Sleeping Dogs (video game)

Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogs' box art by Tyler Stout
Developer(s)	United Front Games Square Enix London Studios
Publisher(s)	Square Enix Namco Bandai Games (AUS)
Director(s)	Lee Singleton (General manager)
Producer(s)	Dan Sochan Stephen Van Der Mescht (Executive) Jeff O'Connell (Senior)
Designer(s)	Mike Scupa (Director)
Writer(s)	Jacob Krarup (Lead)
Composer(s)	Jeff Tymoschuk
Engine	Havok (physics engine)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Cloud (OnLive)
Release	NA: August 13, 2012 (Steam) NA: August 14, 2012 AU: August 16, 2012 EU: August 17, 2012 JP: September 27, 2012
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, open world
Mode(s)	Single-player

Sleeping Dogs is a 2012 open world action-adventure video game developed by United Front Games in conjunction with Square Enix London Studios and published by Square Enix, released on August 14, 2012, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Sleeping Dogs takes place in Hong Kong and focuses on an undercover operation to infiltrate the Triads.

The game started development as an original title, but was announced in 2009 as True Crime: Hong Kong, the third installment and a reboot of the True Crime series. As a result of the game’s high development budget and delays, it was canceled by Activision Blizzard in 2011. Six months later, it was announced that Square Enix had picked up the publishing rights to the game, but the game was renamed Sleeping Dogs in 2012 since Square Enix did not purchase the True Crime name rights.

Gameplay

File:Sleeping Dogs gameplay.jpg

The combat is a key feature in Sleeping Dogs. In this screenshot Wei is using the environment to defeat enemies.

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. The player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

The combat system revolves around hand-to-hand fighting, similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum/Batman: Arkham City's "Freeflow" combat system. The cover system allows the player to move between cover, fire blindly, aim freely, and target a specific enemy. Individual body parts can also be targeted. Regarding the driving segments, several developers had worked on previous Need for Speed titles. While driving, Wei can get out and jump onto other moving vehicles.

Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain content and parts of the city, players can complete them at their leisure. When not attempting a storyline mission, players can free-roam, giving them the ability to participate in activities such as carjacking, joining a fight club, singing karaoke, visiting gambling dens betting on cockfights and participating in street races. There are also several potential girlfriends for Wei Shen to date. Successful completion of side missions offers the player rewards.

Sleeping Dogs features role-playing elements with three different experience point values: Triad XP, Face XP, and Police XP. Triad XP and Police XP measure Wei's devotion to the triad and police, respectively, while Face XP is a measure of his general reputation. Clothing, accessories and vehicles are available for purchase by Wei, and have an effect on non-player characters' reactions. Sleeping Dogs tracks acquired skills in areas such as hand-to-hand combat, which improve through use in the game.

Although there is no multiplayer component yet, the game features online stats and leaderboards so players can compare scores.

Interface

The interface of the game features a circular mini-map on the bottom-left corner of the screen that displays a small map of the city and key locations (safe houses and contact points) or targets, similar to that found in the Grand Theft Auto series. Wei's health is shown by a semicircular meter on the left side of the mini-map, while another one on the right represents his face, which is the game's equivalent of an experience (XP) bar. When Wei is armed, an icon of his weapon and ammo count are represented on the top-right corner of the screen.

Synopsis

Characters

Sleeping Dogs features a large cast. The player character is Detective Wei Shen (Will Yun Lee), an officer sent deep undercover in a feared Triad gang. Other important characters are Police Superintendent Thomas Pendrew (Tom Wilkinson), Wei's police handler Raymond Mak (Byron Mann), Wei's childhood friend and low-level Triad member Jackie Ma (Edison Chen), and Triad boss "red pole" Winston Chu (Parry Shen).

Further characters include David Wai-Lin "Uncle" Po (James Hong), Amanda Cartwright (Emma Stone), Conroy Wu (Robin Shou), Vivienne Lu (Lucy Liu), Henry "Big Smile" Lee (Tzi Ma), Inspector Jane Teng (Kelly Hu), Peggy Li (Lindsay Price), Sonny Wo (Chin Han), Sandra (Steph Song), Tiffany Kim (Yunjin Kim) and Ming (Terence Yin).

