Issue 89 is on shelves today, and with it, the very first Sleeping Dogs Xbox 360 review. We knew this was going to be good, ladies and gents, but quite how good we had no idea.
A gripping vision of Hong Kong which sports breakneck driving, a sharp, well-acted storyline and varied missions, the game earned a majestic 9/10. Reviewer Log's only real quibble is that it's a little short by open world standards, at 14 hours in length (update: complete all the inessential stuff, and you're looking at around 20). The full text will go live on the site later this month - read our latest preview while you wait.
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34 comments so far...
Clanger67 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Fourteen hours seems a bit short for an open worlder.Is that just going through the story though.As i understand it there are plenty of side missions and other distractions like GTA.Still can't wait and if things go to form might even get it next wed.
msbhvn on 8 Aug '12 said:
Really looking forward to Sleeping Dogs and OXM's seal of approval makes me even more confident that I made the right choice to pre-order.
I don't mind the "short" campaign as long as the action is non-stop and there's plenty of other stuff to do. All three GTA IV campaigns overstayed their welcome IMO, so SD should be just about right.
OXM Log on 8 Aug '12 said:
Fourteen hours play took me through the main chain of missions, and all of the cop missions. I did a good few of the Face missions, but I didn't explore the world fully. The world is decent sized, but not massive, so I did a little bit of tourism, and discovered some locations that felt curiously well-realised for an area where there were no missions. Perhaps they'll be used in DLC.
I reckon, if I was going to 100% it - do all the drug busts, max out my face level, it'd take more in the region of 20 hours. Still not massive for an open world game, but there's never a chance to get bored. GTA IV lost me half-way through. Sleeping Dogs never let go of my nuts.
Clanger67 on 8 Aug '12 said:
That's good to know is there much reason to go through it again as well.?That is even if you don't do everything anyway.
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
GTAIV grabbed me by the balls after halfway, so I'm expecting Sleeping Dogs to play tennis with them or some such metaphor by logical reasoning.
20 hours to 100% seems weak, but if they're batshit crazy 20 hours then that's pretty awesome.
CunningSmile on 8 Aug '12 said:
I'd rather have 14 hours of tight plot and good story than something that meanders about for 40 hours and results in me losing all drive to keep going as so often happens in open world games.
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Boo cunning! It's shit for a large amount of time, opening 10-15 hours but it really is good after that, like dragon age a bit, where you are invested in the characters. The dlcs are just straight up action fests too, both with better laid out boring bits which are welcome and make them good standout games rather than dlc.
CunningSmile on 8 Aug '12 said:
I enjoyed both GTA4 DLCs as I found both had a character and charm that was completely lacking in the main game. And why should I spend 15 hours being bored senseless and irritated by dislikeable over demanding NPCs in order to get to a good game? None of R* other games asked me to do that, in fact most of them are enjoyable straight from the gate even on the handholding tutorial missions.
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Haha I wasn't being literal here it's only the first quarter that isn't loads of action, and that's only a few hours if you don't explore the city, personally I like the beginning and think it takes less time to get started than Red Dead Redemption, which is also great.
CunningSmile on 8 Aug '12 said:
The biggest difference for me between RDR and GTA4 was that I actually liked John. He was well acted and friendly, whilst Niko was lumpen and dull and I just could not bear to spend more than an hour or two with him. Throw in the fact most of the support characters in RDR were similarly likeable from the off compared to GTA4's obnoxious cousins and shrill over demanding girlfriends and it baffles me why it scored so well. Plus all I can remember of GTA4's colour pallet was brown (even Gears was brighter) whilst RDR was beautiful.
In fact the more i talk about it the more bewildered I get that I last even a few hours.
Sleeping Dogs looks like a much better propect.
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Hmm, I love nico he's hilarious but he isn't instantly likable, but come on - Irish, that old guy and seth are really boring and annoying characters. The only good one is bonnie, even his wife and son are shit.
CunningSmile on 8 Aug '12 said:
I liked them, but Irish reminds me of a friend of mine.
Sorry to sound defensive and bad tempered but after all these years I'm starting to feel like GTA4 is a joke that everyone is in on except me. I'm half expecting GTA5 to be released and everyone (including the OXM guys) suddenly goes "Surprise Cunning, we all thought GTA4 was shit as well, fooled you!" and I end up being laughed at like Snarf at the end of Thundercats
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
If anything I'm the one being defensive as I feel the same as you, except opposite - everyone seems to hate it except me. And maybe clanger. I find it one of the greatest examples of brilliance this generation, not many others do.
