(I own the game on Steam) I have a bias here in that I've taken a few trips to Hong Kong and love the city, and I love HK cinema. However, I think even putting that aside, Sleeping Dogs is a wonderful game. The story moves along at a good pace, the characters have depth and charisma, and each role is very well voice-acted (including some big names like Lucy Liu, Tom Wilkinson and James Hong). The city is wonderfully realised, capturing the essentials of Hong Kong island (including Victoria Peak! Well worth a drive up there). I actually prefer it over GTA in almost every aspect; it's a map much more suited to traversing on foot (and in fact the game has a very cool on-foot chase mechanic that has you parkouring around, like in a Jackie Chan film), it has a sweet hand-to-hand combat system (albeit very inspired by the Batman Arkham games), cinematic car handling (slightly more arcadey than GTA but ultimately more manageable) and tense gun fights (weapons are accurate and feel weighty, dishing out a lot of damage). It's also one of the few games where progression feels meaningful at each step, both mechanically (via unlocking new martial arts moves) and narratively (as you climb up the triad ranks). I've replayed it a few times and it's become real gaming 'comfort food' for me. I hope it hits the spot for you too!
Meh. Easily the worst game in the series, far more linear and action heavy. I'm guessing IO were trying to make it a more mainstream title, and whilst there were some improvements to combat and movement feel (and visually it was impressive), that doesn't make up for the massive change in direction. Levels are way smaller, way more linear and combat seems far less avoidable. Thankfully they got things more or less back on track with the 2 Hitman games that followed this (actually I can't speak to the latest 'Hitman 2' but by all accounts it's more a season 2 of the episodic one). If you have only played the old Hitman games and liked them, I'd save the money and put it towards one of the newer titles. If you didn't like any of the other Hitman games, add a star to this review. You may actually get something out of it; as a stand-alone action game it has its moments.
