Sleeping Dogs (2012 Video Game) User Reviews

True Crime: Hong Kong

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 9/10 · 6 March 2013]

In many ways GTA has been dethroned by this game. Sleeping Dogs is a lot of fun, and seriously addictive. It may lack the complete freedom of GTA IV (no flying vehicles available), which I guess is still considered the benchmark for open world video games even 5 years on, but Sleeping Dogs is far, far more refined with superior graphics and details, as well as featuring a much more likable protagonist.

As I began to play I felt that the game was very similar to the True Crime games. I later learned that it was actually planned as True Crime: Hong Kong, before Activision cancelled it and passed it over to Square Enix who continued to develop it as a new title. So this really is the 'spiritual second sequel' to True Crime that we never got, and I have been accidentally referring to it as such. As far as I am concerned it is.

The game stars Wei Shen as an undercover cop raised in California who returns to Hong Kong to infiltrate the mob. It's full of clichés but is highly entertaining and never once boring. There are a variety of missions including gunfights, fist fights, foot chases, car chases, boat chases, espionage, as well as multiple side missions and upgrades. Highly addictive stuff indeed. And bloody too, very, very bloody. Believe me, the game justifies the age restriction without ever seeming forced.

I do have some complaints, like not being able to hail taxis and missing them every time you dash for them. Also there never any cars to hijack when you need them, meaning you'll have to run up the street hoping to block the way of a passing vehicle. The radio stations are not as humorous as GTA, but there are some nice tunes on there.

The game is liberal with trophies, and features loads of DLC on the PlayStation Network, including two new missions sets. I'm not done with this game yet!

Graphics A Sound A Gameplay A+ Lasting Appeal A+

Grand Theft Asia!

[tasuki007 · 9/10 · 21 August 2012]

I was really skeptical about this game because it looked just like another GTA clone. You can definitely feel that formula, but it's improved. I read reviews about this game through other websites and got a general idea of what I was getting into.

The story is top notch as well as the voice acting. Controls are really responsive. I think the focus on the fighting engine is the best part. I try to find reasons to fight people in the game. I'm not a big racing fan, but the vehicle controls are smooth and realistic feeling. The authenticity is what I love. I enjoy the Chinese culture and have many Chinese friends so playing the game felt familiar.

The main issue I have with the game is the camera control. While driving, fighting, or just generally traversing the the game there are times when the camera gets all wonky. Other than that I can't think of any reason not to at least play the game. Good job Square-Enix for picking up this game instead of letting it die.

A truly fun game

[851222 · 9/10 · 6 July 2017]

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Sleeping Dogs" (2012) is a game that can not be not mentioned in one sentence with GTA. Is it was good as GTA5 lets say? No. Given the reportedly 250 million $ budget of GTA5, "Sleeping Dogs" simply couldn't be better. That said if you do not compare it with GTA series, "Sleeping Dogs" is a pure fun game.

I liked many things in it - story, fighting, driving, voice acting, city. City itself is a big enough but not to big - i liked it because you don't need to drive like 10 minutes from point A to point B. Fighting is a fun thing, i liked the whole kung fu" and that stuff. Shooting mechanics were also solid, but i didn't get it what was wrong with weapons - one moment you have a gun, next time after you get in a car load a game - you don't. But what "Sleeping Dogs" in my opinion did much, much better then GTA is driving mechanics. Driving is much more fun then it was even in GTA 5 - and i loved GTA 5 totally. Although there isn't big car variety, its enough get make for some fun driving. I liked the collectibles in game simply because they add to the game health, money. But there isn't really what to do with the money itself in this game unfortunately - you can buy clothes, cars and some decorations for your room o flat.

Overall, i finished "Sleeping Dogs" and had much more fun then i thought i would. This is a very fun game with some good if not the most original story, cool open world and some dragon kicks moments that never got old. Fun game in all directions.

Welcome to Hong Kong ! (An Excellent Video-Game)

[master-darkboy · 10/10 · 23 August 2012]

Open-World games are always popular among gamers . for instance GTA & Mafia series are 2 top Open-World series and I love both . True Crime was an open-world game that actually sold good then United Front Games decided to continue franchise and make True Crime : Hong Kong . Activision was supposed to publish it but for some reason Square Enix, publisher of Final Fantasy series announced that it has taken the charge of publishing this game and title also change to "Sleeping Dogs" . no one expected much from Sleeping Dogs but it did quite a feat . the game-play is perfect . Kung fu and martial arts are as exciting as Driving around the city . designing of the city is great . in the Sleeping Dogs Hong Kong is your playground . you can enter illegal races, gamble on cock fights or kick back some karaoke . Epic high-speed thrills like burning up streets or tearing up the sea in a vast array of exotic cars,super-bikes and speedboats is fabulous . Story is wonderful and Screen-play attracts players . I suggest you play this masterpiece and join the Sleeping Dogs.

