Sleeping dogs is a niche game. One of the so called “GTA-Clones”. I think the label is somewhat deserved, but should not demean it. You play as undercover cop, although this isn’t represented well in game, who has infiltrated a Triad organization; this is well represented in what you do throughout the game. Most of what you do consists of car chases, brawling and some shooting. This is apposed to GTA wherein the gameplay will consist of shooting, and car chases. Point one for Sleeping Dogs.

The brawling mechanic does bring a good amount to the table. The combat system is similar to that of the Arkham series, which at this point, 10 years later, has been iterated on many times. This game’s version is brutal, and when combined with the environment you can find yourself having fun with the rhythm the fighting is pushing you to dance to. In modern day, I like to think of combat as Sifu-light. It manages to give the feel of being a martial artist who uses the momentum of the people around them, the environment, and whatever melee weapon you can find, to gain an advantage and dispatch your foes. If you decide to pick up this game, you’ll know early on if it’s for you. If you enjoy the brawling, then it will be worth pushing forward. If this doesn’t sound up your alley or if you decide to hop in and realize quickly that you don’t gel with the feel, I recommend a refund.

As for driving it also comes with its quirks. The handling isn’t always the best, drifting can feel awkward and high-speed chases can be as well. I did enjoy them at times when things managed to flow well. Once again, when compared to something more modern, this game does fall flat. Handling has been iterated on many times over again and many more modern driving games, GTA included, have managed to give an exhilarating and physics-based arcade driving experience. Again, driving is serviceable, but it’s hard not to see that more could have been done here.
To save time I would also apply most of what was said in regard to driving, towards gunplay. It also comes with its own quirks, such as slowing time or diving over objects. Similar to how driving comes with the ability to bash your car against others.

Onto the story. Honestly, it has been quite some time since I last played. It didn’t fully stick with me. From what I recall there is compelling enough crime drama. Wei Shen (your character) is climbing through the ranks, trying to gain more respect and reach closer to exposing the Triad. I believe due to his past many of those who operated within the Triad were once close to him. This operates as an inner conflict within Wei. However, I’m sure there is more to the story and characters, many others seemed to enjoy it. Admittedly, I do not typically gravitate towards crime dramas, they rarely stick with me or compel me to continue pushing forward, so take any dismissiveness of the story with a grain of salt.
Of course, this would not be a true open world game without side activities. There are a good amount, as I recall they weren’t over bloated, nor did they feel forced. Fighting, dating, racing, ♥♥♥♥-fighting, and side missions. There may be a few other things thrown in that I don't remember. Overall, serviceable.

Serviceable. Yep, I think that is mostly how I feel about this game. It doesn’t feel like how an Assassins Creed game might be “Serviceable” but rather, like a lower budget game that needed to cut out or was unable to flesh out their systems fully. The game was obviously made with intent, care, and artistry. It is simply held back by modern standards of gameplay. Gameplay that, in this case, was already slightly dated at the time of release.

Game review 5/500+

Super fun with swearing in Cantonese. Amazing!

The original sleeping dogs had started weapons in his apartment room, and the definition edition had no started weapons. I liked the started weapons to remember the protagonist is not broke, and the definition edition requires a lot of hard work not being able to earn those weapons at the start. However, you have to complete the content quests to unlock the DLC cloth set and car except for guns. So, I liked the original sleeping dogs more than the definition edition, but the original did not have the latest store to buy the dlc items.