Sep 13 2012.
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 An undercover cop, martial arts, plenty of gun battles and an enthralling story: that’s what Sleeping Dogs is all about.
I only got to play the demo but that was good enough to get me hooked on the game. In my opinion, the game seems to incorporate elements from Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, Max Payne, Assassin’s Creed and Grand Theft Auto.
However, it is not a rip-off of any particular game; it has its own unique identity. More importantly, it is a lot of fun to play and while there are a few noticeable hiccups, the gameplay is generally solid.
Plot
Plots are important and Sleeping Dogs puts players in the shoes of Wei Shen, an undercover cop in Hong Kong who has made it his mission to infiltrate Sun on Yee triad (a criminal organization) in order to avenge the death of his sister.
Thus, the story does not feature the full-blown surprises of the Assassin’s Creed series but it is interesting and is full of all the drama you would expect Shen’s character to experience throughout the game.
One interesting dynamic is how Shen’s behaviour is interpreted by members of the triad, who suspect he’s a cop, and his colleagues in the force, who suspect that he’s actually gone rogue. Moreover, players are rewarded for following a fine-line between actual mob behaviour and his police instincts. For instance, when players execute a task on the orders of the mob, they get more points if they do it in a manner that causes minimum damage or injury to innocent parties. Think of Leonardo Dicaprio's character in Departed.
Gameplay and combat
Gameplay is very similar to other third person games such Assassin’s Creed, so players are running around the streets of Hong Kong (not a perfect copy of the city) completing missions. Combat is very similar to that of Batman: Arkham series, with attack combos and timed responses to counter foes. However, in some senses it has improved the combat system because players can use the environmental elements to finish their enemies.
For instance, you can toss rival gangsters off the roof of a building or maybe even impale them with any sharp object.
  Despite the fact that this is a game featuring gangsters, guns aren’t heavily featured; instead, players get a lot of melee action. Nevertheless, there are moments when you get to use a variety of weapons for different missions with the sort of style that you would come to expect from a Max Payne game. Basic shootouts involve running and taking cover, but there are also a few slick dramatic moves that add to the excitement.
Most of the game’s progress is pretty tightly controlled so it’s something like a learning process that your experience in Assassin’s Creed but every now and then it is possible to explore surrounding areas. There are a number of rewards and incentives that can be used throughout the game. For instance, finding specific statutes and returning them to a Martial Arts school, will allow players to learn new moves. Doing favours for others also helps unlock various benefits including new clothes and vehicles.
Overall, I think the game has picked on some of the positive characteristics of a number of action games that we have come to love over the past few years, and combined those features with a unique story and gameplay system.
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(By Navam Niles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBFOidzHOo
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