Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic third person ‘sandbox’ game, that has has been influenced by games like Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row and True Crime. Sandbox games of this ilk are at their best when the city you are spending your time playing in, really feels as if it is a living thing. The good ‘sandbox’ games give you the choice of having multiple tasks, missions and activities to do when you are ready to do them. Some players like to drive around or run around the city on foot, exploring the alleyways, buildings, carparks and all manner of other areas to search for collectibles or make their own adventure.

On a personal note; for me the coolest features of any ‘sandbox’ game are the smaller things that simply look amazing. Those features that when you execute them, they make you recoil in your seat and actually say aloud; ‘Wow, That was f**king cool!‘

Those Birds Were A Sucker For Shiny Badges

The Environmental Air Vent Kill

The first ‘Wow!‘ moment I encountered while playing Sleeping Dogs was early on during a heated fight scene involving some thugs who attacked me upon an industrial building’s roof. I went in there swinging and ‘windmilling’ with my arms, barley connecting with any of them. I panicked, stopped dead and after successfully countering a few of their attacks, I decided I had, had enough.  I grappled an unlucky thug and pushed him towards an air vent fan. I then pushed his face into the fan and it is safe to say after that he was not coming after me anymore.

I should mention at this point that I (like many other videogame players) find violence in videosgames cool. I think a bad guy getting his shot in the head or having his face smooshed in an air vent is a thrilling moment. The same can be said for when people watch an action movie like Die Hard. Nobody is rooting for the bad guy to win from the beginning but when he gets thrown from a building or blown up, nobody bats an eyelid. The difference of why violence is cool in entertainment is because it is only entertainment. The line has already been drawn in the sand and everyone is clear about where this line is. Violence in video games and movies is fine because it is not real life and nobody was actually harmed. It really gets on my nerves when (not all) the media and press push out stories with headlines similar too ‘Games Will Turn Your Children Into Killers!‘ or ‘Child Plays 10 Seconds Of Call Of Duty And Shoots His Own Gerbil!’ That’s all for another day and another article though, back to Sleeping Dogs…

Why Don’t You Get Some Air Buddy? Here, Get Closer To The Vent!

The Action Hijack

One of the coolest features that Sleeping Dogs has to offer is the Just Cause inspired ‘Action Hijack’, whereby you can open the door of your car or sit up on the saddle of your motorbike, while still driving it and then leap out in slow motion of your vehicle and directly onto the roof of another vehicle you wish to hijack. In action this looks cool and makes you feel like a complete badass. You must pull up your vehicle so you can get close enough to the car you are attempting to hijack, then after some clever timing you make the leap to the other vehicle and if that vehicle happens to be a lorry,van or truck, you will have to grapple the edge of the lorry/truck/van and shimmy your way along the edge, avoiding oncoming traffic as you go until you reach the drivers side door and can throw them out and take control of the vehicle. An image would not suffice to show you how awesome this feature is so here is a video of the act in action. (Skip to 0.29)

Singing A Song, Everyone Singing Along, Karaoke, Karaoke Land!

This one was a really nice touch and a welcome change to the pace and serious tones of the gameplay at this point of the game. You can sing along to a number of well known songs using a karaoke machine. The bars for you to hit stream along the screen similar to that of a Guitar Hero and you just time your button presses to these notes to sing along. An undercover cop who is posing a completely ruthless triad gangster is the epitome of  manliness as he sings and does the actions, to a number of hit favourite songs.

The ‘Beat Simon Cowell Up After He Judges You’ Minigame Is Not Included

Burned Alive! Toasty!

Back to the executions… When confronted with another large gang of baddies, you need to keep your wits about you and really have a clear sense of what is around you in your environment. I beat up a few of the hoodlums with some fancy Kung Fu kicks and then proceeded to grab another enemy and hurl him towards an open furnace. I held his head over the flames and then stood back and watched as he ambled about the room, setting alight his fellow bad guy friends. This was another ‘Wow!’ moment that I thought would be unmatched as I continued to play through the game… I was wrong.

That Is The Hot And Steamy Action I’m Talking About!

Swim With The Fishes You Dirty Dog!

The final Cool!’ factor moment I would like to share before I end Part 1 of this feature is a spectacle to watch and behold. The scene takes place inside of a club where large fish tanks adorn the surrounding walls. You know where this is going… You tackle your assailant head on and then run with him, hurling him full force into the glass of the fish tank and before he even knows what has hit him, him and his buddies are recoiling from the waves crashing down on them and the fish that now surround them. What is there to do then? Pick up one of the fish and beat that fool to death with it, of course!

Sleeping Dogs has a lot of fun features within it that always keep the game entertaining and it does provide a lot of ‘Wow!’ or Cool!’ factor moments. I will be producing Part 2 of this feature in the near future and if you would like to submit your comments below for what features you think are cool I will include them in the next article. The next article will be looking at cool features for ALL sandbox games so feel free to include suggestions for Saints Row, Grand Theft Auto or Just Cause ‘Cool!’ factor moments!

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