Sleeping Dogs had a troubled development – starting life as a new game in the ‘True Crime’ series before being abandoned by Activision and picked up, sans title, by Square Enix. Initial footage looked promising but could developers United Front (makers of Modnation Racers) deliver a great, open world experience?
The short answer is yes and I’ll go into more detail on why…
Firstly Sleeping Dogs is hugely fun. It’s been a while since I played an open world game so over the top that I had a grin permanently attached while playing (that honour goes to Just Cause 2). While the game does have some serious moments, which I thought were handled quite well, this is a title in which you drive the narrative forward by hijacking cars from an already moving vehicle or beating up numerous enemies with some kickass kung fu.
The combat feels good, once you get into the rhythm needed for counters you won’t look back and some of the more brutal moves you can learn will make you wince on behalf on your victim. Then there are the environmental kills – activated by using items around you (an electric fan or the protruding nose of a dead swordfish) to impale, maim or just downright kill enemies.
You play as Wei Shen, an undercover cop in Hong Kong trying to bust the triad gangs. This gives you a nice game mechanic in terms of mission type. You can do side missions for the cops or the triads, which will raise your XP in each area and grant you new moves for fighting or disarming enemies. There are also a third set of missions that you do for just random folks on the street that raises your ‘Face’ meter. This gives you a damage bonus in combat and also unlocks different outfits for Wei Shen.
The game floats between Wei taking down bad guys as a cop and dishing out some pretty brutal beatings as a triad. Occasionally things felt a little forced in one direction or the other but in general the game gives you enough to do so if you want to take a break from the story you easily can.
The voice acting is top notch, with great performances from Tom Wilkinson, Lucy Liu, Emma Stone and Will Yun Lee, who plays Wei Shen. Shen’s voice acting is really well done and even the smaller characters are convincing.
There is no online as such but the game automatically compares various stats with your friends and will remind you what needs to be beaten as you do different activities.
Something that struck me as out of the ordinary for a game of this style was that you don’t get a gun (or encounter many armed enemies) until you’re about 2 or 3 hours into the game. This grants Sleeping Dogs a refreshing feel as you rely on the hand to hand combat for the early sections of the game. Even when you do get a gun you’ll often find yourself sticking with hand to hand, especially against big groups of enemies.
Overall, Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic game. It does lack a little bit of polish – there are some jagged edges here and there – but I found it to be an engaging and hugely fun to play game. Square Enix did a great job of picking this game up off the dumpster and releasing a really strong title. If you like open world games this is the perfect title to tide you over while the world waits to find out when we will finally get our hands on Grand Theft Auto V.
As someone who didn’t play the original Just Cause this game wasn’t really on my radar until a Gametrailers special featuring it. Once I got my hands on the demo and experienced it for myself, I knew I’d end up getting a copy.
The game takes place a few years after the first game with agency operative Rico Rodriguez taking a trip to the (fictional) island of Panau in Asia. His mission is to assassinate Panau’s repressive leader ‘Baby’ Panay and track down Tom Sheldon, a rogue operative who has defected away from the agency.
The big draw here is the gameplay itself, which consists of causing as much chaos as possible. And that’s literally ‘chaos’ – it’s the game’s version of XP and you’ll need a set amount to unlock the agency missions as you go along.
Which brings me to my one major complaint with Just Cause 2… it’s too long. I know that might sound crazy, when people complain games are so short these days but this game took me 23 hours to play through. That in itself wouldn’t be a problem if they’d added in some extra agency missions.
In fact it’s more of a pacing issue than the length of the game. With only 6 agency missions (the last one kicks straight in after mission 6) that is a lot of time (almost 4 hours to unlock each mission if you split it equally) to be messing around and causing chaos.
It is super fun to cause chaos and the takeover/faction missions are mainly interesting but I felt a few of the bigger side missions could’ve been incorporated as full agency missions. It felt like I was really grinding towards the last mission by the time I got anywhere near it.
I always think the best games find a way of making sure you don’t feel bored on the route to unlocking missions, sadly for me I found it a bit of a struggle towards the end of the game.
But overall that’s an issue that won’t bother some people and it certainly doesn’t hurt the gameplay or any of the mechanics at play here.
Just Cause 2 is a great game. It builds on the framework of the original game and titles like Mercenaries 2 to provide one of the best open world experiences out there. I wish I had got around to playing this last year as it would certainly have got a nod for Single Player Game Of The Year.
While the game is based around the spy/thriller genre it has such a sense of fun that you can’t help but laugh at most of it. With the ability to tie an enemy to a gas canister, shoot it and send him whizzing into the air you get the feeling the developers had a blast making it.
