Let's make an arbitrary list of my favourite games of 2012. Here's number five.
I apologize in advance for separating my top ten entries into their own individual posts. While it may seem like a scheme to generate more page views (haha!), I assure you that it is for practicality's sake. Each entry spans multiple paragraphs and sorting them this way makes for easier viewing. I thank you for your consideration.
After playing through the first few hours of Sleeping Dogs,
all I could think about was a message board post I had read almost a decade
ago. It was prior to the release of True Crime: Streets of LA, and an
optimistic fan posted something along the lines of “True Crime will redefine
the open world genre. It’ll have the exploration of Grand Theft Auto, the
shooting of SOCOM, the driving of Midnight Club and the fighting of Tekken”. Of
course, Streets of LA failed to deliver that over exaggerated description.
Neither could its sequel, True Crime: New York City.
Hence why everyone was skeptical back when the game was originally titled
True Crime: Hong Kong. Even though an entirely different studio was behind it,
the stigma from its predecessors was enough to make people wary. As its
development marched on, its then publisher Activision cancelled the title. Half
a year later, Square Enix picked up the publishing rights and released what is
now known as Sleeping Dogs today.
And what Sleeping Dogs is today, I can only describe as a
beautiful thing. As clichéd as that may sound, being able to witness Sleeping
Dogs running on a PC had left me with that exact sentiment. I became speechless
over the fact that an open world game could look this good and it made me
heavily consider investing in a quality gaming PC. That was in passing however. My experience
with Sleeping Dogs took place on the Playstation 3. Although it pales in
comparison to its PC counterpart, the game itself still looks great. Its visual
style is more realistic than Saints Row, but more “cartoony” than anything out
of the Rockstar open world camp this generation. Plus it was really bright,
something I can’t get enough of in my games.
Sleeping Dogs does look stunning, but it's also the closest
a True Crime game has come to that message board post I had read oh so long
ago. While to some, the shooting leaves a lot to be desired, I found it
competent enough. The gunplay went with the B-Tier Hong Kong Crime Action movie
feel the game was trying to capture. Although it wasn’t SOCOM, I found it a better
fit than the shooting mechanics found in say, Stranglehold or Wet.
Then again, I only shot people when I had to. The game's combat truly shines when it utilizes hand-to-hang fighting. Essentially a Batman Arkham Asylum-Lite, Sleeping Dogs utilizes a “one button to strike, one
button to counter” fighting system. Though at times it didn’t look as smooth as
the title it draws inspiration from, the fights still look great in
practice. Each hit looks downright brutal, and it felt like you were actually
doing some damage. Mix in interactive environmental kills, and you really had a
strong combat component. I cannot stress how fun it was to just throw down, so
much so that I must have replayed the fight club side activities over a dozen times. Tekken it was not, but I personally found it a lot more
fun.
Getting behind the wheel in Sleeping Dogs is one of the better
examples of driving in open world sandbox games. Like the combat mechanics, I
found myself playing through all of the street racing side activities; a
portion I usually tend to avoid in these kinds of games. The story itself stays
true to the atmosphere the game is trying to create, and presents a narrative that hangs
with your typical HK action flick. The story beats are all there and the
characters are all likeable in their own respects. At times it recognizes how
campy it is and runs with it; something I really do appreciate.
Sleeping Dogs is an amazing package, and it makes me wonder what
Activision didn’t see in the title. In many ways, I’m glad it no longer bears
the title True Crime, as that would have done it an injustice. I do hope that
Square Enix and developers United Front Games continue to explore this world,
as it is one that I would love to return to.
Hall of Fame:
Jaren Wade’s Top Ten Games of 2011 – Number 05: NBA On Fire
Edition
Jaren Wade’s Top Ten Games of 2010 – Number 05: Red Dead
Redemption
See Also:
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