In preparation for the new, shinier arrival of Sleeping Dogs onto our current generation of consoles this October, why not take the time to revisit a classic. For those who missed out or have short memories: read on.

As a massive fan of Hong Kong cinema I was genuinely excited when I first heard about Sleeping Dogs. GTA: San Andreas had already catered for the Boyz-N-The-Hood fanboy in me and now I was finally going to have the chance to recreate scenes from such classics as Hard Boiled, Bullet in the Head and Infernal Affairs.

For those who don’t already know (wakey wakey), Sleeping Dogs was made by United Front Games (who hdid wonderful things with the recent Tomb Raider Definitive Edition for the XBox One) and Square Enix and was released back in 2012.  This game succeeded in borrowing some of the better gameplay mechanics adopted in such games as GTA (obviously), Batman’s Arkham games, Assassins Creed, and even Wheelman, to make one hell of a delicious sand box flavoured dish of gaming goodness.

The dogs that slumber kicks off with a nifty opening sequence that introduces us to the main protagonist, Wei Shen, along with getting a feel for the basic game mechanics. When a deal goes sour Wei has to chase his suspect through a bustling market place, hopping across rooftops and trying his best to avoid the myriad people in his way. Think of any one of Assassins Creed’s chase missions, but better. The way your character can climb up walls and leap over obstacles is all done fluidly (providing you can get your timing right) with the occasional bit of dramatic slow-mo thrown in for good measure. Only a few minutes into the game and I already had two prevailing thoughts. “Awesome!” and “This is what True Crime should have been”. Funny that, when you consider that this game was originally supposed to be True Crime 3 but due to delays and development issues (ahem) Activision canned the game before Square Enix came to the rescue a few months later.

When you get into your first fight against a gang of thugs, you will immediately feel right at home if you loved Rocksteady’s Arkham games as much as I did. While it doesn’t quite have the same fluidity and sense of “ouch” that Batman’s combat does it manages to top Rocksteady’s efforts by including interactive environments. You can happily bash someone’s head against a brick wall or choose to seek out a glowing bit of scenery to execute some proper fancy moves. Massive yes! The fact that guns aren’t introduced for a little while did not bother me at all since I was having so much fun with my bare fists. Finding the hidden jade statues is recommended as this allows you to learn some more bad ass moves that can be added to your fisticuffs repertoire. You can also choose to pick up any weapons, such as blades and cleavers, that happen to be laying around (or dropped by your opponents), if you want to get really brutal. One fight that takes place in a karaoke bar/nightclub is a particular highlight, especially if you make use of the destructible environment to wreck shop. The gunplay in the game is competent with cover mechanics and the obligatory bullet time. Despite this, I still preferred to get down with the old left and right where possible.

As an open world game you’re free to hop in and out of whatever vehicles you choose but what’s the point in that when you can use the car jacking mechanic lifted from games like Wheelman and Just Cause to leap from your own moving vehicle onto another one. This proved to be great fun and was used often, particularly when trying to hijack the security vans that cropped up around the map. Speaking of maps, you could tell the devs did their homework by making use of the 20,000+ pictures they took of Hong Kong to inject their own version of the city with some character and praise should be given for their succes in capturing the feel of this bustling metropolis.

The game follows you as you try to infiltrate the Sun On Yee triads and walk the fine line between being a bad ass gangster and an undercover cop sent to infiltrate them. This is best demonstrated in the morality system that awards you cop points for obeying the law and triad points for busting some heads and keeping the local undertaker in gainful employment. You could also get face points for helping out local NPCs in their arbitrary missions and fetch quests. I wasn’t a big fan of losing cop points, for my bad driving, but I guess it makes sense from a gameplay perspective.

The plot ranks up there with some of the best in the genre and this is helped incredibly by the surprisingly good voice acting on show. Dialogue is a mix of English language and the native Cantonese, which I think adds to the overall authenticity of this game’s take on Hong Kong. You’re faced with the choice of cop missions and triad missions and, for the most part, are left to tackle them however you choose. As with any open worlder you have a variety of distractions you can choose to indulge in. There’s the aforementioned security vans and jade statues and plenty more besides. Some more fun than others. I did enjoy hacking into security cameras, after clearing an area of goons (yay, more fighting) but the bit after, where you identify a criminal and send the fuzz in to arrest him, is both boring and unnecessary.

And what sand box game worth its salt would miss out on an opportunity to dress your chap in lots of cool costumes? Not this one. Costumes bring with them their own benefits and stat boosts. Having access to a Rico Rodriguez (from Just Cause) costume, if you have a relevant save file on your console, was a pleasant surprise. No grappling hook and parachute but you do get better at car jacking.

With the new and improved version of Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition just around the corner it would be criminal if United Front Games and Square Enix didn’t include an obligatory overhaul of the often criticised graphics and all the DLC that came out after release. Hopefully, there’ll be more than just that. Either way, more of the same, along with hopping Chinese vampires and an Enter the Dragon rip off, should be enough to get my vote. Joigin peeps. Happy gaming.

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