Sequel please! <3

[Akash1835 · 10/10 · 25 August 2019]

My favourite game ever! A man who never eats pork bun is NEVER a whole man!

Fun fighting gameplay with a fantastic Hong Kong movie plot

[Lost_In_Translation_ · 9/10 · 11 March 2020]

When I first tried to play Sleeping Dogs, I did not like it. The combat was frustrating and I never felt like I was doing it right. I took some time away from it and started it up last week and I loved it!

This isn't your typical open world city game. It focuses on fighting combat more than guns. There are a decent amount of missions with guns, but since it is Hong Kong, they're hard to come by in the open world. The main focus of the action is fighting like you're in a Hong Kong action movie.

The combat is essentially a version of Arkham Asylum. There are counters that can be done when an enemy lights up and is about to hit. But it goes deeper as you can almost do fighting game combos to fight enemies. The flow of the combat isn't as graceful as Batman as you're not really able to connect counter after counter together. This one is more strategic as some enemies you can only counter before damaging, or ones you can only grapple or land heavy attacks.

The shooting combat is probably the weakest. It doesn't feel 100% as smooth as it should, but it suffices for the missions you need it. Normally it's just cover shooting and lock on to enemies until they're dead.

The main draw for me is the story it tells. You are an undercover cop with the Sun On Yee triad gang. You have to balance being a cop and a gangster. The side missions for the cop side are alright, they get super repetitive, but they're still fun. The side missions for the gang are more fun and varied.

It's cast of characters are fantastic and Wei is much more enjoyable to be than the generic GTA characters.

My only gripes with it are that the gunplay seems undercooked, but the focus is the hand-to-hand combat which is what makes up for it. The combat takes a moment to get used to, but it's essentially a brawler done right in an open world which really hasn't been done as all the GTA fist fights were terrible.

This is easily one of the top non-GTA open world games. Its fun to play and has a fantastic story to progress through.

Sleeping dogs

[evan-26068 · 10/10 · 29 September 2019]

This is my favourite game ever, the atmosphere if the game is great and the characters too ! This game is far too underrated to my eyes !

4 Stars out of 5 Stars

[ajneeago96 · 8/10 · 3 August 2021]

(Excludes the dlcs Nightmare in North Point, Zodiac Tournament, and Year of the Snake, as I already reviewed each dlc on their separate IMDb page)

Being a huge fan of True Crime: Streets of LA, this video game was much anticipated to be one of my favorite games. Sadly, that's not what happened. The game is great; the combat is fun, and the story is intense, but some of these mechanics (for example, driving and camera panning) were too clunky for me, and the game itself felt completely different from True Crime. Whatever, it was still fun and visually beautiful, although I would say it's a bit forgettable. What I didn't forget was that pork bun vendor. "Why you don't have pork bun in your hand?"

Edit: I ended up coming back to play this video game once again for an array of reasons; for one, there's a few dlcs I've never got around to completing, second, it was 2014 since the last time I've played the main story and forgot almost everything, so I decided to start from the beginning, and third, I needed a break from Dragons Dogma, and this game seemed like a great game to play in between. Revisiting this game has been a great experience for the most part. This story of Wei taking on the Hong Kong triads by becoming a triad was a dynamic campaign, doing missions for the Sun On Lee, and also doing missions for detectives. While the story is fun, the landscape of vibrant Hong Kong is where this game grabs me. Some truly mesmerizing scenes, with plenty of fun, cool sites to explore. While I do think the driving was a little off, I was able to get used to it fairly quickly, and was able to navigate the highways and backroads with ease. The main campaign was lots of fun, although it seemed kinda short, and all the extra side missions and collectibles to find was filling, although repetitive.

There was a couple random dlcs I got that just added police missions, a random swat team mission, and a survival mission where you kick monks ass. All 3 were extremely forgettable, and probably could be avoided as they are just replayable missions that don't do or give you anything neat except either police or triad skill points .

In all, I'm really glad I decided to give this game another go, as I actually found myself more entertained than the first time I played it. The main game and all the dlcs took me a little over 40hours, but it really only felt like 15. Gonna bump my score from 3.5 Stars to 4 Stars.