Speaking of blasts Just Cause 2 has some great looking explosions and with the amount of them happening it can make for some pretty spectacular gameplay.
When you find yourself chasing and shooting down a recently launched space rocket with a fighter jet, you know you’re onto a winner.
With a whole heap of content (I think my 23 hours equates to about 20% of the game) and the fact the game is so much fun, I would definitely recommend giving Just Cause 2 a chance. This is the perfect title to get stuck into over these barren game release summer months.
So here we go with Part Two of my Top 50 Single Player Games, appreciate the comments on the first part (which can be found here) so keep ‘em coming. As I said before I’m mainly focusing on good story based experiences, so things like Gran Turismo 5 won’t be appearing on the list.
Let’s get started:
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40. BIOSHOCK 2 (NE)
Bioshock 2 brings you back 8 years after the events of the first game (1968) to take control of a Big Daddy who has no memory of the last decade and wants to find the Little Sister he was originally paired with.
A sequel to such a unique title was always going to be tricky to pull off. However 2k Marin have done well to recreate the atmosphere of the original game while keeping it different enough that you can tell time has passed.
At the end of the day this is definitely a title that revels in the world created for it by the previous game. You don’t have to have played the original to enjoy this game but you’ll probably get more of it if you have.
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39. BULLETSTORM (NE)
Telling the story of Grayson Hunt, a space pirate in the 26th century, who crash lands his crew’s ship on an alien planet following a (failed) drunk attempt at revenge on a huge spaceship. As you try to battle your way off the planet all hell breaks loose, with various factions taking each other on as well as fighting with you.
The game mechanics work well and some of the ways you can dispatch foes have to be seen to be believed.
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38. BORDERLANDS (24)
Borderlands has a distinctive cartoon, tongue in cheek style that is perfectly suited for the game and while the story isn’t particularly amazing, the colourful characters will have you chuckling along.
Borderlands is all about the loot. The game creates random weapons as you go along so it’s unlikely two people will ever get the same set of weapons throughout a playthrough, which is pretty cool.
It’s one of the longer games I’ve played recently – clocking in more towards 20 hours for a first playthrough – but it’s definitely a universe that should be experienced.
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37. MORTAL KOMBAT (NE)
After a fair few lacklustre versions, culminating in the widely derided Mortal Kombat Vs DC, Nether Realms Studios decided to go back to basics for this, the ninth Mortal Kombat game.
For the first time in a long time the storyline of a fighting game ties together nicely. Rather than choosing a fighter and playing through their story, in Mortal Kombat you play as various characters (usually for 3 or 4 fights each) as the story progresses.
This is a great idea. Firstly because it means the overall story is the focus as opposed to one character, and secondly becuase it forces you to use characters you may never have chosen and therefore before a better all round player. Recommended, even for people with only a passing interest in fighting games.
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36. VANQUISH (NE)
From the makers of Bayonetta, Vanquish tells the story of Sam Gideon, a member of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), who is tasked with rescuing a scientist that was working on the O’Neill Cylinder Space Station when it was hijacked by Russia. Russia are holding the USA to ransom, destroying San Francisco and targeting New York next unless the Americans comply with their wishes – total surrender.
Got all that? Right now forget all about it and SHOOT THOSE ROBOTS!
Vanquish is certainly an experience I’d recommend and for a few sessions of a couple of hours each it is a blast to play. It doesn’t quite have the same depth as Bayonetta with regard to the characters but it can hold it’s head high in terms of a single player experience.
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35. RED FACTION: GUERRILLA (23)
Red Faction: Guerrilla is a bit of an underrated gem. It’s your basic David vs Goliath battle with the Red Faction resistance (you guys) taking on the evil Earth Defence Force who have taken advantage of their position in power on Mars.
But the main part of the game is the destruction. Buildings fall realistically and weakening them structurally can often mean a delayed collapse.
I heartily recommend Red Faction. It’s not massively difficult but it has a good solid story and is insanely fun. You can pick this up for about £15 pre-owned in most places and it will be money well spent.
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34. RESISTANCE 2 (22)
After saving England in the previous installment Hale is back in business to rescue the U S of A – since his incapacitation the Chimera have launched a full attack on America and Hale, as part of the Sentinal squad (made up of soldiers injected with the Chimera virus but kept under control), have to step in and stop them in their tracks.
A hard hitting but fun first person shooter.
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33. MAFIA II (NE)
Mafia II tells the story of Vito Scaletta, a returning war veteran who comes home to find life has changed while he’s been away and soon fins himself mixed up in the world of the Mafia.
