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Eurogamer: Why Sleeping Dogs is the most interesting open-city game of recent years

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osnameless

osnameless

Member
Jan 13, 2018
1,928
lucebuce said:
You are right, the focus of the Yakuza series has always been density over space. It's possible to run from one end of the map to the other within a minute, something that is not even close to possible in Sleeping Dogs.

Yakuza focuses much more on the virtual tourist aspect of it, to the point where the city can legitimately be considered a character in it's own right despite being just a backdrop for all that happens.

Sleeping Dogs does a much more GTA-style approach of basing it off a real place and certainly giving it a lot of visual flair to simulate a "tourism feel" but it's purely at a surface level. Their cities are much bigger and obviously, vehicles being a big part of it means that it simply isn't possible to give a lot of detail to every nook and cranny of the city. The real personality that Hong Kong had came more from the characters in the story and how they treated the places they came from,how they interacted with people, etc.

I would've loved a sequel that re-used assets in order to give a little more depth instead of breadth to the city but alas.
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Yeah. I watched a lot of Yakuza. It is such an interesting and unique game, and I can say my impressions are somewhat similar to what you said, but you actually phrased it very well.

I am very much looking forward to playing Yakuza after it was finally released on PC.

Inuhanyou said:
why did SE shut them down :( they were never going to come to GTA's level, just like True Crime, but it was still very fun and enjoyable for what it was. And the combat obviously was better with their refined take on the Arkham system
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I would say it is a filtered-down iteration of the Arkham system. While it is fairly rare that you die in a melee encounter in both games, I don't remember struggling with any melee part in Sleeping Dogs. There is hardly any enemy variety in Sleeping Dogs, unlike Batman Arkham which forces you to go out of your way sometimes.

Still, I really enjoyed their emphasis on martial arts as a culture, particularly in the Zodiac Tournament. It is clear that they were faithful in their depiction of various styles of martial arts.
 
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vypek

vypek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,561
I absolutely loved this game. Played through it multiple times. It has some flaws but I enjoyed the game despite them. I wish United Front Games was allowed to make a proper sequel and improve upon the first game. Its definitely within my top favorite open world games. Actually it probably is number one.
 
MosquitoSmasher

MosquitoSmasher

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,992
I greatly enjoyed the game and especially for the story, characters and combat. I can't begin to describe how sad I am that SE is just sitting on this and doing nothing with it. I mean they do still own the franchise don't they?

Correct me if I'm wrong but SD sold pretty decently didn't it? But of course SE had way too high expectations. Why again did they greenlight that PC only SD game nobody really asked for? Believe it was F2P.
 
vypek

vypek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,561
MosquitoSmasher said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but SD sold pretty decently didn't it? But of course SE had way too high expectations. Why again did they greenlight that PC only SD game nobody really asked for? Believe it was F2P.
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I thought that was the case for all 3 of their big games that year. They had high expectations of them and all three fell short. Triad Wars was possibly them trying to get into the games as a service space. That was a really disappointing announcement.
 
MZZ

MZZ

Member
Nov 2, 2017
4,262
Yo I love sleeping dogs. I beat it multiple times before and after playing GTA V. I do think I enjoyed sleeping dogs more than gta v in the grand scheme of things.

I love how it blended GTA with Yakuza in hindsight. I like eastern crime dramas more than western ones so this is a plus for me. The story was par for the course but the characters really shine. A late game character story really fucking affected me. The characters really grow on you from being shitheads in the beginning.

The general look of the map, city streets, neon lit alleys, the wet markets brimming with people and merchants alike was really memorable.

I loved the combat system. Never needed the gunplay due to how awesome the hand to hand combat is and the developers know it.

The driving was serviceable. The action button is really cool. Being able to just open the door to hit people was cool.

The traversal was good. Its not amazing but made exploring and chasing down street thugs good enough.

Wei fucking Shen is a legend. Great character and acting. Really nails the cop/triad dynamic.

I can picture multiple scenes in my head right now of how much I enjoyed this game. This game is up there as one of the best for me.
 
Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,764
One of my favorite games last gen. Setting was amazing. Combat was good if not great but characters, City, NPCs were right up my alley.

