Category Archives: Gadgets & Electronics

Bond Legends – Game Review

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‘Do you expect me to be a great game Mr Goldfinger…?’

‘No Mr Bond, I expect you to be a crap Movie tie in and destroy your own fanbase…hahaha!’

If everyone was to be completely honest James Bond’s history in video games is a bit of a mixed bunch, on one hand you have got gaming classics like GoldenEye, a decent enough gaming experience with Everything or Nothing, average entries like Agent Under Fire, then you have crap titles like GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Where would I put 007 Legends? Hmmm – the bottom. Sorry to say it fans but it’s true.

It’s a game I really looked forward to and wanted to enjoy. Hand on my heart I am an avid bond fan and I’ve been enjoying every single one of the films since I was a child. So seeing the trailers for this game, having been told it was the best bits of all the Bond movies I was eager with anticipation on how they were going to do it. Receiving the game early for review ahead of the forthcoming Skyfall film made all of those child-like instincts come out. Yes, Christmas was going to arrive early for me. There it was, sealed in front of me and even though it was 12pm at night I just had to play it. I soon wished I hadn’t. It soon dawned on me that it was one mess of a title that felt untested, incomplete, and well, boring. What happens to children’s dreams eh? Where’s Father Christmas or even Ms Christmas when you need them?

The concept is pretty sound, and one that even I could get my head around. At the beginning of 007 Legends there is a scene showcased from the trailer for the film Skyfall. Daniel Craig as 007 is mistakenly shot by a sniper and falls off a speeding train. Hitting the river below, (in this game at least) causes Bond’s life to flash before his eyes. We can make a fair assumption that he is perhaps thinking or seeing key moments from his life. Next thing you know you are walking into a room where a deceased young girl is sprawled out over a bed covered in gold. A mobile phone rings, the camera turns, you see Daniel Craig answer it and then it cuts to the intro sequence. You get the idea, this is going to be the best missions of Bond but what would have happened if it was Daniel Craig’s iteration. Fair enough I thought – great. The intro sequence was typical Bond style with elements of Goldfinger’s soundtrack, sexy saxaphones, and building orchestral crescendos. Alas, introductions alone do not make a game and once the game actually started I soon realised I was in a poor iteration of Modern Warfare.

Each section plays out in the game’s five missions each based on a different Bond classic Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Die Another Day, License to Kill, and Moonraker. Skyfall we are assured will be downloadable after the movie release. 007 is a straight faced FPS (First Person Shooter) and like Modern Warfare there are sections where you will be driving and shooting either trying to catch up with someone or trying to escape. There are times where the shooter element in Legends works – some fire fights are genuinely intense and when you first start playing you don’t realise the lack of attention to game structure or even gameplay. But when this game doesn’t work, it really doesn’t; that’s when you realise that despite the change in levels, each game within the game is essentially the same.

To be fair the graphics are of high quality and the rendering of beloved Bond enemies such as Goldfinger, Odd Job and Pussy Galore is gorgeous to see. It’s just a shame that the attention to detail couldn’t be extended to the voice acting. Fine – the actors might not have wanted to put their voices to their onscreen counterparts but they should have at least got people that sounded like them. At one point Pussy Galore asks Bond his name and he just says casual as you like ‘James Bond’; no build up, no nothing, he might as well have been Soap Mactavish. It gets to a point where even the major set-piece battles end up remarkably dull. It really annoys me that the developers failed to capitalise more on the films they sought to use, after all, the film franchise has so many memorable moments and villains, they should have had the pick of the bunch. It’s such a shame that they did not lavish greater attention on them instead of just coating them over.

At some points Bond needs to do little more than follow onscreen indicators that make even taking on Odd Job a walk in the park and every Bond villain receives the same terrible fate. I’ve heard some people talk about stealth sections being a major selling point, but even this was not thought through properly. You see, enemies become alerted when they see dead bodies however as Bond you cannot carry or hide bodies. This means that although you can incapacitate an enemy and get passed them the alarm will nearly always be raised and you end up having a shoot-out anyway. What is the point? On other stages the difficulty level becomes impeccably ramped up causing you to die and restart the entire stage again because the game has failed to save. One would think that problems like these would have been raised and ironed out at the play-testing stage, surely?