This game is an interesting beast, as during a lot of the promo leading up to its release we were led to believe it would be open world (ala GTA) at least in some parts. In reality this is a very linear experience and that has led to some negative feedback.
Personally while that discovery came as a disappointment if you can look beyond it then you will find a strong, solid single player experience with a well crafted and immersive story.
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32. JUST CAUSE 2 (NE)
Just Cause 2 is like the evolution of Mercenaries 2 – it excels in many ways and also has the added bonus of the carnage you can create with Rico’s grappling hook, which can hook enemies as well as grappling to walls etc.
With a story featuring rebels and dictators, Just Cause 2 doesn’t tread any new ground in terms of narrative but you probably won’t care as a mountain of explosions gather behind you. As well as the main story missions you’ll need to complete lots of side missions to create as much Chaos as possible.
As an example of how crazy this game is one of the side missions involved me stealing a fighter jet and then using it to shoot down a recently launched SPACE SHUTTLE
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31. MIRROR’S EDGE (21)
Mirror’s Edge wowed everyone with it’s crisp, clean graphics and it’s unique first person perspective. The view takes a while to get used to and it had a few really annoying parts where it was difficult to time jumps etc because of the view but Mirror’s Edge is certainly worth playing through as it offers a style of gameplay that is totally unique in the current games market.
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So there we go, another part down and we’re hitting the Top 30 next!
As always thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment on the games so far and whether you’d have placed any of them higher/lower.
Well it’s that time of year again and 2010 has seen some immense games roll around – as well as continued support via DLC for some of 2009 biggest titles.
Sadly I didn’t have time to play every game that was released so if I’ve missed anything worth checking out shout me in the comments and if it’s not already in my ‘to play’ pile I’ll get it added.
Right, let’s go!
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BEST GAME INNOVATION
WINNER: Destruction 2.0 (Battlefield Bad Company 2)
This was a tough one to call this year but I definitely think Destruction 2.0 is something that has helped put Battlefield head and shoulders above most other shooters out there. Enemy hiding in a house? Just blow the wall up in front of them and it’ll leave a nice big hole to shoot them through. Or just blow the building up completely and have it crush them to death.
No question of the winner here – with around 6 hours of single player and the fantastic Undead Overrun & Land Grab online modes, Undead Nightmare packs a lot of bang for your buck. This is one of the more comprehensive DLC packs out there and if you liked Red Dead Redemption then this is a must have. Props to Uncharted and Battlefield though – two strong modes added there but Undead takes this one.
RUNNERS UP:
Heavy Rain: The Taxidermist
Uncharted 2 Seige
Battlefield: Onslaught
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DOWNLOADABLE GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Dead Nation
I honestly didn’t see anything taking this award away from the excellent Joe Danger and then Housemarque’s Dead Nation arrived at the beginning of December. Dripping in HD visuals comes a twin stick shooter that makes you think about your every move. When to use the SMG and how much Shotgun ammo to conserve become regular questions. Your score gets added to total score for your country and you can keep a tab on which country is the best at fighting the Zombie invasion. Very cool indeed.
RUNNERS UP:
Joe Danger
Shank
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
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MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF 2011
WINNER: Killzone 3
Wow, this was a tough call – it had to be Killzone 3 or Uncharted 3. I’m sure Uncharted 3 will be awesome but having played Killzone 3 I can’t wait for this to arrive in February. Continuing the story from the second game and adding substantially to the multiplayer, I think this could be a game of the year contender.
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BEST GAME TRAILER
WINNER: L.A Noire
The standard of trailers has been so high this year I’ve decided to pop the runners up on here as well for you to have a look at. L.A Noire takes the crown though and man, those Rockstar guys know how to make a trailer! Another contender for most anticipated, L.A Noire sees you take on the role of Cole Phelps, a detective in 1940′s America. Great stuff and the trailer really captures that feeling of the time.
RUNNERS UP:
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Spec Ops The Line
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – Vietnam
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PSP GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to pick up God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta yet so that hasn’t made the cut. I’m sure it would’ve been a close call regardless as Metal Gear also oozes quality and is such a deep game that there is always something different to do. Whether it’s going on missions or recruiting more soldiers for your army, Peace Walker will keep you entertained for hours. My play through clocked in at 16 hrs, which puts a fair few PS3 titles to shame.
RUNNER UP:
Half Minute Hero
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BEST SPORTS GAME
WINNER: FIFA 11
FIFA 11 is more of a refinement than anything else but it’s amazing the difference the changes make. While FIFA continues to dominate it’s interesting that PES gets a nomination this year – it shows that the series has made great strides this year to try and close the gap.
