Sleeping Dogs COMPLETE.
Nov. 16th, 2012 01:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xyzzysqrlSleeping Dogs had a really, really rocky road to release. At first it was a game about an asian assassin girl based on Lucy Liu, called "Black Lotus". Some of the Activision suits decided games with female leads don't sell, giving the dev team "Specific directions to lose the chick" as one dev quoted. Activision can bite my ass, by the way. I'm just tossing that out there.
Anyway, next it became "True Crime: Hong Kong", and Activision decided THAT sucked too and tossed the game out. Square-Enix picked it up on the rebound, and it's a damn good thing, too. Even having been bounced around since like 2006, even with a male in the lead, Sleeping Dogs turns out to be a pretty decent piece of genre fiction. I already covered the plot, such as it is. The rest of this may be spoilery, so... y'know. Cut.
Okay, so... this is PICTURE-PERFECT HK Cop Fiction. I recognized scenes lifted out of Hard Boiled, The Killer, and curiously enough an extended 'fight through the construction site' homage to Die Hard. Some of the outfits also give nods, you can go around wearing That Damn Yellow Jumpsuit from Game of Death, or a perfectly crisp Reservoir Dogs black suit. There's probably a big load of refs I didn't get.
Hell, I kind of want to prop this game up next to Stranglehold, binge on genre fiction, and just start drinking gaming my way through the two of 'em.
I kind of feel weird about the fact that you can just start... blazing away at police officers, even with Wei as an undercover cop. Heck, you even get judged on a running tally of how much of a dick you are and how many cops you've shot, with a "Rogue Cop" meter. It all goes away once you die and respawn. Feels... weirdly out of tone, but I guess people would have complained otherwise. Gamers have this tendency to get a little sulky when people start limiting their freedom in open-world games. (See: LA Noir and the complaints about not being able to run people over... when you're working as a cop.)
Oh, but I -do- love playing with firearms in traffic. Shoot one tire and the entire vehicle LEAPS into the air, flipping and spinning like mad. Physics! Not REALISTIC physics, but HILARIOUS PHYSICS! YAAAY!
That said, I'm glad I played this. It's a sharp, well made game that sticks well to themes. By the end of this thing everyone who acted dishonorably is either dead or locked up, and it took a long hard examination of crime and betrayal. It's a popcorn movie plot. But it works. Even if it is... HARD to take it seriously when you're wearing boxers and a cartoon pig mask in serious cutscenes.
Assassin's Creed 3 is still not out. *tap fingers* Okay, Hat, whatcha got next?
Game 15: Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters.
Oh gosh, a game about GIRLS. This couldn't POSSIBLY be something I actually bought willingly, except OH YEAH I DID.
See you next time.
(Seriously, Activision, SCREW YOU.)
Anyway, next it became "True Crime: Hong Kong", and Activision decided THAT sucked too and tossed the game out. Square-Enix picked it up on the rebound, and it's a damn good thing, too. Even having been bounced around since like 2006, even with a male in the lead, Sleeping Dogs turns out to be a pretty decent piece of genre fiction. I already covered the plot, such as it is. The rest of this may be spoilery, so... y'know. Cut.
Okay, so... this is PICTURE-PERFECT HK Cop Fiction. I recognized scenes lifted out of Hard Boiled, The Killer, and curiously enough an extended 'fight through the construction site' homage to Die Hard. Some of the outfits also give nods, you can go around wearing That Damn Yellow Jumpsuit from Game of Death, or a perfectly crisp Reservoir Dogs black suit. There's probably a big load of refs I didn't get.
Hell, I kind of want to prop this game up next to Stranglehold, binge on genre fiction, and just start drinking gaming my way through the two of 'em.
I kind of feel weird about the fact that you can just start... blazing away at police officers, even with Wei as an undercover cop. Heck, you even get judged on a running tally of how much of a dick you are and how many cops you've shot, with a "Rogue Cop" meter. It all goes away once you die and respawn. Feels... weirdly out of tone, but I guess people would have complained otherwise. Gamers have this tendency to get a little sulky when people start limiting their freedom in open-world games. (See: LA Noir and the complaints about not being able to run people over... when you're working as a cop.)
Oh, but I -do- love playing with firearms in traffic. Shoot one tire and the entire vehicle LEAPS into the air, flipping and spinning like mad. Physics! Not REALISTIC physics, but HILARIOUS PHYSICS! YAAAY!
That said, I'm glad I played this. It's a sharp, well made game that sticks well to themes. By the end of this thing everyone who acted dishonorably is either dead or locked up, and it took a long hard examination of crime and betrayal. It's a popcorn movie plot. But it works. Even if it is... HARD to take it seriously when you're wearing boxers and a cartoon pig mask in serious cutscenes.
Assassin's Creed 3 is still not out. *tap fingers* Okay, Hat, whatcha got next?
Game 15: Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters.
Oh gosh, a game about GIRLS. This couldn't POSSIBLY be something I actually bought willingly, except OH YEAH I DID.
See you next time.
(Seriously, Activision, SCREW YOU.)
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no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:22 am (UTC)But, Barrels. : /
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:34 am (UTC)I think this is a game I will need a FAQ for, though.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 08:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 11:10 pm (UTC)You're RIGHT!
Geez gravy. The girls in Chantelise only bear a passing resemblance to Recette and Tear, too.
I've got the Demo for Chantelise myself; didn't finish it though. Seemed pretty cool.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-17 12:07 am (UTC)Ah, Sleeping Dogs reminds me - housemate and I were most of the way through a rather fun Chinese flick, Painted Skin the other night, only to find the rip was cut off early. I recall he was fetching another version of it, so we otter wrap that one up properly.