Just got done today, I didn't do a ton of side stuff, mostly in it for the story... but fantastic! Anyone else feel the same way? I tried to put my finger on the reason. I generally find real world open world games very boring (like GTA), well made but dull. I think the great setting and undercover aspect helped.

Ulitametly I think it's because the main character was likeable and relatable. I never felt that in my time for any GTA game. I'm not GTA bashing, they are great games, but not for me, who else is in the same boat?

And the slow mow and over the top aspects of sleeping dogs were fun, I like that it was "real" but embraced still being a videogame.

Well I like both the GTA series and Sleeping Dogs in there own way.

You're completely right about the main character as he is actually conflicted about the whole undercover cop and being a Triad member. Many times in the story it feels like he can just tip over too much in one direcion. You don't feel AS much of a slave to the whims of whomever doles out the missions (Though you certainly are)

From a gameplay perspective, traversal and fighting is just plain FUN in Sleeping Dogs compared to GTA. It handles better.

first game of this type I actually bothered to finish the story on. It was nice not being some bellend gangbanger for once

SPOILERS

My biggest disappointment with it is that at one point, you become a triad leader. But you never feel like it, you should be making decisions, maybe have stuff like the Godfather games did. It was like you skyrocketed to the top and stayed there for the rest of the game. The GTA stories do a better job of "rags to riches" story. I just feel like your rise to the top could've been done better and once you take Winstons place you actually feel like a triad leader. They have that mission "the new boss" or whatever where you replace Winston, make one decision, and then don't really see or do anything with those guys again. I want to feel like I run the streets, like Winston did.

Other then that, I really loved the game.

You and I are in different boats.

I think we're getting to a point where GTA no longer is the pinnacle of the open world modern crime games. GTA IV was a real step down, in a lot of ways, from San Andreas and during this generation I have had more fun with Saint's Row, Mafia 2 and now Sleeping Dogs than I did with GTA IV. I think the problem mainly was that while GTA IV took hard turns to get a little less satirical and a little more serious, they also somehow seemed to half-ass a lot of what surrounded that core story. The graphics were odd, shadows were horrible looking, and some design decisions were just plain stupid. I mean, they had, what, a few clothing stores and two or three of them were identical. The system to browse clothing and all that was equally clunky. I found myself wishing they would have just skipped customization of the character. I don't even remember if the game had side-quests. I think a lot of what made GTA fun was just plainly taken out. While at the same time, franchises like Saints Row furthered that "customized" feel, while other games such as Mafia 2 (at leas to me) did a better job of an open world game with focus and less fluff.And since they went for Red Dead Redemption, we haven't seen them really seen them do it again to make any better recent comparisons. It'll be interesting to see how GTA V turns out in that regard. But enough about my thoughts on GTA IV.

Sleeping Dogs has a lot of good things going for it in my opinion. It's a pretty decent looking game that uses a completely new setting and source of inspiration, so in many ways that wins novelty points. But beyond that though is the fact that all the game's mechanics are just solid. There really isn't a thorn in the roses to annoy. The fighting has a certain timing to it, sure, but once you get a hang of it it's pretty fluid and fun. The driving is some of the best I've experienced in any open world game to date and the radio stations really help get you in the Hong Kong atmosphere. As said, the setting is fresh and as a fan of Hong Kong action cinema, I find it really fun to see the nods and winks at movies I like in everything from the plot to the clothing.

I'm actually doing pretty much everything in this game. I am not finished with the story yet but I've done all the car jobs, I work through the favors as they pop up. I do drug busts, collect jade statues. And that is crazy to me since I usually get to a point where I go "alright, get this over with" and just mainline the story. But it's not happening.

And even if I can explain some of my reasons, there is still some intangible quality to this game that I can't put my finger on, explain or justify.

I don't know, Sleeping Dogs feels a hell of a lot like GTA (but with shittier driving). If you enjoyed this, I'd revisit GTA. They're not all that different.

Edit: Actually, GTA IV is sort of old at this point. Just go play Red Dead Redemption. Best open-world game this gen by a mile.

Sleeping Dogs has nothing to do with GT.

I'm with Fjordson; Red Dead was The Great Leap Forward this time around. And Saints Row the Third was the spiritual successor to Grand Theft San Andreas (still the most groundbreaking game of its genre in my book). It's disappointing to play games that don't go big and that trade thrills for realism. Who wants realism over fun? I was hoping for a game that captured the feel of Wong Kar Wei, not so much John Woo. The claustrophobic, but incredibly modern and cool urban feel of Chung King Express and Fallen Angels was not here. It had a feel similar to GTA 4 or Crackdown: big city, not enough interiors, not enough to do. Having said that though, keep it up... GTA 3 revolutionized the modern game, and I'd love to see more Red Deads and more Shenmues and even more Sleeping Dogs 'cause no genre beats just doing whatever you feel like.

Red dead Redemption is a great open world game with a really likable character. John Marston is a badass and the old school west setting is a nice change of scenery. This is coming from someone who hates the GTA series and nearly gave up on Read dead on his first play through.

I really enjoyed the Sleeping Dog demo but I would find it seriously hard to take a story about a undercover cop who brutally murder people and routinely steal cars and cause reckless mayhem too seriously on the story department but that's just me.