Setting

The game takes place in a fictional modern day Hong Kong with players assuming control of Wei Shen, an officer of the San Francisco Police Department, who had been seconded to the Hong Kong Police Force. Wei has been assigned by the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau to go undercover and infiltrate the Triad society called Sun On Yee (a parody on the triad Sun Yee On) and take them down.

There are two subplots contained within the main storyline: the first is Wei's personal struggle between completing his mission as a police officer, and having to commit crimes to prove his worth to the triad. The other subplot consists of completing missions set out by a triad lieutenant, such as killing triad members who are loyal to competing lieutenants. The island is divided into four fictional districts which are named after real areas.

Plot

The game starts in Victoria Harbour, where undercover police officer Wei Shen is busted after a drug deal gone bad. Thrown into jail, Wei meets his old friend, Jackie Ma, who offers Wei to join his gang after they are released. Wei meets with Superintendent Thomas Pendrew in the interrogation room and his handler Raymond Mak. Wei asserts that he now has links with the Sun On Yee. After meeting with Jackie, Wei is introduced to Winston Chu, a Sun On Yee red pole and leader of the "Water Street Gang". To prove his loyalty, Winston sends Wei on various missions to seize back territory from Winston's rival, Sam "Dogeyes" Lin, leader of the "Jade Gang". During one mission, Wei is arrested by Inspector Jane Teng, but Pendrew bails him out and affirms his identity to Teng.

After learning of Dogeyes' attack on the Golden Koi, Winston takes the offensive by attacking one of Dogeyes' warehouses. However, doing so will displease the Chairman and Dragon Head of the Sun On Yee, Uncle Po. Wei convinces Winston to spare Dogeyes' drug maker Siu Wah and give Uncle Po a bigger profit than what the Jade Gang offers. Wei successfully does so and fully earns the trust of the Water Street Gang. When Winston is contacted by Uncle Po, who wishes to meet with Wei, he relays the meeting to Raymond, who is concerned that Wei is becoming "one of them". However, Raymond relents as Wei has gotten ever closer to infiltrating the Sun On Yee. During Winston and his fiancée Peggy Li's wedding day, the Sun On Yee is attacked by a rival Hong Kong Triad gang, the "18K". Amidst the fighting, Winston and Peggy are shot dead and Uncle Po is critically wounded, but Wei manages to get him to the hospital. For saving his life, Uncle Po promotes Wei to the rank of red pole and succeeds Winston as leader of the Water Street Gang. At the request of Winston's mother, Mrs. Chu, Wei captures a member of the 18K called Johnny Ratface. Johnny confesses that Dogeyes was behind the attack as he is tortured to death by Mrs. Chu. Wei captures Dogeyes, whom she also kills and dismembers.

When fellow Sun On Yee red pole Henry "Big Smile" Lee threatens to take the Water Street Gang's territory, Wei refuses and Lee's henchmen unsuccessfully intimidate Wei. However, he agrees to an alliance with red pole "Broken Nose" Jiang to prevent Lee from achieving his goals. During a meeting with other red poles and a hospitalized Uncle Po, a temporary Chairman must be elected. Jiang suggests Po's nephew "Two Chin" Tsao, to avoid Lee nominating himself. On Jiang's request, Wei sabotages Tsao's residence to make him appear incompetent to lead, making the position of Chairman limited to Lee and Jiang. When Uncle Po suddenly dies, Wei is told by Pendrew his undercover duties are over, though he protests: if Lee becomes the Dragon Head, the Sun On Yee will be worse than it was under Uncle Po.

Furious at Wei's insubordination, Pendrew leaks information about his undercover operations to Lee, who orders Jackie's kidnapping in order to lure out Wei. Although Wei frees Jackie, Jackie is once again kidnapped and killed by the 18K. Captured and tortured, Wei manages to escape and sets out to assassinate Lee, slaughtering his men. After a long arduous chase, Wei corners Lee and kills him. Raymond congratulates Wei on a case well done, but informs him that Pendrew has been promoted to Interpol and cannot be touched.

