14 DAY TRIAL // There are very few firearms in Sleeping Dogs, the open world action game developed by United Front Games and published by Square Enix, and even when you get access to them they seem a little weak, unsatisfying and somehow underwhelming when compared to the simple joys of making your own body the ultimate weapon.
The overall design of Sleeping Dogs means that this is not a simple oversight on the part of the development team, but a conscious decision to steer the player towards one of the best parts of the game, the hand-to-hand fighting.
The basic structure is very simple: there are quick and strong attacks, a counter move and grapples and these four elements can be combined to execute a number of more powerful moves that can be learned as the game progresses.
Throw in hordes of enemies, cool environmental kills, a number of opponents who have special abilities, a number of hand weapons that can slash or daze and sometimes friendly backup and the hand-to-hand battles evolve into something deeper, a kind of visceral puzzle that requires as much thinking as it requires fast reactions.
The entire system is designed to evoke the classic action sequences of Eastern martial arts moves and it does that pretty well although I have one big problem with it.
Sleeping Dogs is still very much rooted in what we might call “almost realistic physics” which means that there are no flying kicks to get enemies down quickly and no backflips to get out of trouble.
While fighting through Sleeping Dogs I wanted to see more outlandish moves, more preposterous team attacks from enemies, more techniques that have a supernatural or mystical edge to them.
I admit the game does not need them and that it might be a problem for the balance element in the hand-to-hand combat, but it would have delivered more style and more feeling to the experience.