My Verdict

Im not going to go on about this game any further because I think you get the picture. Everything about my experience of this game points towards a rushed development, one that was focused on releasing the game as close as possible to Skyfall’s cinematic release which is a shame because they could have developed a higher quality game based on Skyfall instead and released it later and no one would have blinked a golden eye. As it is, this game is below par. Its such a shame because the world of James Bond is almost custom-built for an awesome gaming experience, but Activision deserves a slap on the wrist and should be sent to their room early for putting out this poor excuse for gaming in 007 Legends.

4.5/10

Dishonoured – Game Review

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I begin this review with an apology – it is to my own regret that it took me so long to sufficiently play this game before I was capable of writing this review. I have always prided myself on never writing a review until I have at least completed the game a satisfactory number of times. I feel that only then can I put a reasonable perspective and objective view to a title. The only exception to this is when a game is crap and a second or third play through is unwarranted. However, with Dishonoured I felt like it was too much of a good thing, like going into a sweet shop as a child, being told that I could have everything I wanted and then being perplexed by nothing other than abundance of choice.

Choice in itself is one of the main appealing factors of Dishonoured; a game which isn’t afraid to demand that you think for yourself, that you make choices and reap either the rewards or consequences. In a world of FPS (First Person Shooters), Open world sandbox games, linear game plays, and storylines that essentially make choices for you it is refreshingly different. But this is not entirely not to be expected, its creative team includes alumni from PC favourites System Shock, Deus Ex, Half-Life 2 and Arx Fatalis; games that prided themselves on open world exploration.

For those unaware of the concept behind Dishonored, it’s a first-person stealth and/or action title. But to merit the game solely on this premise takes away from Dishonoured’s real pleasure which is providing the player with a dynamic open world experience. Taking place in the noir-esque plague ridden city of Dunwall, you take on the role of Corvo Attano, a former bodyguard of the Empress – a woman who is desperately trying to save a ruined city from further destruction. Finding yourself wrongly framed for her murder, Corvo is given to opportunity to take revenge on the corrupt officials who were behind her death.

The game kicks off with a short level swiftly introducing you to the basic controls as Corvo is accused of the Empress’ murder and linked with the disappearance of her daughter Emily. Jailed, tortured and with an execution on the horizon, it’s at this point that an ally offers you the chance to make an escape. From here on in Dishonoured is all about thinking on your feet, choice, variety and surviving. To give you an example of what this means in actual play there are no maps, no objective markers and to pick up food or items you have to actually look at it with your reticule and press the ‘take’ button. For some this might be a tad bit overwhelming; after all for many of us we are used to simply ‘stepping on’ food to pick it up and replenish our health – not so here; in a fight scenario you will have to consistently turn to face your enemy even if there is more than one of them. What’s more you will be required to both block and defend before attacking if you want to survive.

Cast as part-assassin, part supernatural superhero, Dishonored’s levels sets up an undesirable target of wealth of power before allowing you to go about executing them in whatever way you are able or your health and / or supernatural abilities will allow. Even though you are blessed with special abilities the enemies are powerful and numerous enough to warrant the need for stealth for most situations. The AI (artificial intelligence) used in the game is clever; Dunwall’s guards are far from stupid and can be ruthless – they will find bodies, call for reinforcements, send in dogs to sniff you out and once they have you in their sights they have no hesitation in taking you on. This means that you will have to resort to tactics such as creeping across the rooftops, squeezing underneath dilapidated constructions or rewiring security mechanisms.

Corvo’s abilities are split between his left and right hand, allowing you to either dual-wield a sword and crossbow or pistol, or to use a supernatural ability. This is all accessed via a radial menu, and your skills are upgraded by finding runes found in secret places dotted around each level.