I'd give anything for this IP not to be dead. Someone plz buy the IP off Square
 
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osnameless

osnameless

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Jan 13, 2018
1,928
bonesawisready5 said:
One of my favorite games last gen. Setting was amazing. Combat was good if not great but characters, City, NPCs were right up my alley.

I'd give anything for this IP not to be dead. Someone plz buy the IP off Square
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Hey, who knows?. THQ Nordic is a thing now. Maybe they have some plans for it. Sleeping Dogs feels like something they would be interested in - a very good, but not great, obsolete IP
 
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osnameless

osnameless

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Jan 13, 2018
1,928
admiraltaftbar said:
Damn that looks rough now. I've been a long time fan of the game but there's definitely some aspects that don't hold up as well as even GTA IV.
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You're not wrong, but to be fair, I think this is the vanilla version on PS3/X360.

The definitive version looks significantly more polished, and the game looks at its best on PC.
 
SageShinigami

SageShinigami

Member
Oct 27, 2017
30,474
Brandon said:
This game is super overrated it's funny how people pretend it's still underrated.

GTA V is infinitely better but I guess that game is too popular for some to enjoy.
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This response is foolishness. I don't care that you like it better, but the reasoning here just sounds like you're hurt some people prefer Sleeping Dogs to GTA V.
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
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I liked Sleeping Dogs but atmosphere aside, it's kind of forgettable. The combat was too easy to be very entertaining. I enjoyed the Hong Kong setting but I was disappointed they made the main character American. The game was made in Vancouver. Having a Chinese Canadian character would have suited it perfectly.
 
Dreamboum

Dreamboum

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,865
This game has been painfully generic for me and I couldn't see the charm of its open world. There isn't anything it does that I find special outside of being a shaky mix of influences that all concentrates into being another GTA clone in the second half. You don't even get to fight at this point, just boring gunplay
 
Ge0force

Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
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Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
The game was a bit too easy and too repetitive for me, but yeah, I really enjoyed the setting and open world. I'd love to play a (improved) sequel!
 
BernardoOne

BernardoOne

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,289
I love the game, great combat and great story, but the "open world" is a bit disappointing. It's very small, very closed.
 
Pariah

Pariah

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,945
I respect his opinion, but it boils down to HK being an unusual setting and story/plot elements, the latter having little to do with the main point. Besides, it's obvious (as described later on his profile) he's a PC gamer first and foremost and that's conditioning some of his views. SD's remaster was criticized on consoles as disappointing, while he seems to have discovered Yakuza and its wackiness just now.
 
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Zeta Ori

Zeta Ori

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,102
NY
Everytime I hear about Sleeping Dogs I just get sad we will probably never see a true follow up.

Say what you will about the games flaws, it was a diamond in the rough in my eyes. I have no doubts a full sequel would have been an amazing game that solved many of issues listed in this thread and in the article, simply because the foundation on which it would have been built was rock solid and you could tell United Front was passionate about the project and where it could go.

And be sure to pour one out for my boy Jackie Ma, saw it coming and it still hit hard.
 
Shark

Shark

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,126
Raleigh, NC
Brandon said:
This game is super overrated it's funny how people pretend it's still underrated.

GTA V is infinitely better but I guess that game is too popular for some to enjoy.
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I'd hope GTA V would best it. It probably had several times the budget and came out over a year later.

I think some forget how 'early' Sleeping Dogs came out. It was on the market before Far Cry 3. Saints Row: The Third had come out, but as far as 'serious' open world games go, Sleeping Dogs was the best after GTA IV. Great attention to detail, all the iconography and menus were cohesive, likable protagonist, doesn't overstay its welcome, best open world driving, fun hand to hand combat and one of the best soundtracks of the gen. Just an all around competent game that I never felt frustrated with.



I'm happy we keep getting articles like this that keep the game in people's mind for the slim chance we eventually get a sequel or the IP gets sold.
 

Harlequin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,614
I've never been into GTA-type games. For the most part, I just find them utterly uninteresting and unenjoyable but, for some reason, I thoroughly enjoyed Sleeping Dogs. Still not entirely sure why. My best guess is that it's the story and the setting but there may be more to it than just that.
 
