Sleeping Dogs is set in the streets of a living, breathing, neon, beautiful Hong Kong, (a Hong Kong facing drastically different societal issues from the Hong Kong of today, but save that for a different article). Originally, this game would have fallen under the Activision umbrella within the True Crime series. Eventually, it was by Square Inix, the company who brought us the incredible Deus Ex. Sleeping Dogs draws us into the thrilling world of Wei Shen. Wei, is a cop burdened with a tragic past, who is driven to delve deeper into criminal underworld of Hong Kong. Journey with Wei as he balances his responsibilities to himself, the Hong Kong Police Department and with the dangerous Triads.

Why Not Just Play GTA

Though there are countless similarities between Sleeping Dogs and Grand Theft Auto, this game still manages to carve out its own unique identity. Like GTA, I found the music played by the radio stations to be thoroughly enjoyable. Weaving through the rainy streets of Hong Kong while listening to the unique array of beats (playlist located at the bottom of this article), allows for a greater immersion into the Sleeping Dogs’ stylish ambiance. The dialog mixes English and Cantonese, which again aids in the immersion into the world as well as increasing the authenticity of the characters. The various side characters also come to life with the help of the fantastic voice acting, and positively augments the worlds atmosphere.

“Why do you not have a pork bun in your hand?“

– Sleeping Dogs’ Street Vendor

Aside from the narrative driven world building and visually appealing skylines, the best part about Sleeping Dogs is the combat system. Hand to hand combat is especially enjoyable, allowing the player to dynamically navigate fight sequences based on the users preference. Switching and utilizing a various striking combination or seamlessly switching between grappling and striking made me excited to enter another battle. Traversing the city on foot is also unique as Wei can parkour over obstacles, walls, and even buildings.

Challenges

There are a few negatives that should be pointed out. Even though the main story line is well written, it is somewhat short. Secondly, the world is also not the sprawling sandbox open world as the large map would suggest. For many, the degree of confinement may leave much to desire in regards to freedom and exploration. There are also fewer vehicle to choose from than the plethora of options in GTA. Many readers may view this section an exercise in nitpicking, as it would be difficult for this game to compete with newer, better funded titles.

Final Thoughts

This game was recommended by a friend, and after seeing that it was on sale for only a few dollars on steam, the purchase was quickly made. What was received was a transaction of tremendous value. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised with the game and thoroughly enjoyed playing Sleeping Dogs from beginning to end.

Sleeping Dog’s Awesome Playlist

1. Andreya Triana- Darker Than Blue (Instrumental)
2. Antipop Consortium – Volcano (Four Tet Remix Instrumental)
3. Bonobo – Kiara
4. Bonobo – The Fever
5. Coldcut – Sound Mirrors (Beats Mix)
6. Downtempo – Tailor-Made (Floating Points Remix)
7. Emika – Drop The Other
8. Emika – Professional Loving
9. Hexstatic – East
10. Stateless – Ariel (Instrumental)
11. Stateless – Miles To Go (Instrumental)
12. The Cinematic Orchestra – Burn Out
13. Loka – Safe Self Tester
14. Lorn – Soft Room
15. Lorn – My Drum Machine
16. Lotek Hi-Fi – What You See (Instrumental)
17. Raffertie – One Track Mind
18. The Cinematic Orchestra – Flite
19. Sway feat. Two Fingers – Jewels And Gems
20. Two Fingers – Keman Rhythm

