Reviews// Sleeping Dogs

But! You'll do even better if, at your exact right moment, you actually think to use some of the moves you've acquired through training. Or, perhaps, if you can get yourself into position, grapple with someone and slam their head into an amplifier or some such thing.

When you're into it and it's working for you, it's a great combat system. It combines pleasing rhythmic flow with the strategy and accuracy required to land the right blow for maximum effect. Unfortunately, the need to time your strikes often tramples all over your ability to land the hits you want to land. Basically, if you're not counter-attacking you won't get a kick in edgeways when you're fighting multiple opponents. Trying to put together a combo can feel very futile if there are more than a couple of enemies on your case. The controls are also sometimes a little stodgy, which can make for some frustrating moments.

The vehicle gameplay is, as you might expect, a strong point. United Front's previous release, ModNation Racers, might not have had the greatest handling in the world, but it was solid and the studio showed an eye for racing design. Sleeping Dogs follows up on that well, with race sections and general vehicle handling that could stand up well to a lot of straight arcade racers out there.

United Front also gets points for the design and realisation of its Hong Kong. The city is vibrant, lively and – perhaps most importantly – lived in. In a game on this scale, it's easy for environments to feel barren, but that pitfall is avoided here.

That's helped, of course, by the volume of content on offer. The city map's positively littered with side missions ranging from drug busts to street races to simple fetch and carry exercises.

Yet, for all that content the main missions feel quite focused. You won't be forced to run arbitrary errands to progress and the narrative flows comfortably through it all. The writing's strong – as is the voice acting from a solid cast – and serves the game well.

All in all Sleeping Dogs is a very worthy addition to the city sandbox genre. The focus on hand-to-hand combat is an interesting and sometimes-successful move – it's just a shame that it can turn clunky. Overall, though, Sleeping Dogs has proved itself deserving of Square Enix's faith in it.

Pros:

+ Interesting use of hand-to-hand combat
+ Great vehicle handling and challenges
+ Rich design and story

Cons:

Co- ntrols can be stodgy and a little awkward

SPOnG Score: 8/10