Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition Review (Xbox One)

Sleeping Dogs was one of the most delightful games released towards the end of the previous console generation, with developer United Front Games and publisher Square Enix delivering a stellar open world game with a complex story and a myriad of gameplay mechanics.

After the success of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition at the beginning of the year, Square Enix went back to UFG to make a similar project for Sleeping Dogs and bring it to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms.

The result, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, promises better visuals, sharper textures, an increased draw distance, and many other improvements, not to mention most of the DLC released for the game since its initial 2012 launch.

Does the new version of the game manage to impress or should we let sleeping dogs lie? Let's find out.

Story

Sleeping Dogs' story doesn't change with the Definitive Edition, once again delivering a stellar plot involving undercover cop Wei Shen, who infiltrates the Triads in Hong Kong to not only bring the criminals to justice but also to avenge the death of his sister.

The plot is still great, being filled with believable characters, starting with Wei Shen and ending with plenty of the low-level Triad members or even the cops.

Besides the regular story campaign, the Definitive Edition also brings forth two DLC expansions, in the form of Nightmare in North Point and Year of the Snake. Both add-ons have some pretty interesting premises but the actual plots aren't that impressive.

Nightmare in North Point sees Wei Shen's girlfriend be abducted by ancient Chinese zombies, while Year of the Snake tasks him with stopping a bunch of cultists from destroying the city. Each adds around 3 hours of content, but don't expect the same solid storytelling or adventures from the main campaign.

Fight in hand-to-hand combat

Gameplay

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition doesn't have that many gameplay tweaks over the original title. While that may not be so bad for those who got used to its combat in the first version, the lack of changes still means that the melee-heavy fighting in the game will seem very tough in the first few hours. Once you start unlocking more moves and come to grips with the different attacks you can pull off, things get a bit easier.

There are still no difficulty options, so those unfamiliar with the title will be challenged extensively. Missions have checkpoints, but in some cases they are few and far between.

Besides the melee-heavy combat, Sleeping Dogs is a pretty traditional open world game, this time featuring Hong Kong as a setting. The Asian city provides a great sandbox for players to roam around and manages to keep things fresh with its different zones and districts.

Players can use various vehicles to get around, from cars to vans, minibuses, bikes, or scooters. Bikes are certainly the easier to maneuver, especially since the Definitive Edition increases the traffic density, so you'll have even more things to avoid while driving through Hong Kong's busy streets.

Driving around feels pretty fluid most of the times, but the camera isn't that cooperative when using a vehicle, as it tends to move quite fast or quite slow in some situations. At high speeds, you'll also encounter a few framedrops.

Seeing as how Wei Shen lives a double life, he's graded on quite a few different standards. First up, there's the Triad one, where actions worthy of a gangster earn him respect and progressively unlock new abilities for him to use. There's also the Cop area, where behaving like a properly trained policeman earns him special perks that make committing crimes a bit easier. These two attributes are rated when completing each mission.

Favors and side missions earn Wei Shen respect in the Face category, which basically represents his reputation as a regular Hong Kong citizen. Last but not least, by finding statues in the open world and bringing them to the martial arts school of his former teacher, Wei Shen also unlocks new moves.

Besides managing Wei Shen's actions, players can also pick and choose clothes and accessories for him to wear, with costumes and sets offering various bonuses to his damage, health, or amount of respect earned in a certain category.

Visuals and Sound

One of the major areas enhanced in Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition by UFG is the visual one. On the Xbox One, the improvements are quite obvious, from better-looking character models to more detailed textures, a longer draw distance, not to mention more populated streets. While the framerate is quite good, there are some situations where it drops or lags.

While the visual improvements may not seem like much when compared to the PC edition, those who played Sleeping Dogs on PS3 or Xbox 360 will see a pretty big increase in quality.

The soundtrack wasn't affected by the Definitive Edition upgrade process, but that's not a bad thing, as the score is quite good and manages to complement Wei Shen's actions on screen. Voice acting is top-notch thanks to many great actors, ranging from Will Yun Lee as Wei Shen to Tom Wilkinson, Kelly Hu, or Emma Stone. There is still plenty of great banter that can be heard on the streets of Hong Kong both in English and Cantonese.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition is a good upgrade to the original game, managing to drastically improve its visuals over the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. While PC owners won't find that many upgrades, the game is still quite worth the investment for its stellar story. Bear in mind that the combat and the camera issues are still present.

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