The following day Wei receives a package from Jiang. Although the package is addressed to Officer Shen, revealing her knowledge of his undercover activity, it contains a video of Pendrew killing Uncle Po at the hospital. Po reveals that he had made a deal with Pendrew in the past to further his career in exchange for allowing the Sun On Yee to continue operating, but Pendrew admits that Po has outlived his usefulness to him. With this incriminating evidence, Wei throws Pendrew into jail, knowing he will not survive long in a place filled with Triad members he has put away throughout his former career.

Jiang is later seen monitoring Wei as he is conversing with Teng. She tells her triads to leave Wei alone as he has proved his loyalty to her, "one way or another".

Nightmare in North Point

After a late night movie, Wei's girlfriend, Not Ping, is suddenly abducted by the ghost of Smiley Cat, who has risen up from the underworld to take his vengeance on the Sun On Yee. Smiley Cat was formerly Big Scar Wu, a gangster that was ordered killed by Uncle Po for his recklessness. His posthumous name, which he despises, was acquired when his corpse was ground up into the namesake brand of cat food. He has raised an army of Jiang Shi and Yaoguai to help carry out this task, as well as possessed members of the 18k. When Wei finds his fighting skills have no effect on the spirits, an apothecary brews a special tea for him that imbues his moves with the magic necessary to defeat them.

Smiley Cat summons the ghosts of Dogeyes, Johnny Ratface and Ponytail, a lieutenant of Big Smile Lee that carried out Wu's execution. Wei defeats each one of them and sends them back to the underworld, but not before Ponytail tells Wei how to defeat Smiley Cat: he must burn Wu's pinky finger, the last remnant of his original body.

Wei manages to fend off the hellspawn and incinerate the finger, sending Smiley Cat back to the underworld and freeing Not Ping. However as the two leave the temple, a final shot shows that Not Ping is possessed and the scene fades to black with Smiley Cat's laughter.

The Zodiac Tournament

Inspector Teng requests that Wei investigate an illegal fighting tournament taking place on a nearby island. Teng has managed to get Wei an invite as a competitor. After arriving on the island, the Tournament Master, Dr. Zhang, arrives and informs the competitors are "the best of the best of the best" and the tournament is being attended by the richest and most powerful men in Asia. Wei then chats with the other competitors as well as Little Fu, who claims to be a fan of Wei since he helped her father in the Night Market. After defeating several fighters in some brutally lethal matches, as well as traversing some dangerous booby-trapped paths, Little Fu gives Wei some tea before his next match. Unfortunately, the tea turns out to be poisoned, since Fu had bet on an opposing fighter. Despite being handicapped, Wei manages to defeat his next opponent on a one on one battle and cure himself via some medicinal flowers. Wei along with the rest of the contestants are then summoned to the final match. Midway through the match, however, Zhang insists that they battle each other to the death until only one remains. When the contestants refuse, Zhang reveals that the arena ceiling is covered in spikes and rigged to lower, and it will only stop if only one is left standing. The contestants have no choice but to battle, but Wei makes everyone promise that whoever survives kill Zhang. Wei wins and chases after Zhang. After a battle with Zhang, the latter claims that he made 50 million dollars by hosting the tournament and betting on Wei and promises to give Wei half the money if he spares Zhang's life and become his partner, calling the money "a fair price for swallowing your pride, wouldn't you say?". In response, Wei snaps Zhang's neck and belatedly replies "No. Not even close" and returns alone to Hong Kong.

Development

Initial version

System requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
Microsoft Windows
Operating system	Windows Vista or Windows 7	Windows 7 64-bit
CPU	Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz or Althon X2 2.4 GHz	Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
Memory	2 GB	4 GB
Free space	15 GB
Graphics hardware	DirectX 10 or 11 compatible Nvidia or AMD ATI card, ATI Radeon 3870 or higher, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or higher	DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 or ATI Radeon 6950
Sound hardware	DirectX compatible sound card
Input device(s)	Keyboard and mouse, optional controller (Xbox 360 Controller Support)

File:True Crime HK cover art.jpg

The original cover artwork for True Crime: Hong Kong.

