio system seems to be pretty bugged. When you toggle stations it takes up to a few seconds for the game to process the button you have pressed, and sometimes it will change to the exact station you were already on - this means that you often end up hammering the change station button and then suddenly the game bursts through the stations two seconds later.

- Thirdly, as of yet, I haven't got my hands on any guns - which is a shame. I have however engaged in plenty of melee combat with and without weapons. The melee combat itself is the only thing that sets this game above other sandbox games. The best way to explain it would be a slightly less responsive version of the system Rocksteady used in the Batman: Arkham games. Sure it can get fiddly with some odd response times regarding some counters, but in general it feels real nice to kick the shit out of a group of people in Sleeping Dogs. The melee weapons are even better, I've found a couple of knifes, a crowbar and a tire iron so far - and all have been very fun, and pretty gory. The main issue I have with the melee items, and perhaps the guns (I'm not sure as of yet), is that you can't hide them. If you pick up a knife, you have to drop it, or carry it around on full display - it would have made sense to be able to stash it in your pocket - and to be honest, to me this really ruins the 'undercover' focus of the game.

- Finally, despite the city being richly detailed with bustling markets and civilians going about their daily lives whether fishing down by the docks, haggling with DVD vendors, or just generally gassing away; I can't help but feel the city still feels a bit vacant. For example, you can go to the major market in North Point, but there's only a couple of stalls you can actually approach to buy things, and when you're surrounded by hundreds of vendors offering you all sorts of black market goods it's hard to not feel a bit disappointed. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, outside of the markets there are only a small handful of different stores available to you, a few clothing stores, some herbal medicine places and about a hundred massage parlours scattered across the map. I just feel that they could have included more stuff to do; perhaps random shops where you could extort or rob the owners, or even just a wider variety of clothing and accessories stores.

I managed to to pick the game up for £32.99 shipped, which is good for a new title, but perhaps still a little steep for this game. My advice would be to either wait till it drops to about £20/£25 (which won't be long due to the lack of MP), or rent the game for a few nights (as it only takes about 20 hours to complete to 100%). All in all a good game, but still, despite being released four years before, GTA IV remains the best sandbox crime game to date.

I've been playing it most of today and have to confirm Samurai_tbag's review as being very very accurate, only thing I would add is that there is no way to change the difficulty level so if your struggling on one specific mission you either have to keep going until you manage to complete it, or quit and lose any progress, not that far in but had this problem once, and imagine it will be a recurring problem the more the story progresses and while I understand the need to not make everything overly easy to complete seems like some are too easy while others are too difficult.

I actually had heard of a few of the Western song's on the radio BUT the majority of more well known are really old songs (25-35 years old) and while the choice is eclectic there's seemingly very little choice for those not into asian music.

[DuPz0r 5361]

A close friend of mine told me he likes this more than Saints Row the Third. And he loved that game. I'm still going to rent this, as it's a game i think i can compete in about a week if i put in the hours.