Malik
(11/19/12)
I have been playing
games for once. Actually, "games" is wrong. I've shifted from XCOM
since the last time the game was updated in Steam it caused some new
bugs that made the game a pain in the ass to play (mouse and
keyboard movement of the camera got wonky). I'm now going full in
with Sleeping Dogs.
OK...I have to admit, my
long standing distrust for Square Enix may have officially ended
with Sleeping Dogs. This is the first truly new game I've actually
enjoyed from this company since Final Fantasy IX. Sleeping Dogs is a
perfect blend of an open world GTA style game, but with a plot that
is beyond epic. What you have is what feels like a classic Hong Kong
cop/crime movie with a smooth game engine that seems to encourage
you to keep doing more things. I mean this is a rare open world game
in which the activities and collectibles are fun. Not only are the
main plot missions solid, but even the obligatory races and side
quests. In fact, besides some side activities that feel like obvious
side missions (debt collection, races, etc.), I honestly have
trouble telling if a mission I just completed is part of the main
game or if it is optional.
I think one of my
favorite things that Sleeping Dogs does so well is that it will
actually allow you (after unlocking early in the game) to see
collectibles on your map. Health upgrades, CC cameras (used for a
side mission dealing with drug busts), and items that allow you to
learn new martial arts moves are all displayed for you. You don't
see (at least how early I'm in the game) lock boxes, the final
collectible (just have money and clothing), are not visible, but
they are not the ones that will really help you to become the bad
ass undercover cop you want to become.
The really solid part of
Sleeping Dogs is that this game is now a typical GTA clone in which
it's all about being the dude with the largest gun. You spend 95% of
the game unarmed (guns are not a common thing in Hong Kong, where
the game takes place), so you are introduced to a solid combat
system that feels like a simplified, in a good way, version of the
Batman Arkham City combat system. You have combos of attacks, strong
and quick attacks, grapple moves, environmental attacks (slam a dude
into a phone booth), and a good counter attack option. It's also a
game in which combat goes smoothly, but one bad move can really turn
the battle away from you. Also, much like Arkham City, guns, when
they do surface, are bad news. You're not a GTA hero. You are a dude
who will die from a couple of gun shots. You are also a dude who can
take out a thug with just one or two well aimed bullets.
The game has been out
for a while (since Darksiders II came out in the summer). It just
took me time to get to it. However, I'm now feeling very late to the
party. Sleeping Dogs is making a solid effort to be my game of the
year.
On a side note, the Wii
U came out yesterday. Don't expect much about this from me. Nintendo
burned me with the N-64, the Gamecube, the Wii, and the 3DS. The Wii
U is not going to burn me again. To put it bluntly; Nintendo, show
me the games. Until I see more than one possibly entertaining game,
I'm not buying in.
Malik |