Sleeping Dogs (Formerly Known As "True Crime: Hong Kong") Catch All

I'm happy that I have a different experience than the last few posts, though this isn't an attempt to invalidate your play. I really, really dig the combat (which is good because there is so much of it). I absolutely get into the flow- though I'm no as much of a fan of any sequence that has guns. I like the good range of story beats for side quests, though they do all come down to running, fighting, or driving. The story really got it's hooks into me- though I'm not going to argue that it's particularly original. Whatever the ehtereal element is that comes between a polished feedback loop- for me, it's very much got a stickiness to it. I don't know how far into the game is or where the story is going to conclude- but I feel a pang of regret any night I'm unable to play (like tonight) to see what the next story beat is going to be.

Niseg wrote:

I'm not a fan of racing games but I got first place on the first race somehow (2nd attempt or so after I crashed into something and was stuck). Maybe my success was related to running over the lady that started the race ;)

Hahaha, well it worked for me, too!

I decided to give it another shot. Much has been made of the comparison to Batman's combat system. What helped me get into a groove with this game was to stop trying to play it like Batman and let it be its own thing. Now, it's still clumsy at times and can be frustrating, but I'm having far more success than before. I've failed a handful of missions in the 10 or so hours I've played, and they almost all tended to feel like there was some design flaw that got in my way of succeeding rather than, say, with Batman where it was simply my lack of skill in a certain situation that caused me to fail. That aside, most of the missions flow smoothly and are designed well.

I enjoy the characters, the setting, most of the missions, and I'm interested in seeing where the story goes. So all in all, I'm glad I gave it another chance.

The combat is clearly based on Arkham Asylum, but don't make the mistake of thinking that it's just like Arkham Asylum. In AA, Batman would fly fifty feet across the room from one punch to another with superhuman agility. Sleeping Dogs is a little more, uh, not realistic, but more compliant with the limitations of the human body? It works a little strange if you come in expecting Batman. It's more like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Once you get over that disconnect, it's pretty enjoyable.

I got a key for this with my video card and Steam says it's the EU version. I'm in Los Estados so is this a good thing or a bad thing or neither?

Grabbed this on the steam sale and I'm about half way through. Really enjoying it. It's kinda like a serious version of Saints Row the Third. Good to just run around and have fun in a big world.

Yeah, I've been enjoying it. It's quite nice to play a grounded version of that type of game, even if there are some liberties taken (ramming cars). The thing about it is that it's not trying to be and do everything.

I also grabbed the 3 big DLC. I tried going to the zodiac tournament a while ago and it told me to come back when I'm higher level - What stage of the game should I be at to start it? Filled out the combat trees?

Scratched wrote:

Yeah, I've been enjoying it. It's quite nice to play a grounded version of that type of game, even if there are some liberties taken (ramming cars). The thing about it is that it's not trying to be and do everything.

I also grabbed the 3 big DLC. I tried going to the zodiac tournament a while ago and it told me to come back when I'm higher level - What stage of the game should I be at to start it? Filled out the combat trees?

Yeah, I tried that one too and it said I needed some more upgrades.

I fired up this game after the sale to finish The Year of the Snake DLC and the game feels as brilliant as it did a year ago. Not many games does this for me so I'm making a comitment. This is the first game that I will get all the achievements even if it does take me another 30 hours.

For anyone else that wants to get 100% in the achievements. I recommend looking at this if you get stuck http://www.xbox360achievements.org/g... and also if you are having trouble getting the golden awards check out these tips http://www.xbox360achievements.org/f...

Anyone have any advice on handling the larger, sumo-wrestler style fighters? I'm not sure what they are called exactly, but it's the big guy that shows up in round 4 of the fight club event thing.

Deal with everyone else first while evading them, then I rely on counters to damage them. Make use of the various environment pieces to clear out the normal enemies quickly with as little damage to yourself as possible. Combat is a nice mix of caution and being offensive, don't rush it.

Scratched wrote:

Deal with everyone else first while evading them, then I rely on counters to damage them. Make use of the various environment pieces to clear out the normal enemies quickly with as little damage to yourself as possible. Combat is a nice mix of caution and being offensive, don't rush it.

Thanks. Do you know if enemy damage accrues over time, through the fight, or does it kind of reset to full if you don't finish them in the current exchange?

e.g. enemy A has 10 HP, and I punch him several times, damaging him for say, 4 HP, but then move to a different enemy in the same fight. Does enemy A now have 6 HP remaining for the rest of the overall encounter, or does he reset to 10 HP because I didn't do whatever to knock him all the way out?

I guess I'm just asking if enemies have health bars, and if those bars degrade. Or is it that you must do 'move X, Y, Z' (or whatever) to finish him in a given exchange. Obviously, I'm not good at fighting games.

Jeff-66 wrote:

Anyone have any advice on handling the larger, sumo-wrestler style fighters? I'm not sure what they are called exactly, but it's the big guy that shows up in round 4 of the fight club event thing.

I was having troubles with them as well. I finally solved the combat over the weekend, though:

  1. Find the nearest car
  2. Build up speed
  3. Run over all the dudes
  4. ...?
  5. PROFIT!
Jeff-66 wrote:
Scratched wrote:

Deal with everyone else first while evading them, then I rely on counters to damage them. Make use of the various environment pieces to clear out the normal enemies quickly with as little damage to yourself as possible. Combat is a nice mix of caution and being offensive, don't rush it.