An over the top Chinese Cop movie, as a game.

[eximiusdux · 9/10 · 21 April 2022]

This game feels and plays like an over the top Chinese cop movie, aided by well done voice acting. The general atmosphere of the open world really strengthens the feeling of being immersed in an older pseudo fictional representation of modern Hong Kong.

The story: it plays in a really tight and controlled manner which allows for a great feeling of fitting into it all. There is no need to feel lost or bored in a vast city. The player can go out and do a lot of missions, and many side quests. This game defeats a lot of other open world games simply by those means alone.

The acting: The voice acting is top notch, and as previously stated - The voice acting really is at a high level. The actors and actresses really hit the nail on the head.

It isn't perfect: It has a few irritating issues with its control system when playing with a keyboard. Buttons tend to shift meaning while playing, making it possible to miss a few important counters while playing. It goes against muscle memory. Though that's figuratively the only true issue with its design.

A few things suck, but it's a good game!

[BabyfaceAT · 7/10 · 10 August 2020]

Bought it years ago and I finally played the game. It took me a long time :D Now I wanted to take the time for it and was not disappointed :)

I like the game, but unfortunately the controls are a disaster and cost me some nerves. I could not always pan the camera the way I wanted to. The control with the car was also annoying sometimes.

I thought the story was cool and Wei is a cool character; the fights were fun, but the shooting sequences were not so good. The quests were actually varied and I liked that. There is actually a lot to do in the city; only the main story is quite short, but you can do a lot more. I like games that don't force the player to explore a lot - just the main story and you're done. And here you really get to decide how much of Hong Kong you want to explore. During the shooting sequences I died several times, because they are somehow not so good. The characters were all cool and the dubbing was great. I enjoyed the game, but...

-I fall through textures -An invisible car(!!!) -Jumps me -Some enemies I couldn't "escort" because they get stuck in the texture -The camera controls were sometimes annoying

But it was a good game

+Cool story&cool characters +Fights are fun +Many quests and tasks +Interesting turns in the story +Synchronization is great

China GTA

[justintimms · 10/10 · 3 July 2020]

Smooth graphics and beautiful style and beautiful texture and amazing story. I just wish you could jump because in this game i used the kick in the air as a jump button because there's no jump in this game. I hope this game have a sequel but sadly the game company got closed down, but who knows the game company might open back up or a new company will get it and probably redo it. I hope the world doesn't give up on this game because it's a beautiful game. The DLC's are 0K. Do you have love in game it looks like a 2020 game. This game was ahead of its time that and Batman Arkham city.

Wei Shen is in deep with the triads

[Sam_Fisher_Agent_47 · 7/10 · 4 May 2015]

Sleeping Dogs - not a bad multi-platformer for United Front Games - especially considering it was on the brink of being cancelled during development.

I found that this game gives you a lot of control of the main character, Wei Shen. Straight up, I have not played a Martial Arts- based sandbox game that has better hand-to-hand combat mechanics than Sleeping Dogs. The moves that Wei Shen can perform are depicted as realistic and very well framed for a nice, smooth-looking execution.

If you are after a shooting-based sandbox game with guns, and RPG- type weapons, you will be disappointed. There are a few missions in this game that do include these items, however they are rare and this is quoted from the beginning of the game. The base of this game is Martial Arts/hand-to-hand combat. There are many chances for Wei to arm himself with items such as knives, meat cleavers and metal bars that he can use as weapons for a limited time, and there are also environmental attacks which he can perform where he will use everyday infrastructure from the world around him to his advantage.

In terms of guns though, there are different types, from simple hand guns, machine guns (uzis), long-range automatic firearms, and even an RPG/automatic hybrid. Some of these guns also have flashlights on them which make some of the darker scenes in the game look more realistic.

The aiming and firing with these weapons is great, however the lock feature when firing needs to be worked on as users may find at times their firearms are automatically locking on anything other than the targets which can be frustrating - particularly when the missions involve driving or chases.

The Martial Arts club Wei constantly visits allows the player to learn new forms for unarmed combat upgrades in exchange for jade statues which are found throughout the city via missions. There are also other upgrades to be found when Wei completes general missions.

Like many sandbox games, Wei has the ability to buy different types of clothing - hats, glasses, bracelets, necklaces, watches, shirts, jackets, pants, shoes, even entire costumes. There are also food and beverage items that can be purchased which can increase Wei's attacking, healing and general health levels.