OXM Log on 8 Aug '12 said:
I've played through the opening four or five missions around a few times now. There's no real reason to do so, apart from the fact it's a lot of fun.
There's no helicopter for 200 pigeons. But there are a whole bunch of health and cash-boosting collectibles if you love to get everything.
If you want to get all of these, I think you should follow the romance missions. Mine ended up disappearing, after a period of neglect, and I didn't have the time to work out the logic of who fancies you how and when. I suspect Not Ping lost interest because of the "go to bed" quasi-missions, which seem to be a subtle way of chapterising the game. Don't go to bed unless you're happy to move on in the game.
Clanger67 on 8 Aug '12 said:
I would say that the friendship thing got on my tits sometimes especially when you have loads of contacts especially Dwayne
SidTheSloth on 8 Aug '12 said:
I'm with you on this Cunning - i'm very much a hater too, despite wanting and trying to love it soooo many times. I bought the DLC's but such is my disdain for the main game i can't even bring myself to play them. Worse is, every time i hear/see bezza write/speak about it i get excited about GTA's of old and fire it up again and it's the same old slap in the face disappointment. It's so bad that it's completely killed my enthusiasm for 5 to the extent i'm more excited about the next Saints Row than it.
This 'ere sleeping dogs malarky could well be a good alternative, liking everything i'm reading about it so far, and completely agree with the 20 hours of tight/well thought out gameplay > 60 hours of great gameplay interspersed with filler quests and collectibles. I loved Dragons Dogma but i defy anyone else who did the same to disagree that the game wouldn't have been much the better for far fewer stupid collect/escort quests, surely included to bloat that 'how long does it take' answer up for people on the fence etc.
OXM Log on 8 Aug '12 said:
Sincerely, on GTAIV - I loved it for about ten hours. There was that betrayal by a person who'd made me waste time doing pointless recreational stuff. That was brilliant, because of the cocktail of "but we went BOWLING!" and "I ALWAYS RESENTED YOU" that it brewed up in me. Hats off to a game making a betrayal sting in a new way. But there was a point, some time after Brucie's mission chain, where I didn't like the mission givers, the gunplay just didn't excite me, and I exhaled, and a pink wisp of passion drifted out of the corner of my mouth
Loved Gay Tony, though
CunningSmile on 8 Aug '12 said:
Cheers Log, that actually makes me feel so much better that a paid reviewer didn't like it
Really looking forward to Sleeping Dogs though and glad you've given it the two thumbs up.
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Boo! You're all off my christmas card list for having your own opinions!
Clanger67 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Hang Jar Jar on 8 Aug '12 said:
I didn't really like GTA 4, I wanted to but I just couldn't get into it, and this is the reason why I didn't like it, they stripped it down to what feels like GTA 3, you couldn't work out at a gym, you couldn't fly planes, you couldn't do minigames like picking up fares in a taxi ect. This is my biggest problem with it, where are all the cheat codes? I was expecting all the cheats from San Andreas and then some, I want riots in the streets, flying cars, lock wanted level to 0, and all those other humerous cheats. Thats what was missing to humor, there was some with Brucie and Roman, but all in all it felt very dark and serious which doesn't work with a GTA game. I felt as if Rockstar spent to much time on the new engine then they did the gameplay, GTA 4 was supposed to improve on San Andreas, but instead it felt as if it took three steps back from its younger brother. I still love Rockstar but I hope that they will improve with GTA 5, being in Los Santos is a plus, instead of the tiresome Liberty City, and the clothing options sound like they're already being improved. I'm still excited for GTA 5, it sounds like what GTA 4 should've been, can't wait to play it.
Bezza89 on 8 Aug '12 said:
Like I said before, I was pretty sure you're in my boat, now you can have a christmas card to read in the boat.
Wadium_Arcadium on 8 Aug '12 said:
I loved GTA IV from the off but I just didn't get on with Red Dead Redemption when it first came out and never finished it. Nearly two years later I bought it again and loved every minute. Rockstar can't do much wrong in my eyes.
If this takes inspiration from them, it's good news.
