Really in the mood for some open-world madness, so will likely be picking up Sleeping Dogs this week. What really draws me to it is the fighting system, which to my eye looks quite a bit like my absolute favorite brawler system, i.e. Rocksteady's Batman games. I ask you, GB forum, how much fun did you have with SD's fight system? Is it comparable to (or better than) the Akrham games? Thanks!

It's like batman but with more knee breaking.

I can't say it's as smooth as the Arkham games, unfortunately. It feels entirely too easy for the bulk of the game that I played (13 hours). I don't think I lost a single melee combat encounter in that entire space, and even the challenges that pit you against a dozen enemies at a time are a bit of a cakewalk thanks to your ability to automatically counter almost any attack that comes your way. And the driving isn't very good, either. I didn't finish it, but I don't feel a lot of need to do so.

Not as great as Arkham's combat but it was still pretty good.

Don't listen to Rorie, it ain't that easy!

Yeah, its like Batman although that's definitely not a bad thing. Lots of counters, jumping from one enemy to the next, a buff meter that builds and lets the player enter a bullet-time state. You can disarm enemies and pick up their melee weapons. There's a skill tree that unlocks moves and fight club style battle arenas to gain XP. Surprisingly doesn't get old since the unlock animations are over-the-top silliness and there are some grisly environmental finishers. Eventually you transition from melee to guns and the formula is mixed up again.

So glad I got this on Plus+

I cant really comment on the fighting system much more than to say I found it enjoyable. I don't play a lot of fighting games if any at all and havent played the Batman games so I can't compare the two. I will say that this game is fun as hell and you should definitely pick it up.

Probably the best combat you can find in an open world game right now.

It's pretty damn good. There's more of a sense of impact and brutality in Sleeping Dogs than in the Arkham games, but it doesn't quite have the Arkhams' range of combat options, animations, fluidity or multiple simultaneous counters (as in B:AC). It's enjoyable enough that I ran around looking for fights with anyone I could, whenever I could. Some people like Rorie or other posters here have said it's too easy, yet back when the game was newer most of the complaints in the Steam forums were that the combat was too hard. To me that suggests it's pretty well pitched. I did find it a little easy, I guess, but I also find the combat in the Arkham games very easy and that doesn't stop it from being an outstanding strength of those games.

As for the rest of the game it's a lot of fun. It's short for an open world game and the driving isn't very good, but the environments have a lot of character, the story is fairly solid and the collectibles actually feel worth collecting. Looks gorgeous on PC, too.

It's really good. It's not quite as deep as the Arkham games, but if you liked that combat then you should like this one's. It also gets brutal later in the game, not in terms of difficulty but in terms of just what you're doing to people. It's also a little bit faster paced than Arkham's.

It also isn't that easy. It's not a remarkable, brag-worthy challenge, but it does get fairly difficult and interesting the further you go along the game.

I dunno, I found it intensely satisfying. It's definitely not complex or anything, but there's enough there. I really got sad when guns have to be used because I just enjoyed whooping dudes asses so much.

The combat system is pretty great and as others have mentioned it gets pretty brutal once you get lvledup. Personally I like it better than the Akrham games.

I will say that the enemy attack patterns and Enemy Ai don't live up to the combat system though. There isn't much variation to enemy types and once you figure out what to spam on them the game becomes very easy.

Still the combat system is varied + the open world setting makes it incredibly fun.

Now that were on subject, how short is it? It seems like there's tons of stuff to do around the main mission.

@stryker1121 said:

You can do everything, including side stuff, races and collectibles, in around 30 hours, maybe closer to 25-26 if you're fast. I'm guessing the main missions can take like 10-14 hours if you focus on nothing else. I have 36 hours clocked up on Steam, but I'm a slow methodical player and that time also includes benchmarking, time sat in setup screens and time spent messing around in the world for no real purpose. I'd say I felt done with SD at around 32 hours (although lately I have been thinking about getting some of the DLC or playing through again).

Again, I can't find the Game sales thread, so sorry for not really contributing, but Amazon has a Sleeping Dogs Bundle for $12.99 you get the game and all the DLC packs (11 packs included). I didn't like Sleeping Dogs a whole lot when I played it on the 360, but I'm getting it on PC (will play with 360 controller). Anywho...

Edit: My bad, not DLC, but the various packs... Gives you money, xp, cars, etc. apparently.

@laivasse: That sounds perfect, actually. I play slow as well and 30 hrs is right in my wheelhouse for this type of game. I'm sold.

Man without pork bun is never a whole man.

I think its pretty fun, as others have said not as good as Batman, but still pretty fun.