RUNNERS UP:
Formula 1 2010
Modnation Racers
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
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BEST GRAPHICS
WINNER: Heavy Rain
No doubt on this one as Quantic Dream’s stunning thriller has some of the best motion capture and facial animation ever seen in a game. Whether it was evading masked men as Madison, talking down a robber in a shop with Shelby or shouting ‘JASON!’ repeatedly in a mall as Ethan, Heavy Rain looked gorgeous. Gran Turismo 5 certainly deserves a heads up in this category as when it all comes together it looks stunning however Heavy Rain was far more consistent.
RUNNERS UP:
God Of War 3
Red Dead Redemption
Gran Turismo 5
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BEST STORYLINE
WINNER: Red Dead Redemption
Unexpected. Not a word you’ll often type when talking about the story of a game but that’s what you get with Red Dead. John Marston’s story of gunslinger gone good who is brought in by the government against his will to track down his old gang trundles along at a pace and has plenty of stand out moments but it’s the final third of the game that stands out as some of the best I’ve played in a game. Not to mention the ending, which is one of the most impressive I’ve ever experienced in a game. Genius.
RUNNERS UP:
God of War III
Mafia II
Heavy Rain
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BEST SOUNDTRACK (SCORE)
WINNER: God Of War III
The final part of Kratos’ epic trilogy hit PS3 owners with everything it had back in March and as usual Gerard K Marino’s score didn’t disappoint. Dipping and soaring in the right places this was the perfect accompaniment to the on screen carnage. The score really does push the story on and is definitely well suited to Kratos’ character.
RUNNERS UP:
Heavy Rain
Red Dead Redemption
Bioshock 2
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BEST SOUNDTRACK (LICENSED)
WINNER: Mafia II
The music in Mafia II is a huge part of what makes you feel like you are actually back in that era. I remember the first car I got into had “At The Hop” by Danny and The Juniors playing. It was one of the coolest things I’d had happen in a game for ages. A wonderful selection of old tracks that are well worth checking out in their own right but that combined with gameplay help make for a memorable experience.
RUNNERS UP:
Bioshock 2
FIFA 11
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
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BEST VOICE ACTING
WINNER: Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar usually deliver on the voice front with the GTA titles and Red Dead Redemption certainly doesn’t disappoint. Every character feels well rounded and has a voice to suit them perfectly. Even the supporting cast: Bonnie McFarland, Seth, Irish and, of course, West Dickens. This was a strong category this year with Mafia II in particular impressing but with such strength in depth it has to be Red Dead Redemption.
RUNNERS UP:
God Of War III
Mafia II
Heavy Rain
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SINGLE PLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption tells a well crafted story in a beautifully rendered environment. There is so much to do and see that I still don’t feel like I have fully explored the world of the wild west. Rockstar have created a varied and expansive playground with enough going on to keep even the most hardcore of gamers entertained for hours and hours.
RUNNERS UP:
Heavy Rain
Mafia II
Alpha Protocol
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MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Battlefield: Bad Company 2
It was nice for me personally that my most anticipated game of 2010 lived up to expectations and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 nailed team based multiplayer like no other game I’ve ever played. The sense of satisfaction at winning a tense round of Rush and the feeling of being part of a bigger team is hard to beat. With the upcoming Vietnam expansion pack this game will only get better and better.
RUNNERS UP:
Modnation Racers
Red Dead Redemption
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
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GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Red Dead Redemption
There could really only be one choice this year, with Rockstar’s Western epic taking the title of Game Of The Year. With a brilliant single player campaign and an ever improving multiplayer mode, Red Dead Redemption is a title that will keep you entertained and provide you with plenty of value for money. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 comes a close second as that has been my most played multiplayer title but overall Red Dead pips it.
RUNNERS UP:
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Heavy Rain
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
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So there we go. Another year of gaming done and dusted with Red Dead Redemption taking home an unprecedented FIVE awards!
Some great games didn’t even make the nominations – that’s how tough it’s been to make decisions.
The likes of MAG, Bayonetta, Just Cause 2 and Vanquish unfortunately didn’t make the grade but goes to show how strong the line up of game releases has been in 2010.
So what games would you guys have given awards this year?
I was expecting Just Cause 2 to be a laugh based on the various trailers/footage I’d seen but the demo is the most mindless fun I’ve had since Red Faction: Guerrilla.
You get half an hour to run around causing carnage, with a few optional missions to keep you busy as well.
Being honest though you probably might not bother with the missions, after the short tutorial you’ll be off looking to make trouble.
The controls take a few minutes to get down but it soons feels natural enough and the ability to chain together movements – grapple/parachute – is brilliant.
Graphically the game isn’t amazing in cut scenes but the in game stuff is great.