The driving mechanics of Sleeping Dogs, I found, are its biggest letdown. This is due to the driving being very frustrating, and unrealistic. Comparing the mechanics to games like Driver: San Francisco, or Grand Theft Auto 4 & 5, you will notice a big difference.

In terms of AI (Artificial Intelligence), the enemies are put together fairly well. Many of the main characters in Wei's triad will throw their weight around when Wei first joins, and you will notice a heavy presence of testosterone. Despite this, Wei keeps a cool head. There are many women Wei gets involved in, and sub- missions such as taking them on dates and singing songs for them at the karaoke bar can be quite hilarious. It will be noted by a few of these women throughout the game that they find out Wei is involved with other ladies and won't be too happy about it. You will also notice that most of the side characters on the street speak broken English. which, given the game is set in Hong Kong, is unrealistic, as you would expect most to speak their native fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. There are many cut scenes in which a mixture of Cantonese and English are spoken in which the translation is displayed in captions.

Police are also on hand to intervene in criminal acts such as killing pedestrians, and even ramming cars into theirs. Paramedics usually arrive if a person has been killed by Wei.

There are also other side missions that are broken up into three different categories:

(1) Defeat the local gang - this requires Wei to defeat a group of thugs, mainly in hand-to-hand combat, however in some cases weapons such as knives and guns are involved);

(2) Hack the surveillance camera - once the thugs have been defeated, Wei hacks the surveillance camera in the area to gain access to it, then;

(3) Identify the drug supplier - back in his apartment, Wei then uses the camera feed to identify the drug supplier within the gang and alerts the local Police to arrest him.

The layout and details of the city of Hong Kong are great. There are various market stalls, dodgy businesses, and even thieves and street gangs which make the game more realistic. There is a financial district, hospitals, Police stations, many marvelous buildings along the harbour, and Buddhist Temples which are very detailed.

The downfalls of this game as previously noted are the driving mechanics, as well as the lock feature when firing. Apart from that, the graphics, while greatly detailed, can at times depict the characters as looking like mannequins rather than people. Finally, there are a lot of characters in this game that come and go, and considering there aren't many playing hours involved, it can often appear as too many too often. A lot of the characters also disappear throughout from the game without further mention - particularly the love interests of Wei, which can be pretty disappointing as they can be characters which the players grow to like.

On a positive note, there are many famous actors who are the voices of many characters in this game, they include: Will Yun Lee (as Wei Shen), Kelly Hu, Byron Mann, James Hong, Yunjin Kim, Lucy Liu, James C. Mathis III, Celina Jade, Tom Wilkinson, Lindsay Price and Emma Stone.

The Verdict: For a game that was going to be cancelled, I will not let Sleeping Dogs lie!

Final score for Sleeping Dogs: 7/10.

Issues drag the good idea down

[uuuuuu12 · 5/10 · 3 September 2012]

The game was presented very well, I knew about it soon enough to put it in my list of must have games. The first 3 hours of gameplay were good, cause I was sticking mainly to the storyline, but as I started to drive around and do other stuff, the limitations of the game got me very annoyed.

You character is supposed to be a fighting and parkour master, but there are some movement limitations, for example I could sometime walk or jump over obstacles that were higher than the ankles of my character, so I would have to walk around to get back on the road.

Taxis take you only to a limited amount of places so you most definitely will have to walk a bit yourself (except for the story missions).

Escaping the police wasn't fun, in fact you want to escape it, cause you can't really use your cool moves on them, they are just gonna pop out from nowhere so strikingly that the whole fun is sucked out...

The gun play feels too chaotic and the weapons doesn't feel quite powerful rather than plain and boring.

The car handling is too arcady, and the crashing is sooo 2000, forget about it! The story was fine and the main mission were OK, and the hacking option was enjoyable, but there are just so many rushed and not polished stuff - it gets you annoyed!

Pork Bun!!!

[leanne-laird · 10/10 · 5 January 2022]

An amazing, addictive game. It may be 10 years old now but the game is still so incredibly addictive and the graphics are still pretty impressive for a game as old as this. The first time I played I was quite stealthy in my approach, these days I go in all guns blazing and it's much more fun. I never get bored of playing it. I just wish that there was a sequel.

Also, don't forget that a man who never eats a pork bun is never a whole man!!!

