Game #1305: Sleeping Dogs - Definitive Edition

 It is considered a sleeper hit!

 Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition has been on my radar even before it became sort of a cult classic, because it reminded me of True Crime: Streets of LA, and there's a reason for it, as it's sort of an spiritual sequel to that game. The game never sold very well, which is surprising since to this year people still keep pumping out videos singing its praises.

 Well, even though I never played the original, since this was originally a PS3 game... you'd expect it to run smoothly. It doesn't, the framerate can dip surprisingly hard, and throughout my entire run I had mini-freezes every now and then. I thought my copy was busted, so I purchased it again. Turns out, it's because I didn't update the game, and it was trying to connect to compare times and what not. Very annoying anyways. This version also includes every DLC that released, which is mostly made up of costumes, as well as three campaigns. One totally eluded me because it's integrated into the main game, a combat tournament, but Year of the Snake and Nightmare in North Point are accessed via the main menu. They are quite brief and sorta dull, one has you fighting Chinese zombies, and the other one is sort of an epilogue in which you tackle a cult.

 The game is your standard open-world crime themed sand-box action shooter. The twist is that you play as an undercover cop, Wei Shen, and it takes place in Hong Kong. The plot is predictable and cliched, but I'd lie if I wasn't entertained. Even though every plot twist is predictable, it was still executed well enough.

 The city has plenty of the standard stuff you'd expect to find: Optional missions, Racing missions, collectibles(Such as money chests, Shrines that extend your health bar or Jade Statues that grant you new moves), Combat arenas, as well as mini-games, such as Karaoke or hacking cameras. It's pretty by the numbers. You also get different levels, such as Cop level, Triad level and Face level, each has different requirements and gives Wei different perks and bonuses. Triad is increased by defeating enemies efficiently during story missions, Cop level by doing Cop Missions or being cautious when fulfilling story missions, and Face is increased by fulfilling simple side missions or triggering optional events throughout the city. It's a neat system, although I found most perks to be rather mundane.

 The driving is alright, I found people criticizing it, but driving cars works well enough. The camera could be smoother when it comes to turning it, and it should've offered different angles, but it's not half bad. That said, bikes and boats are a hassle to control, so whenever it was possible I avoided driving either. There's a drift button, but it doesn't work very well, and breaking before taking curves gets the job done, so no worries.

 Combat is why most people enjoyed the game so much, but I found it rather mediocre. It takes after Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham series, press square to attack, and when enemies shine red press triangle to counter their attacks. Honestly, most enemies either counter your grabs or block most of your attacks, so I found myself playing defensively, waiting for attacks to counter... and it felt boring, since taking the initiative and being aggressive meant spending even MORE time waiting for them to attack so that I could counter them. Wei gets very few combos, there was no reason not to go for the longer attack chain every single time I could.

 The shooting is alright, you don't get to keep firearms, as even the ones you hold will eventually, somehow, make their way out of Wei's hands. Whenever a shootout comes up, there will be weapons nearby for you to pick up. It's cover based, and you can trigger slo-mo when vaulting over cover... and there's no reason not to go back and forth over cover, and why wouldn't you, it's not as if this slo-mo is limited by any gauge and it makes landing headshots so much easier.

 Lastly, the game has a ton of rather annoying minigames. The hacking one is actually rather fun, which is probably why it's the only one they reused in the Year of the Snake DLC expansion. The one when opening safes is cute, since you must roll the dial right and left until you hit the right number, but when 40% of the chests have it... it grows boring. The one in which you must track a signal was a chore, and calibrating bugs was such a waste of time too. Was this a DS game? Why so useless many mini-games, what gives?

 Sleeping Dogs its not bad, it really isn't, but... it felt average, y'know? The setting is original, the plot was entertaining, but the rest of the game was just alright. There's nothing horrible about it, but I don't think it excelled anywhere

 7.0