Games

[icycalm]

http://www.sleepingdogs.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_D ... eo_game%29

Was mildly interested in this due to all the hype, although the all-Asian cast put me off a little since it's really hard for me to identify with (at least modern) Asians. The fact that this trailer I saw made all the characters look like Hong Kong movie-watching tattooed hipsters didn't help, and the mechanics seem to be too light for my tastes. In the end, this review sealed the game's fate for me:

http://www.caltrops.com/pointy.php?acti ... pid=148717

The map is fucking gorgeous, almost worth the price alone.

Pros:
* The story starts out a little stale but then gets pretty decent!
* Same with the combat. You start out kind of boring but rapidly unlock better stuff. You get a lot of combos later on that help the fights feel somewhat varied.
* The goddamned map is so fucking beautiful, it's incredible. Makes Liberty City look like Des Moines.
* The buff system encourages you to seek out different food/drink/clothing/sex vendors without forcing it.
* Daptone Records radio station is dope.
* More fun than GTA4.

Cons:
* Combat is too easy.
* Controls are fucked up (on PC, with keyboard+mouse). That's my own fault, though.
* Voice acting is inconsistent. Some lines are great and others have fucked up inflection. "Who THE hell DO you think you are?", "I'll BE keeping AN eye on you, hot shot."
* No replay value.
* Less fun than SR3.

Positive!

I am sure I'll give it a try at some point, but it's fallen off my radar completely for now.

[earthboundtrev]

Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition Coming to PS4 & Xbox One on October 14
http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/08/sle ... oming.html

[earthboundtrev]

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/09/sle ... n-101.html

Definitive Edition screenshots:

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... BusoRqup3c

[El Chaos]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... n-face-off

Face-Off: Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition
PC, Xbox One and PS4 versions compared with the 2012 original.

On balance, United Front Games succeeds in creating the ultimate edition of its open-world crime drama, giving PS4 and Xbox One owners the most eye-catching console release so far. The only snag is that, in aspiring to the PC's top-end visual standard, the struggling 20-30fps performance is a high price to pay for this luxury. And with visible tearing creeping in too, the current-gen console experience doesn't feel quite as definitive as we'd hoped.

Compared to PC, the only visible console-side sacrifices are the lower-grade ambient occlusion - appearing faintly more intrusive on Xbox One - and a more prominent depth of field effect. But between the Sony and Microsoft releases, PS4's main advantage is undeniably on the performance front; Xbox One hitting the bottom end of the 20-30fps band during our tests, while segments of play unfold at 25fps at its worst on PS4.

The end result is that only the new PC version lives up to its Definitive Edition moniker. But are its extra touches worth the extra money for owners of the original PC release? While the broadened draw distances are a major plus, we'd argue many other tweaks are simply too subtle to justify another expense. Edits to character model designs, upped object density and new city atmospherics are welcome. But it's fair to say, for most developers, much of this falls into the territory of a courtesy, free post-release patch.

Be that as it may, for those arriving from the heavily stunted Xbox 360 and PS3 versions to this new release, it's a whole new world. On top of the ramp up in city detail, the Definitive Edition's inclusion of DLC missions, such as Nightmare in North Point, bolster the package's overall value. Neither PS4 nor Xbox One deliver the perfect playthrough - but if you can turn a blind eye to its performance lurches, there's still plenty to enjoy here.