Don't Sleep on the Dogs

After getting a solid 3 hours of gaming in yesterday, I can finally give my first impressions on the game Sleeping Dogs. The game is essentially Grand Theft Auto inverted. It's an open world game in which you play an undercover cop. In a sense, it's like a blend of GTA and L.A. Noire. For those that remember the old True Crime series, this is the latest game in that series (though there has been a developer and title change). This time the action has moved over to Hong Kong where you are to infiltrate the Triads and take them down. The fighting controls in this are similar to Batman: Arkham City.......except your character has no problem with killing anyone. You have basic moves and combos that you know that levels up over time. If a person is attracting you, they'll highlight red so you know to counter. The parkour style of running works pretty seamlessly and is both fun and helpful. The graphics and visuals are beautiful, but one problem I noticed that once I swam and I got of the water, there was no signs of him being wet. There's a fun social hub that pops up while you are in the middle of a challenge that shows your friend's records in the game. There's no online play so this is a fun addition to keep the competitive juices. The storyline is fun and engaging. I'm usually one that hates cut scenes and skips as much as possible, but I can honestly say that I've yet to skip one (which you can pretty much do for any cut scene or dialogue). And this is all before I got a gun or a car! Thus far into the game, I can say it's the best game in it's genre since GTA: Vice City and is DEFINITELY better than GTA IV.