Thanks. Do you know if enemy damage accrues over time, through the fight, or does it kind of reset to full if you don't finish them in the current exchange?

e.g. enemy A has 10 HP, and I punch him several times, damaging him for say, 4 HP, but then move to a different enemy in the same fight. Does enemy A now have 6 HP remaining for the rest of the overall encounter, or does he reset to 10 HP because I didn't do whatever to knock him all the way out?

I guess I'm just asking if enemies have health bars, and if those bars degrade. Or is it that you must do 'move X, Y, Z' (or whatever) to finish him in a given exchange. Obviously, I'm not good at fighting games.

Enemies do have health bars, and you can even see them when you lock onto an enemy. The glowing lock on circle around their feet is made of up of sections that disappear as they take a beating. It's not quite a health bar, but it does indicate damage progress. I'm pretty sure the damage you do is persistent, but I've never actually tested it.

Wembley wrote:

Enemies do have health bars, and you can even see them when you lock onto an enemy. The glowing lock on circle around their feet is made of up of sections that disappear as they take a beating. It's not quite a health bar, but it does indicate damage progress. I'm pretty sure the damage you do is persistent, but I've never actually tested it.

Thank you very much! That's a great tip about the circle around their feet. I hadn't noticed that it was serving as a health bar of sorts.

The large guys are weak to heavy kicks. Just keep pounding them and countering all the other guys.

I finished this up over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Now hunting down the last of the achievements and just need to steal a few more cars and collect some more money from people and i'll be done. Well, apart from the 30 silver and 30 gold stats. Those will take a bit longer.

BlackSabre wrote:

Well, apart from the 30 silver and 30 gold stats. Those will take a bit longer.

Yes, it's taking me quite a while to do the stats. For tips see the post I made earlier on this page.

And finished. Everything. Every last base game achievement is done. Got my 30 gold stats, chief inspector achievement and everything else you can think of. It's all done.

Well, except those 2 DLC's, but they don't count. Overall, I feel like I accomplished something. Pretty much this has been one of the best steam gifts I've ever received. Jucofett, you sir are a legend.

Yeah, I just finished up the main plot and it's a really well done game and story.

psoplayer wrote:
Jeff-66 wrote:

Anyone have any advice on handling the larger, sumo-wrestler style fighters? I'm not sure what they are called exactly, but it's the big guy that shows up in round 4 of the fight club event thing.

I was having troubles with them as well. I finally solved the combat over the weekend, though:

  1. Find the nearest car
  2. Build up speed
  3. Run over all the dudes
  4. ...?
  5. PROFIT!

I can confirm that this works just fine.

I'm trying to work out what's the requirement for zodiac tournament to stop saying I should come back when I've got more skills. All cop/triad upgrades, all shrines (+100% health)?

CptGlanton wrote:
psoplayer wrote:
Jeff-66 wrote:

Anyone have any advice on handling the larger, sumo-wrestler style fighters? I'm not sure what they are called exactly, but it's the big guy that shows up in round 4 of the fight club event thing.

I was having troubles with them as well. I finally solved the combat over the weekend, though:

  1. Find the nearest car
  2. Build up speed
  3. Run over all the dudes
  4. ...?
  5. PROFIT!

I can confirm that this works just fine.

Alternatively, if no cars are available, kite the crowd of enemies around and take them out when one gets somewhat isolated. You can quickly take out the scrawny guys by leaping over them (A > A while locked on) and using the "stealth" kill (B > B from behind with no one else nearby). Once you're left with just the big guys, you can just spam the leap followed by a kick to the back to slowly whittle them down while avoiding any danger to yourself.

Scratched wrote:

I'm trying to work out what's the requirement for zodiac tournament to stop saying I should come back when I've got more skills. All cop/triad upgrades, all shrines (+100% health)?

I didn't play it until I had all police, triad and moves upgraded to the max. It's not actually that tough.

Scratched wrote:

Yeah, I just finished up the main plot and it's a really well done game and story.

I finished last night. That is surprisingly well done game. I know it hits familiar territory, but I really was impressed with how well the story and mechanics were executed. My favorite game to play in a little while, for sure.

I just finished up the DLCs as well. One thing that stuck me is that they take what's unique about the setting and really go for it, it's not just HK used as a setting for a generic game, they go in with the 'source material', in the case of the DLc that means local legends and cultural references. I would say the DLCs are heading into stretching things out a bit thin with reuse of stuff, but it's enough of a layer on top of it, and it doesn't hang around too long for it to be a major problem.

Hi. Enjoying this game so far but I have a problem. I've opened a few lock boxes that contain bonus items of clothing that are not showing up in my wardrobe or in my assets menu. A quick Google has shown that several other people have this problem but I haven't seen any dev response. Has anyone here had this problem.

Also I just accidentally ran over a civilian. Feel so guilty now

strangederby wrote:

Also I just accidentally ran over a civilian. Feel so guilty now

You'll feel worse when you accidentally graze a lightpost and it takes away your perfect police rating on a mission.

strangederby wrote:

I've opened a few lock boxes that contain bonus items of clothing that are not showing up in my wardrobe or in my assets menu.

I'm pretty sure that just means you lack the Face rating for them. Wondered about that myself, and decided this was the case.

Evo wrote:
strangederby wrote:

Also I just accidentally ran over a civilian. Feel so guilty now

You'll feel worse when you accidentally graze a lightpost and it takes away your perfect police rating on a mission.

Heh. I gave up on getting perfect ratings from the start. I don't have the reflexes.

On a side note it's great that they finally made a game where people drive on the correct side of the road

strangederby wrote:

On a side note it's great that they finally made a game where people drive on the correct side of the road :-)

So many head-on collisions...