I've already played through this twice and hit almost 100% completion, and I still find myself coming back to this amazing game.

Sleeping Dogs is a fun and action packed game with a brilliant story, and a great setting, although at some points it's mechanics let it down.

Story:
In Sleeping Dogs, you will control Wei Shen, an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating one of the Hong Kong triads and bringing it down from the inside. Wei himself is mostly a pretty forgettable character, and is not really shown to have many major flaws. He is tough and intelligent, and is essentially a perfect human, to a borderline unrealistic point. The story does not so much shine in all its characters as much as it does with its excellent moral conflict as Wei begins to be torn between whether or not he wishes to destroy the gang he works himself into, and in my opinion the story is one of the best aspects of Sleeping Dogs, and is a main reason I continue to return to the game.

Setting:
While the map may be a tad small compared to many open world games, the way the streets are constructed, the sound effects, and the whole atmosphere really creates a rich setting which at least to me, never gets boring. Hong Kong is essentially a necessary part of the game due to its focus on the triads, and even though it's quite small, what they do have is done just right. While I haven't personally been to HK, a friend of mine has said that it does in fact look like the real city.

Graphics:
Sleeping Dogs is a beautiful game, especially considering how it isn't exactly too new. Some of the textures aren't too great, and often the characters seem to shine like they'd been polished, but leaving the games apartment and walking out onto a street at dusk just after some rain still never ceases to amaze me.

Music:
The original soundtrack in Sleeping Dogs, for me, isn't really anything special. It certainly isn't bad, it just isn't really unique enough to stand out. The radio songs on the other hand, really hit the mark, particularly in my opinion on stations such as Softly or Warp Radio. I never get sick of just driving around the city listening to the music.

Gameplay:
While Sleeping Dogs on the surface may look a bit similar to GTA, it is in fact quite different, something which is both a positive and a negative. On the plus side, Sleeping Dogs' hand to hand combat is very well done. While it is spammy if you want it to be, the range of options you have at your disposal means that the combat doesn't get boring no matter how many fights you are in. A downside to this combat is the presence of firearms. Guns are not introduced until about 30% through the campaign, and even once introduced you would be hard pressed to obtain one outside of a campaign mission. There is not traditional weapon select as there is in many open world games, instead you are able to carry one small firearm stored in your pocket, but that firearm does not persist between missions meaning that if you had a pistol in your pocket and then do a mission, likely that pistol will have despawned again once you re-enter the open world. The general lack of guns in Sleeping Dogs is not necessarily a bad thing however, because the guns you can use are in all honestly not always that fun. They do not really feel as satisfying as guns in, say, GTA do, particularly due to the lack of variation. While slow motion cover vaulting or quick disarms are fun, the gunplay itself is often quite lacklustre in my opinion, meaning don't come to Sleeping Dogs looking for a great shooter.

Perhaps my least favourite mechanic out of the whole game is it's driving. Cars in Sleeping Dogs handle terribly. Steering is not smooth, handbrakes are a joke, and the reversing camera is just plain bad. The redeeming feature of vehicles is the ability to jump from one to another. Despite how unrealistic doing this is, it is still satisfying to jump from one car to another in slow motion.


Overall, Sleeping Dogs is perhaps one of my favourite games of all time. It has an excellently told story taking place in a rich and atmospheric world with great visuals. The melee combat is deep and satisfying, even though guns and driving fall off a little, making Sleeping Dogs essentially a must for any fans of a good tale.

I've already played through this twice and hit almost 100% completion, and I still find myself coming back to this amazing game. Sleeping Dogs is a fun and action packed game with a brilliant story, and a great setting, although at some points it's mechanics let it down. Story: In Sleeping Dogs, you will control Wei Shen, an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating one of the Hong Kong triads and bringing it down from the inside. Wei himself is mostly a pretty forgettable character, and is not really shown to have many major flaws. He is tough and intelligent, and is essentially a perfect human, to a borderline unrealistic point. The story does not so much shine in all its characters as much as it does with its excellent moral conflict as Wei begins to be torn between whether or not he wishes to destroy the gang he works himself into, and in my opinion the story is one of the best aspects of Sleeping Dogs, and is a main reason I continue to return to the game. Setting: While the map may be a tad small compared to many open world games, the way the streets are constructed, the sound effects, and the whole atmosphere really creates a rich setting which at least to me, never gets boring. Hong Kong is essentially a necessary part of the game due to its focus on the triads, and even though it's quite small, what they do have is done just right. While I haven't personally been to HK, a friend of mine has said that it does in fact look like the real city. Graphics: Sleeping Dogs is a beautiful game, especially considering how it isn't exactly too new. Some of the textures aren't too great, and often the characters seem to shine like they'd been polished, but leaving the games apartment and walking out onto a street at dusk just after some rain still never ceases to amaze me. Music: The original soundtrack in Sleeping Dogs, for me, isn't really anything special. It certainly isn't bad, it just isn't really unique enough to stand out. The radio songs on the other hand, really hit the mark, particularly in my opinion on stations such as Softly or Warp Radio. I never get sick of just driving around the city listening to the music. Gameplay: While Sleeping Dogs on the surface may look a bit similar to GTA, it is in fact quite different, something which is both a positive and a negative. On the plus side, Sleeping Dogs' hand to hand combat is very well done. While it is spammy if you want it to be, the range of options you have at your disposal means that the combat doesn't get boring no matter how many fights you are in. A downside to this combat is the presence of firearms. Guns are not introduced until about 30% through the campaign, and even once introduced you would be hard pressed to obtain one outside of a campaign mission. There is not traditional weapon select as there is in many open world games, instead you are able to carry one small firearm stored in your pocket, but that firearm does not persist between missions meaning that if you had a pistol in your pocket and then do a mission, likely that pistol will have despawned again once you re-enter the open world. The general lack of guns in Sleeping Dogs is not necessarily a bad thing however, because the guns you can use are in all honestly not always that fun. They do not really feel as satisfying as guns in, say, GTA do, particularly due to the lack of variation. While slow motion cover vaulting or quick disarms are fun, the gunplay itself is often quite lacklustre in my opinion, meaning don't come to Sleeping Dogs looking for a great shooter. Perhaps my least favourite mechanic out of the whole game is it's driving. Cars in Sleeping Dogs handle terribly. Steering is not smooth, handbrakes are a joke, and the reversing camera is just plain bad. The redeeming feature of vehicles is the ability to jump from one to another. Despite how unrealistic doing this is, it is still satisfying to jump from one car to another in slow motion. Overall, Sleeping Dogs is perhaps one of my favourite games of all time. It has an excellently told story taking place in a rich and atmospheric world with great visuals. The melee combat is deep and satisfying, even though guns and driving fall off a little, making Sleeping Dogs essentially a must for any fans of a good tale.