Retawes Review: Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs - 14/20
With the announcement of 'Grand Theft Auto: 5/V', does Sleeping Dogs have the originality and play-ability that sets it apart from other open world games?


Story and Setting - 7/10

Sleeping Dogs' plot revolves around protagonist Wei Shen. Wei, an undercover cop with a vendetta against the Sun On Yee gang, must disguise himself as a new recruit of the infamous offenders and exploit it's weaknesses and objectives. Throughout the game, the player has the option of aiding the Sun On Yee or the Hong Kong Police Force. Within these choices, Wei meets a vast of characters from both the eastern trickery tribe and crime fighting club such as his childhood friend Jackie Ma and Wei's police consultant Inspector Jade Teng.

Although, it isn't all black and white in Hong Kong. Within Wei's adventure, there are several hidden secrets and dangerous paths being discovered and revealed as time goes on. For instance, there is a constant border dispute between Sun On Yee members Dogeyes and Winston as these two malicious crooks maintain their power over Hong Kong.

Speaking of the eastern market city, developers Square Enix have enlarged the stereotypical zone with arrays of local activity to create the illusion that the world is enticingly real. There are streets upon streets of citizens interacting with one another and Wei, offering tasks and errands to be completed for Police and Sun On Yee fame.

Though be warned as playing on the fence will result in both sides wanting your head!

Musically, the game is rather dis-interesting. There aren't any tracks that bring the 'outstanding piece' factor to the game. Sure, SD gives you the opportunity to switch radio stations while on the road similar to Grand Theft Auto yet the songs and stations feel vastly bland and have very little variety. Unfortunately, the music is so dull and bland to me, that the composer of the game, Jeff Tymoschuck has placed a very judge-mental view of his quality of music in my head.

Incidentally, the sound effects and voice acting in Sleeping Dogs is the exact opposite. When Wei punches an enemy or jumps over a wall, you hear exactly what you would hear in a film. Though, the famous actors who voiced some of the iconic characters stole the show overall. Stars such as Lucy Lui, Emma Stone and Total Recall's Will Yun Lee are just a minority of the excellent A ranked quality of voices in this eastern mafia tale.



Graphics and Gameplay - 7/10


Graphically speaking, Sleeping Dogs isn't as 'show and tell' worthy as one would expect. On console, the game suffers from rare frame rate issues and rendering dramas. Furthermore the graphics seem like something one would see in a 2010 title. Hell, even the first Assassin's Creed was more alluring.

However, when you play SD on PC, you forget about the console conundrums and realize that it isn't Square Enix's engine that causes rendering issues or aged graphics, but the console copies of Hong Kong have been graphically summarized. In the PC edition, their is perfect shadow effects, water reflections, proper models and sleek design that all assist in creating an immersible atmosphere derived from the eastern market society.

Gameplay wise, Sleeping Dogs doesn't do anything that differs from the open world road. Sure, there is a variety  of combat options from tackling enemies and breaking their legs (Brutal) to throwing them into running fans or a humongous bowl of boiling oil and the assorts of mini games (Chicken Fighting, Arena battles, Drug busts, Chase scenes, hacking devices, etc) are there yet the game just feels like GTA set in Hong Kong. The whole essence of SD just feels pushed and bombarded with the 'experience' that the story and triple A voice acting produces.

Overall - 14/20

In the end, Sleeping Dogs does very little to peek from the open world box. Whether you are looking from a graphical or gameplay wise perspective, the game is rather typical. Square Enix have heavily persuaded customers with their superior cast yet, the whole game feels as if it isn't complete and that it was edited from start to finish. Though, with such a rugged development cycle that this game has had, it doesn't surprised me. As you can guess, I am rather disappointed with this title. I didn't expect to play an 18-20/20 game, but I didn't expect to pick up a illogically bland and sheer cardboard copy of the Grand Theft Auto formula.

EDIT: My apologies for the lack of images in this review, but I was so guttered and frustrated with this bland title that I decided not to devote time to capturing pictures.