True Crime: New York City was met with mixed reviews and did not meet sales expectations. Although a True Crime 3 was said to be in production, these low sales numbers for New York City made Activision cancel a third game and focus on other titles. No mention of another True Crime game was made for several years. Work on an open world action-adventure video game began in 2008 by United Front Games, almost immediately after United Front Games was formed. The game was meant to be a completely original IP, however Activision (the publisher) decided that the True Crime name would help the game sell, so it then became True Crime: Hong Kong. Then, on December 12, 2009, Activision debuted the announcement trailer for the series third game, simply titled True Crime, at the Spike Video Game Awards 2009. The trailer confirmed that Activision would be publishing and that a new developer, United Front Games, would be developing in place of traditional True Crime developer Luxoflux, largely due to the studio being closed in February 2010.

On August 6, 2010, it was announced that the game would be delayed until 2011 to give more development time. Part of this development phase included bringing in Hollywood action editor Tony Ciccone to consult with project animators on the cinematics as well as the visual identity of the game. According to Activision CEO, Eric Hirshberg, who’s assured that the August delay of True Crime: Hong Kong had greatly "paid off." "The additional development time invested in this game has really paid off. We wanted to make the gameplay mechanics for the fighting and shooting as sophisticated as the driving, which is something that’s very hard to achieve in the open-world genre," said Hirshberg.

On February 9, 2011, Activision decided to cancel the game, in order to focus on online games that have a higher margin. The game was declared cancelled for being "just not good enough" to compete in the open world genre. Even with its most optimistic projections, said the firm, it couldn't see True Crime reaching the top of the open-world genre. Activision didn't expect True Crime to generate enough profit and stopped development. United Front Games announced their disappointment on their website: "We are sorry we did not get a chance to complete this project with Activision, but we understand why. We are both committed to doing quality games and nothing less. Maybe we will have a chance to work together in the future, but in the meantime we are setting our creative sights on a different horizon." The game's executive producer Stephen Van Der Mescht told Computer and Video Games that True Crime: Hong Kong was playable from start to finish and "virtually complete" in terms of content before Activision canned it. Despite Activision's low expectations, Van Der Mescht said the game "stood apart" from the competition.

On June 22, 2011, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg explained the reason for the decision, stating that the game’s development budget and delays were, in a sense, also a contributing factor in its cancellation. "The market changed dramatically since the game was first greenlit", Hirshberg said. "Back then, it was possible for more titles with such a large scope as True Crime: Hong Kong to find sizeable audiences". However, according to the CEO, competition has become stiffer and now only the top games end up being successes. Hirshberg didn't foresee True Crime: Hong Kong becoming a blockbuster on the scale of a Grand Theft Auto, and without blockbuster potential, it didn't make sense to compete.

Rights acquired by Square Enix

"Our team has worked very hard to find a solution where everybody wins. Square Enix gets the benefit of the tremendous investment we've made in the game thus far. UFG gets to stay together and complete their vision. And gamers get to play a great game. We couldn't be more thrilled."

 —Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg about the publishing rights

On August 2, 2011, Square Enix picked up the publishing rights to the game. Square Enix will still be working with United Front Games on True Crime, but the game was renamed as Square Enix did not pick up the True Crime IP. "When we first saw and got our hands on the game we fell in love with it," Square Enix London Studios general manager Lee Singleton told Gamasutra. "It's one of those games where you don't want to put the controller down; it's what we call 'sticky'," Singleton added. "When we met the team at United Front Games, it was a done deal in our eyes — we instantly recognised the huge potential in the game and the team." United Front Games' President Stefan Wessels stated he was excited and "really pleased to be working with Square Enix London Studios and their excitement on the game means a great deal to us".