Weaponry is a crucial part of Dishonored and is once again, all about choice. There’s a range of weapons that suit your playing style. Sleep darts are great if you want a non-lethal approach as is ‘Blink’ a nifty teleporting ability. But hey, if you’re not too fussed use your gun, sword or grenades; just be ready to take on the enemies as they come to investigate the ensuing noise. It has to be said that the voice acting in this game is truly superb and helps bring the game to life.

When it comes to supernatural abilities, Corvo has a basic arsenal for which more can be accessed in exchange for artefacts known as Runes which are scattered throughout the city. Each have their uses for example ‘Dark Vision’ shows enemies and their fields of vision through walls. ‘Devouring Swarm’ summons a pack of rats to devour enemies whereas ‘Possession’ allows you to take control of animals and people for a short duration; useful for getting into hidden areas or sneaking into rooms unseen.

At the end of each mission an overview will reveal your ‘Chaos Level’ which ranks you on the amount of times you were spotted, amount of times alarms raised and amount of dead bodies found. A ‘High’ level will result not only in fewer points but in raised defences by that city, more advanced level security systems implemented, a higher number of rats and plagues and an overall darker ending for the city. I’m not going to lie, the first time I played Dishonored I was like ‘whatever’ as I brutally took on guards left and right, however it was just a matter of time before that attitude faded as I realised my actions always had consequences especially towards the end of the game.

There are some areas Dishonoured falls short. The difficulty seems to jump from low to high and back again very quickly. Saving also seems to be sporadic when left to its own devices so I wholeheartedly recommend players to save whenever they can. Graphically Dishonoured does not disappoint but is far from what I was expecting. When you hear some reviewers saying that ‘it looks like a painting…only it moves’ and ‘Graphics that will make your eyes cry…’ one cannot help but build up expectations which lead to let down. I came away thinking these are reviews written by individuals that have been locked under the stairs for far too long. I’m sorry but no, the graphics are nothing special. Granted, they may look nice and moody and there is little in terms of gaudy shading that you tend to see in open world titles but no, my eyes did not cry and no, it did not look like any piece of artwork I have ever seen. I would say that graphically the game is both great and functional but not of a higher finesse than say Uncharted 3. Finally my last gripe is that there is no online multiplayer options which would have taken this game to the next level, it would have been incredible to play with or against friends in teams or even as part of the story – it is a huge shame that this is missing from the game.

The Verdict
Dishonored has one of those rare things in a game and that is choice, repercussions and consequences. Developer Arkane Studios had a tough order but they delivered with a game that is great fun and that rightfully deserves all the awards it has merited. Whilst the game is not without issues, it is a title I definitely think of as one of the best of the year – an enjoyable free roam experience that players can visit and revisit over and over again.

9.3 /10

Apple Could Trump Microsoft Surface Tablet with iPad Mini Launch on 23rd October

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Rumours are swirling around the launch of Apples iPad Mini. It had been thought that invitations would go out on the 10th October in preparation for an October 17th launch.

But the 10th has come and gone without a word from Apple leaving many confused. It has been speculated that Apples recent production problems may force them to push the iPad Mini launch back after Christmas. However tech site AllThingsD is now claiming its sources are telling them the iPad Mini will be launched on Oct. 23.

That would be just three days before the scheduled date for Microsoft’s Surface Tablet launch and more importantly Windows 8. The new Windows 8 operating system is designed to work on computers, tablets and phones. The launch is extremely important for Microsoft, as it tries to catch up with the popular IOS and Android operating systems.

The timing of the iPad launch on the 23rd, if it is true, could trump the Surface tablet and disrupt Microsoft’s plans. With the inevitable hype around any Apple product, the Surface tablet and Windows 8 could risk being lost in the storm.

In contrast to the iPhone 5 details about the new iPad Mini have been hard to come by prior to launch. Sources suggest a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display and a lightning connector. A location for the launch remains a mystery but AllThingsD predicts its will be Apple’s Town Hall Auditorium.

