Video Game Review: Sleeping Dogs

There's the old saying "let sleeping dogs lie." In the context of this game, you play a cop in deep cover, working to infiltrate and take down the Sun On Yee Triad gang.  Naturally, you become the one to awaken sleeping dogs, and all hell breaks loose.

The game plays out a bit like a Grand Theft Auto game; you get free reign in an open-world city (in this case, Hong Kong, which looks beautifully vibrant, colorful, and detailed), where you can run, drive, and fight pretty much anywhere.  The main story gives you about thirty action-packed missions, where you can use martial arts and guns to wipe out your enemies.  There are also a bunch of side missions, street races, and random events you can engage in.  You could spend quite a bit of time hunting down collectables.  You could even just run around randomly, exploring and causing trouble.  The game is addicting, and you can spend hours on all that it has to offer.

The main story is pretty cool; the missions string together a solid narrative that chronicles the clashes, the downfall, and the brutal vengeance of rivaling gangs and the police.  In the shoes of the protagonist, Wei Shen, you're constantly on the edge.  One one hand, there's always the fear that your cover will be blown, so you have to always prove yourself to the gang.  On the other hand, the police worry that you're in too deep, and you've become "one of them." It's a fine line that pushes the character into all kinds of emotional strain, making his struggles compelling.  The other characters are pretty endearing, and it gives their actions and reactions some weight.  The game's last few missions have some pretty brutal twists, and it leads up to a really gnarly climax.  In the end, the game plays out like a Hong Kong crime film, and it is pretty awesome to be able to play that type of drama and excitement in a game.

The game runs smoothly and reliably.  I've seen some funny glitches here and there, but nothing that ever made the game unplayable.  Graphics are decent enough; texture and rendering aren't a big highlight, as they seem a bit rough around the edges.  The frame rate is smooth though, and the cut-scenes looks really nice.  Sound and voices are great; the game is well-written.  The city is laid out really well, and the level design is good.  Designs for all the settings, costumes, props, weapons, vehicles, and everything else is cool.  Music is pretty cool too.

Sleeping Dogs is a smooth and addicting experience with an emotionally-driven story and lots of hardcore urban violence.  It's perfect in the way it submerses the player into the streets of Hong Kong, and into the heart of the Triads, and it makes for one of the finest games available.

4.5/5 (Entertainment:  Perfect | Story:  Good | Game:  Very Good)