Sagitario

Sagitario

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Oct 26, 2017
966
How is the PS4 port? I was thinking about buying it but I remembered hearing it wasn't so good [the port, not the game].
 
charlieman999

charlieman999

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Oct 29, 2017
760
Spain
I completed the 360 version and really liked it,, now that i have a good pc i got the definitive version on steam and im planning to replay it, are the dlc worth playing? Are they standalone or the main game must be completed before playing them? Never played them on my 360
 
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osnameless

osnameless

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Jan 13, 2018
1,928
charlieman999 said:
I completed the 360 version and really liked it,, now that i have a good pc i got the definitive version on steam and im planning to replay it, are the dlc worth playing? Are they standalone or the main game must be completed before playing them? Never played them on my 360
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No. The DLC's have no direct connections to the game's main plotline. I mean they spoil some minor stuff. One of them takes place directly after the main story but it doesn't exactly refer much to the original game.

The game has three pieces of DLC's:

1-Year of the Snake (takes place after the main story, and you take down some sort of doomsday cult. Ii plays mostly like the main game).

2- Nightmare at North Point (has a Halloween/supernatural theme if you are into that)

3- The Zodiac Tournament (accessible during the main game. It plays out as a martial arts movie)

I would say they are decent enough, but not very memorable. The Zodiac Tournament is the best one, the whole Bruce Lee movie-esque thing is pretty fun to play out.
 
antitrop

antitrop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,600
I appreciate any open world game that doesn't just try to fit as many square miles as the developers can cram in there and expect me to be impressed by all the open space I will never even think about travelling through. Sleeping Dog's tiny, but memorable map reminded me a lot of GTA III. There aren't many open world games I can get around in without obsessing over the mini-map, but Sleeping Dogs was one of them.
 
LiquidDom

LiquidDom

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
2,317
It's an incredible game, I've played it through about 4 times and I'm not one to do that. I just love everything about it. Definitely in my top 5 of last gen, and I'd have to lay out a list but it might even be number one.

I also want to shout out another game set in Hong Kong, John Woo Present's Stranglehold. Not the best game but damn jumping and diving was fun.
 
sschol

sschol

Member
Oct 27, 2017
455
Yes! Sleeping Dogs is the game that made me realize that I don't really like GTA all that much. It's a shame that we aren't getting a sequel, because it's also a game that would absolutely knock it out of the park on all fronts if it did.
 
Ace

Ace

Member
Oct 25, 2017
207
Belgium
Absolutely love it, replayed it multiple times. Visiting Hong Kong every year because of my GF's family probably has something to do with my love for the game.

I wish we could get a proper sequel :(
 
DionardoLicaprio

DionardoLicaprio

Member
Nov 14, 2017
1,587
dancingphlower said:
Sleeping Dogs is better than any GTA, easy. It helps that it's actually fun to play.
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I like GTA, but I have to agree with this.

The amount of fun is completely different, even though GTA worlds are more detailed.
I played GTA V for the world, characters and the story.
I played Sleeping Dogs for everything, even though the gunplay wasn't great, the focus was on melee and it was phenomenal, and also addicting gameplay.
 
Falchion

Falchion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
40,963
Boise
I absolutely adored the world in Sleeping Dogs. I've got in on 3 systems and will be replaying it again soon since it's one of my favorite games of last gen.
 
Donkeykwon

Donkeykwon

Member
Oct 30, 2017
113
Shame this didn't get the sequel it deserved. So many fantastic fundamentals (combat, story, setting) that could have used sequalization polish that could have turned this into another Assassin's Creed 2.
 
Firima

Firima

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,475
This game had in spades what GTAV lacked--heart.

And the work they did in curating the radio stations on a less-than-Rockstar budget was unreal. Warp? Ninja Tune? Fucking DAPTONE (RIP Sharon & Charles)?

The real difference though, is in the tone. GTAV nailed a lot of what I don't like about LA, while Sleeping Dogs presented an almost idealized version of action movie Hong Kong, and I greatly prefer United Front's cool take on a dense cityscape to Rockstar's cynical look at a world of decay, self-absorption, and suffocating urban sprawl.
 
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