1. Vivienne Lu & Nathan Wang – Fly (Cantonese)
2. Nathan Wang – Love Is Heavy
3. Nathan Wang – The Hard Way
4. Nathan Wang – You’re Not There
5. Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – The Blue Grotto
6. Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – Hot Thursday
7. Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – Into the Wind
8. Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – Little Sunrise
9. Celestial – Shanghai Nights
10. Celestial – Gao Shan Ching
11. Celestial – The Crossing
12. C.L. Ritchie Lo & M.P. Mabel Ki & Chan Charles – Butterfly Garden
13. C.L. Ritchie Lo – On Buddha’s Land
14. C.L. Ritchie Lo – Lhasa Groove
15. C.L. Ritchie Lo & M.P. Mabel Ki – Dragon Dreams
16. M. P. Mabel Ki – Moonlight Song
17. M. P. Mabel Ki – Behind the Great Wall
18. Jay Price – Art of Xen
19. Jay Price – House of Lightning
20. Jay Price – Crystal Dawn
21. Jay Price – Shanghai Lullaby
22. Jay Price – Golden Dragon
23. Tony Tam – Hard Life
24. Tony Tam – Hoppin’ the East
25. Yiming Xie – Beijing Rock
26. Yiming Xie – Mongolian Dream
27. Chum Hung Tam – From Xikou with Love
28. Makino Saburou – Mount Fuji
29. Pichit Paiboon – Tuanjai
30. Tony Tam – Hong Kong Nights
31. Tony Tam – East World
32. Nathan Wang – Way Too Damaged
33. Nathan Wang – Anthem
34. Nathan Wang – End of Days
35. Nathan Wang – Drag

1. Animal Kingdom – Get Away with It
2. The Big Pink – 1313
3. Brakes – Hey Hey
4. Breton – Edward the Confessor
5. Eugene McGuinness – Lion
6. Gem and the Deadheads – Automatic Response (Demo)
7. New Navy – Oceans
8. The Kooks – Mr. Nice Guy
9. White Rabbits – Temporary
10. Blood Red Shoes – Cold
11. Maps & Atlases – Israeli Caves
12. Kasabian – Re-Wired
13. Strange Talk – Climbing Walls
14. Miles Kane – Kaka Boom
15. The Phenomenal Handclap Band – The Unknown Faces at Father James Park
16. Mount Washington – Silver Screen
17. Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle
18. The Maccabees – Unknow
19. The Drums – Book of Revelation
20. Ladyhawke – Black White & Blue

1. Rustie – After Light
2. Rustie – Ultra Thizz
3. Plaid – Somnl
4. Plaid – Thank
5. Bibio – Anything New
6. Bibio – Dwrcan (Eskmo Remix)
7. Flying Lotus – GNG BNG
8. Flying Lotus – Parisian Goldfish
9. !!! – The Hammer
10. Autechre – Second Scout
11. Clark – Alice (Redux)
12. Squarepusher – Beep Street
13. Africa Hitech – Lash Out
14. Harmonic 313 – Dirtbox
15. LFO – Psychodelik
16. Hudson Mohawke – FUSE
17. Gonjasufi – Ancestors
18. The Hundred in the Hands – Dressed in Dresden (Various Remix)
19. Battles – Futura

1. Johann Sebastian Bach – Ouverture No.
2. Claude Debussy – Suite bergamasque: III. Clair de Lune
3. Richard Wagner – Die Walkure, Act III: Ride of the Valkyries
4. Aram Khachaturian – Gayane: Sabre Dance
5. Dmitri Shostakovich – The Gadfly Suite: Five Days – Five Nights Suite – XII. Finale
6. Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto, Act III: La donna e mobile
7. George Frideric Handel – Messiah
8. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Sonata
9. Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt, Act IV: Morning Mood
10. Sergei Rachmaninoff – Vocalise
11. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker March
12. Johannes Brahms – 5 Lieder
13. Jacques Offenbach – Orpheus in the Underworld
14. Ludwig van Beethoven – Bagatelle in A minor
15. Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D major

1. Black Stone Cherry – Rain Wizard
2. Black Stone Cherry – Change
3. DevilDriver – Bring the Fight (To the Floor)
4. DevilDriver – Dead to Rights
5. Opeth – The Devil’s Orchard
6. Opeth – The Grand Conjuration
7. Machine Head – Locust
8. Machine Head – Be Still and Know
9. The Parlor Mob – Take What’s Mine
10. The Parlor Mob – After All
11. Fear Factory – Edgecrusher
12. Dream Theater – On the Backs of Angels
13. Soulfly – World Scum
14. Trivium – Anthem (We Are the Fire)
15. Killswitch Engage – My Curse