My only concern with this game is whether the mission structure will work or if it will get repetitive. Hopefully not but it’s always a concern in a title like this.
Just Cause 2 isn’t going for realism and you will find yourself grappling between cars at the touch of a button. Enemies are knocked off their feet by your killer shot in an Indiana Jones type death.
There is a whole lot to see, do and blow up in this demo alone, get it downloaded now and see what you think.
Well it’s that time again when I thought it would be handy to round up what’s on the horizon and what games I’ll be keeping an eye out for in 2010.
RED DEAD REDEMPTION
Release: April 2010
This for me could be one of the stand out titles for 2010. I always held out hope, I mean, a western by the makers of GTA? But the overwhelmingly positive chatter of industry people who’ve played it means this one could fulfil it’s potential.
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ALPHA PROTOCOL
Release: ‘Spring’ 2010
Delayed from last year, which is usually not a good sign, Alpha Protocol is apparently not just being polished but changes are being made to some of the core mechanics. Essentially the chance to become Jason Bourne and choose what areas you specialise in (martial arts/guns/computer hacking etc) mean this could be a really great experience.
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BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2
Release: March 2010
I won’t bore everyone again with how much I want to play this game – check out my beta impressions and demo impressions for a more in depth look!
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GOD OF WAR III
Release: March 2010
One of the most highly anticipated games of the year, the third instalment in the God Of War franchise marks Kratos’ debut on the PS3. Everything seen so far looks totally epic and could really push the boundaries in terms of sense of scale.
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MODNATION RACERS
Release: Spring 2010
Luckily I got into the beta for this otherwise it could’ve slipped under my radar. A cross between LittleBigPlanet and Mario Kart, Modnation Racers could be fantastic – as long as the online is smooth and they sort out the (long) load times.
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DEAD RISING 2
Release: September 2010
The original (XBox exclusive) Dead Rising was one of those games that I watched a mate play and thought it looked fun but never actually got to play myself. Looks like they have cranked up both the comedy and the violence in the second installment as your one man army fends off the zombies.
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RESISTANCE 3 (Rumoured)
Release: Late 2010?
While not as strong as Killzone 2 the Resistance series of games are, for me personally, vastly underrated. The third in the series has been rumoured for a while and although we haven’t had anything official everyone seems to think this will be announced at E3 in June – I hope it is as I would relish the chance to take down some more Chimera
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KANE AND LYNCH 2
Release: May/June 2010
I seem to be in a minority with regards to the original Kane and Lynch – while flawed I found it to be an enjoyable, gritty game. The sequel is set in Shanghai and the entire game is played through the eyes of a handheld video camera – giving the game the appearance of a youtube upload. According to early reports this unique style works really well and I can’t wait to try it out.
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SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4
Release: Summer 2010
I can’t help myself. Despite being burned by terrible Sonic games since the MegaDrive era, I am excited by the prospect of a true sequel rather than another lame spin off. Can Sonic regain the stature he had? Sega need to deliver on this – if this turns sour it could be the blue hedgehog’s swan song.
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JUST CAUSE 2
Release: March 2010
I missed the first game on PS2 due to loads of other games coming out around the same time but having seen the trailers for the second game I can’t wait to play this. Just Cause 2 looks like insane fun – hopefully the accompanying elements (story/graphics/online) will tie together as well.
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DEAD SPACE 2
Release: Q1 2011
I still find it a bit strange for someone who doesn’t like films that make you jump how much I loved Dead Space. I’m excited to see how the developers have improved the original – rumour is they are aiming for the Aliens franchise. First game/film suspense horror and the sequel more action orientated. Fine with me as long as it works and we get more of the same storyline.
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DEAD NATION
Release: ‘Spring’ 2010
The zombie infection continues, this time with Dead Nation – as this PSN action shooter aims for the head. The idea behind the game is to fight off the zombies in your own country (from the global map) and then venture to other territories to help them out. If it works it could be fantastic.
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MASS EFFECT 1 & 2 COMING TO PS3
Release: Unconfirmed
Yeah, yeah – this may not happen ever, never mind this year but the GTA IV DLC arriving on PS3 has renewed hope that us PS3ers may get a chance to play the awesome Mass Effect games. The one series that causes an envious look in the XBox 360′s direction.
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So that wraps up part one of the most wanted games for 2010 – part two coming shortly!
and then using it to shoot down a recently launched SPACE SHUTTLE 
I’m excited to see how the developers have improved the original – rumour is they are aiming for the Aliens franchise. First game/film suspense horror and the sequel more action orientated. Fine with me as long as it works and we get more of the same storyline.