Reports of the rename Sleeping Dogs surfaced following a Sony retailer event in February 2012. No information had been released publicly by Square Enix, but numerous reports from the Destination PlayStation event indicated that the game would be released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in August 2012. Following U.S. online retailer Future Shop Gamer published an image, which looked a lot like True Crime: Hong Kong, but with the Sleeping Dogs logo. A Sleeping Dogs trademark by Square Enix was spotted January 2012, mistakenly associated with a new entry in the Kane & Lynch franchise.

Following the reports, Square Enix revealed that True Crime: Hong Kong was renamed to Sleeping Dogs. The announcement was accompanied by a live action trailer and several in-game screenshots. Square Enix London Studios general manager Lee Singleton stated that Sleeping Dogs "has one of the best melee combat systems out there". The developers stated that the game's fighting system was inspired by Tony Jaa's film Tom-Yum-Goong. Design director Mike Scupa said that Sleeping Dogs is "not as large as previous True Crime games", and the team focused instead on "gameplay density" and an "environment that really catered to the strength of our gameplay".

In May 2012, Mike Fischer, president and chief executive of Square Enix US, said Activision was "crazy" to abandon True Crime: Hong Kong, stating "The game was, in a sense, discovered. I'm making air quotes: 'discovered' by the folks in Wimbledon. The minute they showed it to us, we really felt like we had found a diamond in the rough. Obviously the game was originally True Crime: Hong Kong from Activision. I can't speak to why they let that go. I'm not going to speculate on their behalf. All I know is, they've gotta be crazy. Because this game is just fantastic."

Music

Sleeping Dogs features a soundtrack that can be heard through radio stations while the player is in a vehicle. Hong Kong is serviced by 10 radio stations. The stations feature music from a large range of genres. The theme song of Sleeping Dogs is "Sleepwalking" composed by Photek featuring Linche. Sleeping Dogs also features 8 classic songs for the karaoke minigame.

The score for Sleeping Dogs was composed by Canadian composer Jeff Tymoschuk, the musician who also wrote and performed the score for two James Bond games published by Electronic Arts (Nightfire, Everything or Nothing) as well as for The Simpsons: Hit and Run.

Marketing and release

The game was released in North America on August 14, 2012, followed on August 16 in Australia, and August 17 in most of Europe. A release in Japan was for September 27, 2012, where it was released under the title Sleeping Dogs: Hong Kong Secret Police (スリーピングドッグス 香港秘密警察). The Japanese version of the game was censored to pass the classification by the Japanese ratings board CERO. The most noticeable is a penalty for attacking civilians during certain missions. Other tweaks include the removal of a character that signals the start of a street race, and a less graphic sex scene. The German version has also been censored to pass the classification by the USK. In addition the German release date has been delayed by several weeks.

Prior to release, United Front Games relied heavily on viral marketing. Sleeping Dogs was promoted through the use of numerous Internet and TV trailers. Monthly videos were posted on the company's official website and on YouTube offering fans a preview of upcoming content. To keep in touch with fans during development, social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter were utilized by members of the game's production team. Sleeping Dogs appeared at game conventions with its own booth, including at Game Developers Conference '12, PAX East, MCM London Comic Con, E3, Comic Con and Gamescom.

On April 13, 2012, Square Enix revealed North American pre-order bonuses for Best Buy, GameStop, and Amazon shoppers. Each chain offered up its own exclusive in-game content for the retail versions of the game. Best Buy is offered the "Georges St. Pierre (GSP) Pack", GameStop offered the "Police Protection Pack", and Amazon offered the "Martial Arts Pack". A Limited Edition of the game was available at all UK games retailers for consumers who pre-ordered, which includes the "George St. Pierre (GSP) Pack" and "Police Protection Pack". A special edition for Australia was available at EB Games and JB Hi-Fi, and carry the same price tag as the standard edition, but will be limited stock only. The special edition includes the "George St. Pierre (GSP) Pack", the "Police Protection Pack" and the "Martial Arts Pack".

On August 3, 2012, information on cross-promotional content for the PC version of Sleeping Dogs was posted on the game's official website. Players who purchase the game on Steam will obtain the "Triad Pack" for Team Fortress 2, consisting of eight battle-type items. Other players can also purchase the items in the in-game store, and a new Hong Kong-themed map, Kong King, will be available for all players.