1. Duran Duran – Girls on Film (Night Version)
2. Martha and the Muffins – Echo Beach
3. XTC – Senses Working Overtime
4. Pilot – Magic (Original Version)
5. Deep Purple – Fireball
6. Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation (From L & D Outtake)
7. Robert Palmer – Work to Make It Work
8. Tears for Fears – Pale Shelter
9. The Allman Brothers Band – Don’t Want You No More
10. The Jam – In the City
11. Queen – Dragon Attack
12. The Who – Eminence Front
13. Siouxsie & The Banshees – Hong Kong Garden
14. Climax Blues Band – Couldn’t Get It Right

1. The Budos Band – Ride or Die
2. The Budos Band – Mas O Menos
3. The Budos Band – Scorpion
4. Charles Bradley – The World (Is Going Up in Flames)
5. Charles Bradley – This Love Ain’t Big Enough for the Two of Us
6. Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. – Stand Up
7. Menahan Street Band – The Contender
8. Menahan Street Band – Make the Road by Walking
9. Mighty Imperials – Thunder Chicken
10. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Keep On Looking
11. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – The Reason
12. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Money
13. The Sugarman Three & Co. – Shot Down
14. The Sugarman Three & Co. – Promised Land
15. The Sugarman Three & Co. – Take It as It Come

1. Vivienne Lu & Nathan Wang – Yellow Fever
2. KIDGOD -CHEE PRODUCTION – Nathan Wang – The Life
3. KIDGOD -CHEE PRODUCTION – Nathan Wang – Undercover
4. KIDGOD -The Big Big Band – Nathan Wang – Jazz Nights and Days
5. KIDGOD -The Big Big Band – Nathan Wang – Riding the Clouds
6. KIDGOD -The Big Big Band – Nathan Wang – Mumbo Jumbo
7. 24Herbs – Do You Know Me
8. 24Herbs – Hong Kong Kowloon
9. 24Herbs – Turn It Up
10. 24Herbs – Sin City
11. 24Herbs -feat. KZ – No Brothers
12. Only Won – Add Oil
13. Only Won – Destroy
14. Al Rocco – In da Club
15. Gary Liu – Nathan Wang
16. Nathan Wang – The Love I Want
17. KIDGOD – Let Go

1. Chali 2na – Step Yo Game Up
2. Ninjasonik – In and Out
3. Nneka – Camouflage
4. Terry Lynn – System
5. Tchaka Diallo feat. Terry Milla – Shoot Yo Shot
6. JJ Doom – Rhymin Slang (Dave Sitek Remix)
7. Guilty Simpson – Dreads
8. Dels feat. Roots Manuva – Capsize
9. J Dilla feat. Common – E=MC2
10. Ghostpoet – Finished I Ain’t
11. Felt – Protagonists
12. Ozomatli – Saturday Night
13. Robot Koch and John Robinson – Channeling
14. Freddie Gibbs – Playa (Mexicans with Guns Remix)
15. Jadakiss – Kiss of Death
16. Strong Arm Steady – Klack or Get Klacked
17. Banda Black Rio – Back to the Project

1. The Clash – I Fought the Law
2. Air Supply – All Out of Love
3. Steely Dan – Reelin’ in the Years
4. Pat Benatar – Hit Me with Your Best Shot
5. Robert Palmer – Bad Case of Lovin’ You (Doctor, Doctor)
6. A Flock of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)
7. Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun
8. A-ha – Take on Me

1. Saki Kaskas – Sagittarius
2. Robert Palmer – Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)
3. Lotek Hi-Fi – What You See
4. Coldcut – Sound Mirrors
5. Rustie – Surph
6. Autechre – Second Scepe
7. Andreya Triana – Darker Than Blue
8. Photek feat. Linche – Sleepwalking
9. Photek feat. Linche – Sleepwalking (2)
10. Unknown Artist – Dance of the Yi People Remix (Sleeping Dogs Theme D)
11. Unknown Artist – Sleeping Dogs Theme A
12. Unknown Artist – Sleeping Dogs Theme B
13. Unknown Artist – Sleeping Dogs Theme C
14. Wu Man and Friends – Dance of the Yi People
15. 24Herbs 廿四味 feat. Janice Vidal – Wonderland
16. Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – East
17. Pilot – Magic
18. Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation
19. Saki Kaskas – Dragon Chase
20. Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Early Guitar Demo)
21. Billy Paul – East