One of my all-time favs

[Severinplates853 · 10/10 · 17 January 2022]

S tier, 10/10. Takes a while to get into but just perfect. The combat and finishing moves just work so well. The customisation is great. So much to do, such a unique and interesting city. The music is insanely perfect. I did think the story was a bit simple though, was good but a bit basic. Captures the Hong Kong movie feel perfectly however. The dlc was good but definitely not as worth while as the main story. Gave some great outfits though. The tear gas one, just so much fun. One of my favorite games of all time. Just so fun and a blast to play, timed missions were annoying sometimes but apart from that I enjoyed it so much.

Jackie Chan goes Punisher mode.

[ThunderKing6 · 10/10 · 30 September 2021]

Classic game.

With some elements, it's better than GTA such as disguises, fighting, story, action and characters.

I had so much fun playing this game when I first bought my ps4. Sleeping Dogs and Infamous is what saved me from the crap game called Last of Us.

I recommend this game.

Best open world martial arts game

[delanographicart · 10/10 · 12 October 2022]

This game is unbelievable. I did play the old True Crime games back in the day and loved those. I like the whole idea of being a undercover cop with not only having access to guns but also having hand to hand combat training. Fighting in this game is so much fun. I truly feel like I'm in a badass cop movie while playing this game. This game was developed so well. There's so much stuff you can do that wasn't in any other games. My favorite part is being able to jump on top of moving cars, ripping the driver out and continue driving. The cars are really nice. The city is absolutely beautiful and the missions are so exciting.

Sleeping Dogs, not what I expected (in a good and bad way)

[trent-l-kreslins-1 · 7/10 · 29 August 2012]

I was one of the few people who was excited about Sleeping Dogs prior to the attention it got at E3. From what I heard it had a great story and some good action.

As soon as it came out I dropped the 60 dollars, went home and unwrapped it faster than a greedy child unwrapping a Christmas present. I soon txtd my best friend and cried to him over the phone as the game literally blew my mind away, literally not figuratively, that's right...

To be honest Sleeping Dogs is a lot like oxycontin, about 15 minutes in you're high and it feels epic, however there is a come off. Before I go further lets talk about the pros and cons

Pros: Amazing story Great combat system Driving is silky smooth The side missions are fairly humorous The voice acting is top notch Wei Shen is a serious bad*** Nothing quite like taking over a hospital with the gun of a cop you just executed..

Sorry about that last one I couldn't resist to speak of my proudest moment.. Anyways

Cons: Game is too short Absolutely 0 replay value No real punishment for doing wrong Very difficult to earn cop points Absolutely no control over how the story goes. Game is inconsistent in the cool stuff you can do outside of missions (will explain) Hong Kong is tiny..

The standout of Sleeping Dogs is the incredibly epic story and the fighting/driving system. The combat system never really gets old and the driving system presents it's own amount of fun. Drive with a motorcycle straight into a small mini van, right before you hit it pull the analog stick back to do a wheelie and watch how far you soar, my record is 52. The gameplay is very entertaining and started this game at a 9.0/10.

However as I continued through the game and did everything in my power to become as Triad as possible (2 Cops points 9 1/5 Triad points)I had creeping feeling that my choices would not influence anything. The game gives you a feel of customization, just like if your father got a nice juicy burger and gave you a small piece. You get really happy and want more. However once I beat the game Wei Shen remained a cop, I was fairly saddened by this as I'd grown to like Jackie. I eventually went through and beat it as a Cop, doin all sorts of law stuff. And the game went the same way. This is my biggest problem with Sleeping Dogs. They offer you all sorts of stuff, like tricking out your place, painting whatever car you want, changing to wardrobe to whatever you want. Yet the one thing I wanted most was control over how my destiny went. This time I counted how many civilians I killed, and considering my numbers in Skyrim were 300+ (thats right I keep a log..) I came to only 70. Yet still I remained a cop. The other big problem is the game has 0 replay value and gives you a sense of "dat wasn't worth 60 bucks.." It's like ODST minus Firefight, and we all know firefight made ODST.

All in all I took it down from a 9.0 to a 7.5 and like Skyrim I felt frustrated about the lack of control I had over the story due to lack of lasting consequences. Skyrim is a bit different yes but when I realized there were no good-guy quests I turned into Satan...

Overall a 7.5 seems fitting, great gameplay and Wei Shen is very interesting but lack of replay value and control over the outcome really took away the appeal of it further into the game.

I would not recommend paying the 60 bucks, I do recommend picking it up but this isn't an instabuy type game.

I couldnt finish it

[AvionPrince16 · 6/10 · 29 November 2021]

I didnt like the story, the characters and the vulgar situations. Its same as GTA thats why i dont like it. Sex, drugs, violence. I didnt find the story interesting, its pretty linear and i didnt feel any interest in it. Pretty disappointed of the game even if i like the atmosphere and the open world in this context but the story didnt make me want to continue and its pretty repetitive in my opinion.

