What makes it stand out, however, is how alive and well-populated it is. Its four districts are distinct, and the map sprawls considerably, although it’s probably not quite as big as Liberty City or Steelport. Sleeping Dogs’ version of Hong Kong is purportedly influenced by and designed after the real city. The experience system’s dynamics will keep you on your toes, and because you can replay missions once they’re completed, you could always go back to try things a little differently if you’re unsatisfied with the outcome as it currently stands. Using the game’s array of exceptionally gory kills is a great way to build that Triad meter to its maximum level as quickly as humanly possible. But this is balanced by your brutality with Triad members. On most main story missions, for instance, you will be docked police points for ramming into street lights with your car, accidentally striking a civilian or letting stray bullets seep into a storefront. A unique, multi-faceted experience system like this makes Sleeping Dogs a more deliberate affair than its contemporaries. Doing all kinds of favors for the anonymous masses net you Face experience, so whether you’re assisting a merchant, chasing down some drunks or otherwise generally helping out the working class folk (and the occasional two-bit criminal) of Hong Kong, expect your Face meter to rise steadily.
Cop and Triad points often intermingle with one another as you complete the game’s primary missions, rewarding you for how careful you are with innocents and personal and private property (Cop) while simultaneously challenging you to brutalize your enemies with as much reckless abandon and gore as you can muster (Triad).įace, on the other hand, has everything to do with how the citizenry of Hong Kong feel about you, making it not only the most abstract of the experience meters, but perhaps the most interesting as well. The experience points are, in turn, used to unlock new, unique abilities. Sleeping Dogs’ blurred lines come to the fore as soon as you’re introduced to the game’s unique leveling system, which allots Shen experience points in three specific areas: Cop, Triad and Face. But as Shen gets sucked further and further into the Triad underworld he initially wants to unravel, his motives – and which side he’ll end up falling in line with – become increasingly blurred. Rather, Shen is a calculated and complicated figure, an undercover cop with plenty of experience in both the United States and Hong Kong who returns to his native land in order to help get the city’s thriving criminal enterprises under control.
Unlike recent titans of the genre - Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption and Saints Row: The Third - your character, Wei Shen, doesn’t have roguish, violent tendencies just because he’s a criminal looking to make a few bucks. See, Sleeping Dogs isn’t your typical Grand Theft Auto clone. It’s that story, coupled with rock-solid mechanics and a task-heavy world that sets Sleeping Dogs apart from its competition. But at the end of my nearly 20-hour experience, none of that mattered to me as much as the story did. Sure, Sleeping Dogs’ melee combat and gunplay provide plenty of thrills, the driving is extraordinarily fun in all of its arcadey glory, and there’s a whole lot to do in the version of Hong Kong Canadian developer United Front Games created. Playing Sleeping Dogs kept me on the edge of my seat, but not for the reasons you might expect.