| System: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 |  |
| Dev: United Front Games | |
| Pub: Square Enix | |
| Release: August 14, 2012 | |
| Players: 1 | |
| Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p | Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs |
It's not that combat is broken, because it works, technically. It's copying the Arkham Asylum/Arkham City school of free-flow combat design, assigning players an attack button, a counter, and a throw. Environmental objects, such as dumpsters, can be used to enhance the damage one does. And, while the attacks are well-choreographed, it all just feels janky and stiff. Combat in the Arkham games is satisfying because it flows logically and smoothly, sharing more with a rhythm game than with traditional brawlers. Sleeping Dogs is a brawler with a counter button that shows you when dudes are about to attack you. It's really not the same at all, and it sours one to the game as a whole.
After defeating the first group of enemies, Wei Shen encounters a second group of foes on a rooftop. He combats them and, eventually, his target, who pulls a knife. After a brief beatdown (it was impossible to get a game over in the demo; dying simply resulted in a brief pause before Shen stood back up. At the end of the demo, Shen subdues his target and is beset upon by the police.
Besides being almost pitifully short, and providing no sense of what's in the game beyond a small sampling of its on-foot combat, the Sleeping Dogs demo felt less like a piece of the game it came from and more like a proof of concept that failed to prove its concept. It's a curious question, why Square Enix thought it would be a good showpiece for their booth. As it stands, it shares much with Gearbox's Duke Nukem Forever, minus the name power that Duke Nukem presented.
 |
By Shelby Reiches Contributing Writer Date: July 17, 2012 |
Game Features:
Assassin's Creed III Preview
Dragon's Dogma
Ghost Recon
Borderlands 2
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Lost Planet 3
Happy Birthday