Anyone who has a save file for Just Cause 2 on their Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC hard drive will have automatic access to an outfit similar to that of protagonist Rico Rodriguez's; the clothes set will be available as soon as the player gets a chance to visit Wei Shen's safehouse closet. The Rodriquez-inspired ensemble will offer a bonus to players' action hijack ability, allowing them to perform "stunt-style takeovers" of enemy vehicles from farther away.

A demo of the game was released on Steam, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live on August 22, 2012, one week after the game's launch.

Downloadable content

"We want to create something to suit everyone's play style from cool cars and high-speed missions to outlandish outfits and game-extending mission packs. The game launch is just the beginning."

 —Square Enix London Studios general manager Lee Singleton

On August 13, 2012, Square Enix announced an "extensive" six months of downloadable content are planned for the game. The first two additional content was available in time for the game's release, including the 80s-inspired Retro Triad Pack, "a killer old school outfit with its own player buffs and funky kung-fu van". The Top Dog Silver Pack adds 3,000 Triad, 2,000 Cop and 2,000 Face experience points.

On August 21, 2012, the Top Dog Gold Pack, Red Envelope Pack and High Roller Pack were released. The Top Dog Gold Pack adds 8,000 Triad, 4,500 Cop and 4,500 Face experience points. The Red Envelope Pack adds 20 envelopes each stuffed with HK$50,000 scattered throughout Hong Kong. The High Roller Pack gives early access to the Tuono vehicle and the High Roller outfit, as well as $200,000.

On October 16, 2012, the Street Racer Pack, Tactical Soldier Pack and Community Gift Pack were released. The Street Racer Pack adds three new races, each for a boat, car and motorbike. Also included is a new Sting superbike, a Dragon Helmet and a Racing Jacket with extra protection against gunfire. The Tactical Soldier Pack adds the game's "most powerful weapon and armour". The free Community Gift Pack adds an exclusive UFG tuned Bisai car, a UFG t-shirt, and a luchadore wrestler mask.

On October 24, 2012, The SWAT Pack and Screen Legends Pack were released. The SWAT Pack adds 20 new cop missions, a SWAT outfit with extra damage resistance and an armoured SWAT van. Screen Legends Pack adds the Wing Chun Master outfit which improves the melee counter strikes, and the Lightning Warrior outfit with an everlasting sword.

On October 30, 2012, the first story-driven game expansion titled Nightmare in North Point was released. Nightmare in North Point's theme is based upon Chinese horror and folklore along with featuring Chinese vampires, the Jiang Shi. United Front stated at Comic-Con that "with the DLC, we feel that we can explore other aspects of Hong Kong cinema."

On November 14, 2012, Square Enix released the five already-released Sleeping Dogs DLC add-ons and pre-order bonuses, in one bundle Dragon Master Pack. The Dragon Master Pack includes: Triad Enforcer Pack (Two new missions, a new vehicle, outfit and a golden cleaver weapon), Police Protection Pack (A new police racing mission, police car and SWAT assault rifle), Martial Arts Pack (Shaolin Showdown mission, outfit and Wing Chun decoration for your safehouse), GSP Pack (GSP-branded outfit with stat and move bonuses) and Deep Undercover Pack (Plain clothes outfit, police car and CB Radio decoration).

Square Enix released four DLC pack (Dragon Master Pack, Drunken Fist Pack, Square Enix Character Pack and Gangland Style Pack) over the holiday season, The Drunken Fist Pack (boozey new fight moves) was available to download from November 20, 2012. The Square Enix Character Pack (a Hitman, Deus Ex and Just Cause outfit and weapon) was also released the same day. The Gangland Style Pack (stat-boosting tattoos) was released on November 27, 2012.