 

Storm Watches AW12

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My first ever watch was by Storm, and I have been a fan ever since. There AW12 collection has some interesting, stunning pieces. They also have some beautiful jewellery, a personal favourite is the Storm Allegra Jewelery Collection, they have an original and quirky musical note in a cube. The collection is available in silver and gold.

Gift Ideas for Gadget Geeks

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With so many new gadgets popping up every week it’s sometimes difficult to sift through the boring stuff to find the more exciting releases. We’ve pulled together a list of the best gift ideas for those people in your life who love their gadgets.

Nintendo DS

There are plenty of incarnations of this hand held console. The newest being the 3DS XL. It’s perfect for the guy or girl that’s into their games but doesn’t want to spend hours sitting in front of a television screen. Of course, if you want to go all out with a gift for the Nintendo lover then there’s the new Wii U, out for Christmas.

Raspberry Pi

This might be taking the geekiness a little far when it comes to gadgets, the Raspberry Pi is a micro-computer that has been designed to get students into programming. However, it has so many other uses too. It can be set up as an emulator to play old arcade games and some very clever people use them to automate their homes, where they control things like lighting and heating.

The best thing to do with your Raspberry Pi is to turn it into a media centre. Using something called XBMC and coupled with a USB hard drive full of TV shows and movies, you could set yourself up a media centre without too much trouble at all. If you are going to buy this for someone, either make sure they have the skills to set it up or make sure you provide instructions!

Skullcandy Headphones

Everyone wants to look stylish when listening to music and Skullcardy headphones are the epitome of cool. Not only that but the sound quality they give off is amazing. Depending on the style of the person you are buying for, you could get huge DJ-esque headphones or simple in-ear buds.

There’s a huge range of colours to choose from and the prices range from £15 all the way up to £300.

Camera

There’s a wide field of gifts in this category, but it gives you a chance to think about what the person you are buying for might like. If you are buying for a snowboarder then an on-helmet camera will mean they get to show off their moves in the snow.

If your loved one has a penchant for scuba diving then one of the new underwater cameras from Polaroid is certain to please. The XS7, XS20 and XS100 are all new offerings from Polaroid and range from £45 up to £120.

iPod Dock

There are some very cool speaker docks out there and the retro styling of the ViewQuest Retro Radio hits all the right buttons. It echoes back to the 1950s but is actually an iPhone/iPod dock.

If you want to go for something more modern then the Panasonic SC-HC05 is white with sleek lines and all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a £150 speaker system.

Borderlands 2 Game Review

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Software developers Gearbox have brought Borderlands back to consoles and PC’s in a rage of gunfire, explosions and… erm…cocky one liners…YES the eagerly awaited Borderlands 2 is finally here with more co-op action than you would see if you typed a couple of naughty words into your Google search box, but has the wait been worth it?

I have to be completely honest – I was never a real fan of the original Borderlands game. I loved the cell shaded graphics, the vast landscapes, the let’s get a bigger and bigger gun ideology but the title never really pushed my buttons. I don’t know whether that was due to the bad timing in terms of the release of the game (at that time we were living in a market saturated with FPS – that’s First Person Shooters to anyone who hasn’t got their geek diploma) or whether that was down to so many other games delivering more in terms of playability, explosions and remarkable set pieces (Call of Duty, Battlefield – yes Im talking about you).

Borderlands 2 delivers on all these levels and brings more to the table. But, and it’s a big BUT is up against the same competition as last time. Granted they pushed for a slightly earlier release this time round BUT Dishonoured, Medal of Honour and Black Ops 2 are just around the corner, and these are highly established titles – they had better bring the noise.

