This game is one of my favourite new IPs from its generation. To explain it in short, it's a GTA clone set in Hong Kong with an emphasis on Batman-esque hand to hand fighting and limited gunplay. The story is a short and sweet 15 hour campaign revolving around Wei Shen, a Hong Kong-American repat undercover with the HKPD tasked to infiltrate and take down the triad. While a simple setup there's well written characters (with some surprisingly big name voice actors) and a "greyness" to Wei's character as his loyalty to the police, the triads and his own personal motivations all come into play throughout the story. The combat is fun and satisfying with unlockable moves gained from statues hidden around the map and character upgrades tied to Triad and Police XP gained through missions depending on how much illegal stuff you do over the mission vs how "by the books" you were. It is rather easy though and doesn't have the depth of a Yakuza title for example. You can also impale guys on swordfish. Side content of favours, racing and rooster fights are pretty fun and a nice way to explore United Front's version of Hong Kong (which has an unmatched atmosphere when rainy and paired with the absolutely killer radio soundtrack). The dating side missions are hilarious because you will meet a girl, go out once and she will then disappear from your phone and the game, very obviously something that had to be cut during development. Included are also the two DLC expansions. These weren't amazingly well received when this game was new but as a pack in they're both fun 1-2 hour romps each. One is an MJ Thriller homage with hopping ghosts and the other is Wei back on beat cop duty beating down a cult. All in all, this is my favourite "AA" game which is sadly a category you don't see too much these days.
