It isn’t often that I find myself truly loving a game to the point where I look forward to doing everything there is possibly to do in it.  But ever since I got a sneak peak of Sleeping Dogs at PAX East 2012, I knew that I had found such a game. United Front Games has put together an immaculate mix of melee combat, shooting, racing, and most important of all, a top-notch story that brings out both the beauty and grit of Hong Kong’s dangerous gangs.

Simply put Sleeping Dogs is a sand box game that has you take on the role of Wei Shen, an undercover police officer, as he infiltrates Hong Kong’s triads.  Though he was originally from the streets of Hong Kong, Wei travelled to the USA at an early age to become one of toughest cops with gang related experience.  Now back in Hong Kong he uses his childhood friends to join up with the Sun On Yee with the goal of taking them down, no matter what it takes.  The story quickly sucks you in, and had me reminiscing of Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed”.

The line between being both a gangster and a cop quickly becomes blurred as the game has you do things that I can’t imagine any cop would ever do. I found myself constantly wondering how things would play out and which way Officer Shen would go.  You can see Wei’s psyche unraveling as the story progresses as he constantly wonders if he is too deep in the criminal organization, is becoming one of them (a gangster) instead of a cop, and the lengths that he goes to in order to not have his cover blown.

Given that you take on the dichotomy of being both a police officer and a member of the Son On Yee triads, United Front Games made it so that you earns experience points for both groups throughout a given mission.  Stealing a car or damaging someone’s property will deduct your police experience points, where as scoring headshots, disarming foes, and breaking limbs of bad guys will earn you triad experience.  In theory you can earn perfect scores for both groups and do that perfect mission, but it isn’t easy.  Luckily you are given the ability to replay any of the story missions by using the ‘Social Hub’ on your cell phone in-game. There are numerous side quests available throughout the game to further boost your experience and unlock new skills.

Sleeping Dogs has RPG aspects to it as well, which resonated with me given my love for the genre.  Eating and drinking foods provide buffs such as decreased damage, health regeneration, increased damage, etc.  Likewise wearing different outfits can provide increased experience for both police and triad experience, provide increased melee damage, or even give discounts when purchasing cars.

The mini-games available throughout the game provide extra enjoyment as well given the context of the game.  Everything from planting bugs, tracing cell phones by triangulating the signal, hacking security cameras, cracking safes, and of course my favorite singing Karaoke, as there is nothing quite like hearing Wei hit the high notes in Aha’s “Take On Me” or watching him jam out with some air guitar.

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