Eggroll-flavored GTA

[doesitactuallymatter · 7/10 · 17 September 2012]

Sleeping Dogs is a fresh take on the known and loved GTA-style sandbox action genre.

My first impression of the game was how polished it seemed. Everything from the interface to the general feel of the game and cinematics oozes a well-finished quality. Between the hustle and bustle of the city and the concept art, the game definitely captures a certain aesthetic that requires no effort getting used to. That being said, saying Sleeping Dogs borrows from GTA would be a huge understatement. Few additions aside, the game is basically a GTA clone to the tee.

Sleeping Dogs is set in Hong Kong, a welcome change of pace from the typical LA/NYC generic city template often seen in this kind of game. You play Wei Shen, an undercover cop out to clear the streets and on a personal vendetta. While this premise is not necessarily new, it sets the foundation for character development in a refreshing way: you get 'triad points' for doing badass things and you get 'cop points' for keeping up with your good deeds. You can spend these points in developing skills or passive abilities. The interesting bit is that these two paths aren't mutually exclusive, actually giving you more content and more depth to how the protagonist builds up.

Visually stunning, Sleeping Dogs has a fair dosage of eye-candy even if graphics aren't the main selling point in this title. On the flipside, being the console port that it is, the engine is not really optimized for a PC. If you have a fairly powerful rig, you won't have much trouble, but there's not a whole lot of room for tweaking on the low-end for all you outdated nerds reading this.

While some of the writing might seem a bit cheesy, the game definitely goes for the cinematic approach. Some big names are on voice duty and they deliver the goods. Speaking of sounds, being used to hating most of the radio tracks on the GTA series, I figured this Asian cousin would be similar, but, to my pleasure again, I was wrong. Musicalization is very good and it ties the whole thing together to really make it seem like you're watching a movie.

The gameplay basically revolves around driving and combat. Nothing new here. The combat, however, is almost exclusively melee-oriented. The general idea is that of Jackie Chan or Jet Li flicks: you're usually heavily outnumbered but a few flashy kicks later, you walk off victorious. More importantly: it works really well. It's fun, it's easy to pick up and there's quite a variety of moves, enemies and contextual combat actions to keep it fresh and exciting all throughout. The beauty of it comes from the simplistic control layout and input sequences. The driving? Not a huge fan. It's not terrible but it feels somewhat difficult to control depending on the vehicle or mission. On the other hand, you can ram other cars off the road and hijack them on-the-fly alla Just Cause, so that makes driving somewhat amusing. There are also firearms but they don't play a huge role. In the parts where you do get to shoot a gun, even though aiming and ducking behind cover feels familiar, shooting baddies can still be pretty awkward until you get used to it.

In typical sandbox-action style, you have the ridiculous collectibles that cool kids like me never bother with, you have your side-missions, your main missions, your races, your romantic interests and your extra quickies given by random pedestrians along the way. While the amount of content is hefty, some side-missions become redundant after a while. Keeping it tasty in playtime but fresh at the same time is a balance most developers can't seem to strike nowadays. In this case, the added incentive of earning skill points to invest in your combat abilities as a reward for completing secondary objectives works moderately well.

Here's the bad news.

First off, the game is meant to be played on a gamepad. Most console ports fall prey to this problem, but in this one, K+M is not even close. The controls are already sort of awkward as is. Parkouring around the city is not very fluid, lock-on targeting is iffy and the shooting sequences can feel unnatural at first. If you add the lack of a gamepad on top of that, you're in for a headache. It just doesn't work, especially the hand-to-hand bits. Most people won't consider this a big deal, but PC games shouldn't warrant anything else other than standard PC peripherals to enjoy a smooth experience.

The second gripe I've had with this game is the lack of originality. Don't get me wrong: sandbox action games are a tried and tested formula, so it really comes as no surprise that Sleeping Dogs is a fun game. But.. really? After all these years since GTA3 hit the market, after all the reskins, shameless clones ('sup Saints Row 2?) and all the retakes on it, after all the expansions, sequels and DLCs, this is the best a developer backed by SquareEnix can come up with? It's a bit painful and it makes you wonder where the industry is headed.

In closing, Sleeping Dogs is a high-quality oriental GTA. If you can get past all the similarities and forgive a few quirks in the control scheme, you end up with a pretty robust and lengthy sandbox action game. But is this the next big thing? Probably not.