Grummy on 9 Aug '12 said:
Sometimes I worry about you. You want to improve your "Face Level", Sleeping dogs never let go of your nuts and now you love Gay Tony.......
Grummy on 9 Aug '12 said:
Depends why they didn't like it. I hated it because I found it boring to play, ugly to look at, I hated the characters, and it took itself far too seriously.
If 5 deals better with that stuff, then I'm all for it.
Clanger67 on 9 Aug '12 said:
Yet i am the exact opposite on all these points.Plus as i mentioned before it was one of the reasons i got a 360.I also know a couple of other ex pc gamers who did the same thing and like me loved it.Surely if a game can help sell a console that is a good thing.
SidTheSloth on 9 Aug '12 said:
Yeah you baffled me too with that one Clang - there's some cliché about size i can't remember, but it wasn't particularly the scale of IV that upset me or put me off it, all i know is every time i find myself playing it (usually firing it back up because people like you and Bezza say how good it is and i become determined to find this goodness) i very quickly find myself longing for another game. I just find it completely tedious for many of the reasons already mentioned (and i find the police too ridonculous in IV, one random punch always seems to escalate into a full on chase across the city with frustratingly convenient police car spawning).
I wasn't a huge fan of San Andreas either if im completely honest, it was the best and worst for me of the previous gen ones, some great additions but too many things ruining my fun and pulling me in different directions, but it was more fun than IV in my opinion. 3 & VC were both superior though, i just loved the structure of them more (and the setting of VC which is no doubt a bit marmite).
Clanger67 on 9 Aug '12 said:
Fair enough Sid,i was just making the point of size as i have read that was a thing that put people off IV.Just clicked with it from the off and never had much frustration,boredom.Maybe like Bezza says some just don't click with it to start with and don't continue until they do.Or just don't full stop in which case fair enough it isn't the game for you.Thing is i have enjoyed all the GTA's since the first top down one.Yet always had a few niggles with them until SA.Enjoyed VC but the fact you can't swim niggled with that for me.SA was the first one that allowed you to do pretty much anything.Thing is with IV i have no prob. with just exploring,cracking up at some of the things you hear and see etc.,while not getting bored.
SidTheSloth on 9 Aug '12 said:
It no doubt irritates the shit out of you too, loving a game and all us tits keep saying how bad it is too - i know it annoys me when people continually hate over something i like!
I think it's all down to disappointment though, i really looked forward to IV, bought the ultra special limited edition, even bought it for my lil bro too (who i still call lil even though was old enough to drive in the 90's - he hated it too the ungrateful swine!
) so maybe my expectations were just too high?
Anyhow, lets hope we all like SD as much as we think we will, there's not a great deal out this year that's completely new so it's good that the few that are look good! I may not get this release day, but i'll be Jackie Chan-ing someone off a rooftop before year end i guarantee!
EDIT: I meant to add, another probable reason i hate IV is i inadvertently deleted my saved game and lost my initial 15 hours! Everytime i loaded it up it started from the beginning and i hadn't noticed a second controller was plugged in via USB so the pad i was using was classed as player 2! Googling suggested it was corrupted so i should delete and restart - trying to do the opening bit again was just too huge a slog
Clanger67 on 9 Aug '12 said:
Anyway yeah SD will add loads to the genre i reckon.And like you say V could probably learn some things from it like the hand to hand fighting,way you can upgrade your character etc.
Bezza89 on 9 Aug '12 said:
You're all trying to claw your way back to the christmas list; no dice! lol. I'm having my own gtav, with hookers and blackjack.
Decent_Jam on 9 Aug '12 said:
Actually, forget the blackjack and GTA...
skipperd on 10 Aug '12 said:
Sincerely, on GTAIV - I loved it for about ten hours. There was that betrayal by a person who'd made me waste time doing pointless recreational stuff. That was brilliant, because of the cocktail of "but we went BOWLING!" and "I ALWAYS RESENTED YOU" that it brewed up in me. Hats off to a game making a betrayal sting in a new way. But there was a point, some time after Brucie's mission chain, where I didn't like the mission givers, the gunplay just didn't excite me, and I exhaled, and a pink wisp of passion drifted out of the corner of my mouth
Loved Gay Tony, though
Cheers for that - agree with you on Gay Tony - that could have been a game in itself.
krisskross on 10 Aug '12 said:
Is the open world fun though? is it fun to play?