Previews// Sleeping Dogs

Two years ago, I previewed True Crime: Hong Kong. I wasn’t that jazzed about it. A lot of fellow critics felt the same way apparently, and the project was subsequently canned by Activision, supposedly never to be seen again. But, like a crouching tiger, it seems that United Front Games was simply biding its time - now, it is working with Square Enix to tweak the Asian-based action adventure in time for a Q3 2012 release. And it has a new name: Sleeping Dogs.

The fundamentals of the game haven’t really changed much. Playing as undercover cop Wei Shen, your mission is to infiltrate the dangerous gangs of Hong Kong and learn important information about their activities, before reporting back to domestic and international intelligence forces.

He’s a bit of a loose cannon though - apparently, Shen has a history of bad behaviour, and blames the Triads for “what happened to his family.” Quite what that is, we don’t know yet, but I’d wager it’d have something to do with torturing and killing. So, your clichéd protagonist with a dark past, then.

Where True Crime fell down was that its combat mechanics, mission structure and general flow of the game seemed totally unconvincing. It didn’t feel exciting to watch someone else play, which meant that UFG failed to adequately portray the high-octane nature of stunning Asian action flicks. In Sleeping Dogs, this has been fixed somewhat.

Playing a small segment of the game feels like Grand Theft Auto in reverse (sort of - you're on the side of the law here, but you're still doing unlawful things, technically). Hong Kong is a bustling, active open world full of twisting back alleys, DVD shops, noodle bars and brothels. And a hell of a lot of neon in most districts.

Munching on food will give Wei Shen some bonus perks, such as damage reduction - always a good idea to stock up before running headfirst into a mission. Police, not knowing you’re an undercover cop, will respond to any law-breaking that you participate in as well.

Traipsing through the claustrophobic streets of Kowloon is a rather authentic experience. You can explore the game world at your leisure, or distract yourself on a number of different side quests in between tackling main campaign objectives. Whatever you do, though, prepare for some confrontation at every turn.

The combat system is very similar to Batman: Arkham City, but it works adequately here. Punches and kicks are transformed automatically into kung-fu style vaults of powerful flair, while timing the presses of a reversal button will allow Shen to knock away oncoming foes with ease. Stylish moves and other critical-damage manoeuvres will sound an almighty thud, and the presentation clicks like some kind of Korean beat’em up film.

The interesting part is in the environmental damage that comes into play - grab an enemy and find a glowing red object to perform some rather brilliant finishers. Smashing heads in vents, chucking bodies in bins, slamming grills on bodies, ramming dudes into electric boxes and lobbing victims into nearby seas... there’s a vast range of ass-kickery that Shen can deal.

Gunplay is a lot more awkward, and really takes some getting used to. While the standard left and right trigger are used to aim and fire respectively, the left bumper is used exclusively to take cover (instead of the standard A button) and the right bumper handles your reloads. After being weaned on games like Gears of War, this will take the average gamer a fair amount of time to adjust to. Aiming whilst vaulting over cover kicks in a slow-motion mode that allows you to take out baddies in bullet time.

It still seems like Sleeping Dogs is taking a meaty chunk of gameplay mechanics from a selection of other sources, but at least it’s now doing it in a way that’s visually engaging. Although it’s not quite optimised yet, it looks a hell of a load better than True Crime: Hong Kong ever did.

United Front Games gets kudos for really turning this project around. If its big Asian experiment pays off well, Sleeping Dogs could well be the sleeper hit of 2012.