Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition PS4 Review
THE GOOD
+ Very engrossing story. Wei Shen is an undercover cop who infiltrates the triad. He eventually becomes a high-ranking triad member and the conflict between his loyalty to the Police Forces and the triads is very interesting. The characters are very memorable like Wei himself, the main antagonist Big Smile Lee, the triad chairman Uncle Po, Wei's childhood friend Jackie and the overly arrogant rival gang member "Dogeyes". And let's not forget Mrs. Chu who is one tough mama. The story gets quite emotional at times and contains many twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. The story is the main thing that drives the game.
+ Excellent combat system and thrilling gun combat. Sleeping Dogs is miles ahead of GTA when it comes to fist-fighting. It's quite simple, but still varied with a lot of different moves like jump kicks, leg breakers, knee lifts, tackles and brutal environmental attacks. Just pure bad-ass Kung Fu! The gun combat is not as great, but it's still fun. Vaulting shoot attacks are simply thrilling. Most of the combat however is fist-fighting, because "guns are more rare in Hong Kong" and you know what, I'm completely fine with that.
+ Unique setting. The game is set in Hong Kong which is a very refreshing change of pace. I'm very interested in Asian cultures, and that's probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this game so much. You'll find busy night markets with second-hand shops and Asian food like squids, noodles and rice balls, and I'll also mention the popular lemonade "Dragon Kick" which refills your health meter.
+ Great sound. Brilliant voice acting featuring some high-profile names like Lucy Liu and Emma Stone, and some nice radio stations. I took a real liking to the radio channel Softly and its sophisticated tunes.
+ A good amount of content. A quite long main story, a lot of random favor missions for ordinary people or gang members, street races, cop jobs, drug busts, police cases and a nice heap of collectibles. I spent easily over 30 hours on Sleeping Dogs.
+ Nice graphics. The facelift makes Sleeping Dogs a very pretty game. Especially during rain and in the night, Hong Kong looks beautiful.
THE BAD
- Car controls at first and the camera. All cars seem to have lousy brakes (you'll learn to brake early) and the camera can be a bit frustrating at times.
- Minor performance issues. Sometimes it just lags and some cutscenes are a bit jerky.
- Visually outdated in some areas. Especially some character models are a bit rough, but it's understandable because this is originally a last-gen game.
THE VERDICT
A strong alternative for GTA. I actually prefer Sleeping Dogs because of its very engrossing story, excellent combat system and unique setting. Highly recommended.
SCORE: 9.1