The second story-driven expansion, Zodiac Tournament, was released on December 18, 2012. The Zodiac Tournament added a new island to the game, as Wei Shen was invited to an exclusive fighting tournament held away from Hong Kong. New fight arenas, enemies, bosses, outfits and "story-extending cut-scenes" were included.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	(PC) 84.07% (PS3) 83.83% (X360) 81.61%
Metacritic	(PS3) 83/100 (PC) 80/100 (X360) 80/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Computer and Video Games	8.4/10
Edge	6/10
Eurogamer	7/10
G4
Game Informer	7.75/10
GameSpot	8/10
GameSpy
GamesRadar+
GamesTM	8/10
GameTrailers	8.3/10
IGN	8.5/10
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK	9/10
Official Xbox Magazine (UK)	9/10
Destructoid	9/10
Giant Bomb

Pre-release reception

Previewers who had access to the game in February 2012 compared the game's elements to several other critically acclaimed games, praising the parkour-style movement aspect of the game (similar to the Assassin's Creed series), the melee combat system (similar to Batman: Arkham City), the slow-motion while shooting (similar to the Max Payne series), the vehicular combat (similar to Just Cause 2), the mission structure (similar to the Grand Theft Auto series), the atmosphere (similar to the Yakuza series), and the depth of storyline. The game is also seen as a homage to the crime films of Hong Kong action cinema, such as Infernal Affairs, Flash Point, SPL: Sha Po Lang, and Exiled.

Critical reception

Sleeping Dogs garnered generally positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 84.07% and 80/100, the PlayStation 3 version 83.83% and 83/100 and the Xbox 360 version 81.61% and 80/100.

Official PlayStation Magazine UK awarded it 9 out of 10. Editor Ben Wilson describes the game as "the best bits of a load of games you love pooled together with intelligence and humour." Wilson concluded with "It's unquestionably 2012's most brilliantly brutal surprise, and you're duty-bound to check it out".

The second review was published by Official Xbox Magazine UK, who also awarded it 9 out of 10, and stated "A gripping vision of Hong Kong which sports majestic driving, a sharp, well-acted storyline and varied missions," only reserving criticism for the length of the main story which he considered to be too short.

In the September 2012 issue of Game Informer, Sleeping Dogs received a 7.75 out of 10 rating with magazine editor Dan Ryckert citing issues such as a lack of story mission creativity, "stiff facial animations" during cutscenes, "cookie-cutter" shooting mechanics, and developmental bugs that impede game progression. However, Ryckert did compliment the overall game graphics as well as the combat, leveling-up, and driving systems. For the 2013 D.I.C.E. Interactive Achievement Awards, the game was nominated for: Action Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Story.

Sales

Sleeping Dogs was the best selling game in the United Kingdom in the week of its release, becoming the fifth-best first week sales of 2012. It retained the top spot during its second week, despite sales dropping by 15%. It returned to the top spot after four weeks on sale. Sleeping Dogs sales rose by 8%, despite five weeks on the chart, defeating new release Tekken Tag Tournament 2. In the United Kingdom, Sleeping Dogs was the 20th best selling title of 2012, and the best selling original game.

According to NPD Group, Sleeping Dogs was the sixth-best selling game in the U.S. in August 2012, at 172,000 copies. PC sales for Sleeping Dogs were unable to be counted, as it is only available digitally in the U.S.

According to Square Enix, Sleeping Dogs shipped 1.5 million copies through the end of September 2012. Square Enix President Yoichi Wada defended the game's sales, stating Sleeping Dogs sales have not been poor, but that the firm may have had unreasonably high expectations for the game and he sees Sleeping Dogs as a strong new IP. Wada also said that titles such as Sleeping Dogs tends to sell better over long periods of time in the West, unlike games in Japan, where lifetime sales are more or less achieved within the first one or two months on the market.

Sequel

In an interview Official PlayStation Magazine UK in October 2012, producer Dan Sochan stated that Square "believed in this game as a potential franchise". When asked about a sequel, Sochan replied "I can’t really comment on a sequel right now. Our main focus is on putting out quality DLC so people see value and continue to want to show interest in the franchise. Then we can evaluate and look at it at that point."

External links

• Official website Template:En icon
• Sleeping Dogs Wiki at Wikia