Sleeping Dogs

When it comes to open world games, for me there is probably nothing that will ever compare to Bethesda.  Their open worlds for Fallout and The Elder Scrolls are done the way I want open world games to be done, and that's really all there is to it.  However, I do enjoy dropping myself into a game that contains a "real-world" open world.  This is why I have played through GTA IV multiple times.  Or, at least ONE of the reasons why.  It is also a very good game, to say the least.  And since Bethesda hasn't yet made any "real-world" open worlds, GTA IV is the best I have ever seen.

Now, we have another game with another "real world", in the form of Sleeping Dogs.  Here we have a game with an open world rendered after Hong Kong, and the amount of detail the developers have put into it is nothing short of astounding.  For all the people that complained the Liberty City looked too bland and boring in GTA IV, they will not be able to make that complaint here.  Well, actually, of course they will.  What am I thinking?  Somewhere, someone will say the design is boring, because that aesthetic is subjective.  But you know what?  I don't give a fuck if it's subjective or not.  If someone thinks this game looks bland, they're a fucking idiot.  There.  I said it.

Let's move past the visuals now, though, shall we?  What we have here is a pretty standard GTA-type formula with some interesting changes.  It's pretty safe to say that if you do like Grand Theft Auto, especially GTA IV, you will most likely also enjoy this game.  It has many of the same features:  A very realistic open-world city, a gangster theme, lots of side quests, lots of driving, and a decent main storyline that will last you about twice as long as a standard 8-hour single-player game.  (From what I am told.)  The side quests will extend the game time by a significant amount, as is standard for these types of games.

The game differs in a few significant ways.  The first is that unlike GTA, Sleeping Dogs offers unlockable skills.  These come in three varieties:  You have your "Cop Skills" that are unlocked by completing undercover cop missions, "Triad Skills" that are unlocked by completing Triad missions, and melee skills that are unlocked by finding the statue collectibles that your Kung Fu master lost.  Each of these "skill trees" have two branches, so this leaves you with a lot of choice and variety.

The other significant different for GTA fans is that, at least in the first large chunk of the game, there is more of a focus on melee combat.  I've yet to use a gun, and I've been playing for about six hours so far.  Granted, I've been mainly doing sidequests because that's what I'm like, but that's still a significant amount of time to be without a firearm within a game that focuses on cops and gangsters.  And that segues into some actual discussion regarding the melee combat.

First of all, it's not Arkham City.  I will say right here that I feel the combat in Arkham City is superior in every way to this game.  Is part of this simply because in Arkham City you're the mother-fucking Batman?  Probably.  But it is also because AC's combat looks more fluid, feels smoother, and is less annoying.  But that's not to say that Sleeping Dogs' combat is bad and unfun.  It's quite good and it is quite fun, and I have a feeling my opinion of it will become shinier once I find some more statues and unlock some more abilities.

Overall, what we have here is a very solid game, but nothing terribly significant.  I'm enjoying it, and I can tell that I will sink a lot of hours into it.  I have a feeling, though, that it is not going to have the staying power of Skyrim, Fallout, or even GTA IV.  This is one of the reasons why I'm doing all the side quests I can first -- I have a feeling that after I complete the main storyline once, I'm going to have no reason to continue playing.  That is a bit of a shame, but if I get 20-25 hours out of this game, I would say that it was quite worth the effort indeed.