I don't think the GTA games are boring at all. If you enjoyed Sleeping Dogs, you would have most likely enjoyed GTA III back in the day.

GTA 4 came out in 2007... Red Dead 2010. The leaps in bounds in open-world Rockstar Games was big just in that jump. Add in other companies getting their own stabs at it, like Saints Row and now Sleeping Dogs. Of course GTA 4 is gonna seem like a step down from these newer games, but it came out in 2007... but I will say this, it is still playable. I've been playing through GTA 4 for a 2nd playthrough and knock out the DLC and it still holds up.

As said. It is not fair to compare GTA 4 to Sleepy Dawgs as it cribs heavily from that series and has used the tech improvements over the years to make a much better game. Now if GTA 5 does not make the same improvements, then that would be a shame and fair to complain. Can't see it though as even the GTA 4 DLC ironed out quite a few of the niggles with GTA 4.

@OneManX: Came out mid-way through '08, but your point stands.

@RedRoach said:

SPOILERS

My biggest disappointment with it is that at one point, you become a triad leader. But you never feel like it, you should be making decisions, maybe have stuff like the Godfather games did. It was like you skyrocketed to the top and stayed there for the rest of the game. The GTA stories do a better job of "rags to riches" story. I just feel like your rise to the top could've been done better and once you take Winstons place you actually feel like a triad leader. They have that mission "the new boss" or whatever where you replace Winston, make one decision, and then don't really see or do anything with those guys again. I want to feel like I run the streets, like Winston did.

Other then that, I really loved the game.

I actually agree with this. This is the main problem I had with the game, although the rest of it was so well done that it was a small matter.

As far as gameplay and the overall fun factor goes, I liked Sleeping Dogs a lot more than GTA. The driving, combat, and shooting is a lot smoother, and then you have the free running sequences where you're chasing some guy down and jumping up and over shit, which I really enjoyed.

The strength of the plot between the GTA series in general and Sleeping Dogs is a toss up for me. GTA brings something new to the table each time, and is just BIGGER overall than Sleeping Dogs, which I think kind of gives it the edge.

But yeah, as much fun as it is to compare the two, I love both for what they bring to the table.

Kind of a question related to this.

If you liked something like Saint's Row the Third, but have a lot of trouble getting into GTA, is it worth going into Sleeping Dogs?

It seems interesting, but reckless driving in the wrong lane is really more my thing.

Having no options in terms of story was refreshing. Also refreshing was that Wei often made choices that I wanted him to make anyways. Like getting with Ricky's girl. I was all "naw son, don't play ricky like that, he's one of the good cats" and Wei totally didn't get in there. Well done Wei Shen!

As others pointed out, it's really odd how you go from enforcer to red pole, but Big Smile Lee at least acknowledges that but everyone else is just too busy looking after their own interests in this tumultuous time in the Sun On Yee that they really care about some newbie shooting up to their level. Even as a fellow red pole, they still treat him as a some rookie to be used merely as a pawn in the conflict between Aunt Jiang and Big Smile.

I did really like how the war with the 18k and Big Smile had Wei going back to 'his crew' and having to protect them. The game does a good job of taking annoying characters (Conroy, Winston, Jackie) and making you care about them when shit hits the fan, even though as a cop they're technically your enemies.

And thank goodness the whole thing doesn't drag on at all. It only took me around 16 hours to get through, and that's from doing just police cases and story missions. And during those 16 hours, everything managed to stay fresh.

Fantastic game. Which seems crazy considering as the shit it went though to get released.

@Zekhariah said:

Kind of a question related to this.

If you liked something like Saint's Row the Third, but have a lot of trouble getting into GTA, is it worth going into Sleeping Dogs?

It seems interesting, but reckless driving in the wrong lane is really more my thing.

Hmm, I dunno. The wrong lane in Sleeping Dogs is actually the right lane in every other open world game, so that might throw you off.

Haha, nah it's great. The martial arts combat is so brutal and at times ridiculous, the shooting isn't that great but the slowmo is fun to work with, but the most Saint's Row-y thing is when you shoot out tires while driving and vechicles just pop into the air.

It's a more realistic world and story than Saint's Row, but almost every aspect of it has some goofiness. You'll probably like it.

@Zekhariah said:

Kind of a question related to this.

If you liked something like Saint's Row the Third, but have a lot of trouble getting into GTA, is it worth going into Sleeping Dogs?

It seems interesting, but reckless driving in the wrong lane is really more my thing.

After playing both Saint's Row the Third and Sleeping Dogs this year, I really just wished both games fused together into one big super game. I played Sleeping Dogs first and enjoyed the hell out of it. I played Saint's Row the Third after and enjoyed it. But while playing it I wished I could toss people in trunks of cars, do crazy kung fu (though the sprinting takedowns are still great), and slow mo jump out of my car while it is driving and shoot it to explode. Then going back to Sleeping Dogs to play the DLC, I wished I could just jump threw the windshield of cars to drive them, fly planes and helicopters, have my own posse, and have all kinds of upgrades.

Doesn't really answer your question. But they are 2 great tastes that would go great together.