First of all for those new to the game it is only prudent to explain what Borderlands 2 actually is; it’s an open world shooter. Think of your role as a space-cowboy / mercenary – You are a good guy / girl but you use bad methods – well, erm…any method to get the job done. Like the first game it’s a FPS and the action is still set on the planet Pandora, however this time there is a much more serious over-arching plot. Pandora you see is in the grip of some kind of war between a dark business entity known at the Hyperion Corporation and a rag-tag band of freedom fighters. Hyperion’s leading bad guy is a character called Handsome Jack, who has taken it upon himself to cleanse the planet of any non-Hyperion beings – pretty radical eh? Once you choose your character you join up with the rebel movement – led by the four characters from the original game. Jack intends on unleashing some sort of WMD upon the planet and it is down to you and your rag-tag team to bring some kind of order to the chaos.

Like the first Borderlands, players have a choice of four character classes to pick from. There’s Salvador, the Gunzerker, a raging slab of muscle and testosterone whose special powers is dual-wielding weapons. There’s Maya, the Siren, who is able to project a forcefield around enemies and drag them out of cover. There’s Axton, the Commando, who can deploy a machine-gun turret  and finally, there’s Zero, the assassin, whose powers involve turning invisible in order to slide up close to enemies and then dismembering them with a katana.

Your main base of operations is in a hub town called Sanctuary. Like most open world games you have the main mission and then side quests which operate to give you more experience or open up greater weapons and advanced options. When you are not tackling side quests or the main missions you are free to explore Pandora, a planet vast and varied enough to clock up bountiful gaming hours. There is just enough distinctly themed caves, regions and cities each with their own atmosphere and day-to-night cycle to keep the gaming fresh and un-repetitive. I found this iteration of Pandora to be much more eye catching than its predecessor and owing to the various bonuses I found It’s immediately much more rewarding to explore in every sense. In no time at all the hours can rack up and they believe me they do.

Combat hasn’t changed one bit since its predecessor; ‘hey, see that big monster type thing? Avoid its attacks – right now…Good, very good…o.k rain down attacks on the beast until it explodes and pick up all the rewards – now use the rewards to upgrade…upgrading means a bigger gun stupid…now go find some more monster things!’. Get the picture? Borderlands 2 is a shooter pure and simple. It is no different to any other shooter except that it has cell shaded graphics and the characters dont give a damn.

However that is not to say that this is a bad game, indeed its quite the opposite, Borderlands 2 is definitely an improvement on its predecessor. The characters seem more three dimensional this time round and you can talk to nearly most of the characters in the game and the voice acting is spot on. Gearbox went out of their way to ensure the game can be as non-linear as possible should you choose to play it that way. True, there are the usual fetch quests, repair quests, and chasing down bandit caravans for scrap metal, but in the midst of the basic staple diet there are also some niceties such a pizza delivery mission involving some sewer-dwelling ninjas or a quest to help Moxxi get even with an ex-boyfriend. I think its scenes like these that say it all about Borderlands 2. It is full of memorable moments and characters and not to mention dry crass jokes that came across like a mix of lollypop chainsaw and south park.

The real fun though happens when you team up with your friends online. Do that and Borderlands 2 becomes far more of an interesting and fun game. What was once an irritating journey from A to B becomes a kill them all road trip with your pals, getting into a four seater buggy and going out with the intention of getting into as many scrapes and distractions as possible. A 20-minute romp for Billy ‘no mates’ is quickly transformed into an hour-long epic after a night at the pub full of the sorts of stories you just won’t stop talking about.

O.k so onto the verdict –

I do think Borderlands 2 is a great game but not an ‘all out fantastic must buy’; the reason? Well, it’s not something that you won’t have or will play anywhere else – unless you are scratching your neck for your next fix of Modern Warfare or Battlefield, genuinely have too much time on your hands or really have a spare £40 burning a hole in your pocket I would say hold out just a little bit longer as some real gems are just over the horizon and when they come out the price of this will drop like a stone.

Having said that though this game is definitely fun and by no means a crap game – just a bit more of an acquired taste. If you are a fan of the original game, you should rejoice, this game brings more of what you enjoyed in the first game and can be a real treat.

8.5 / 10

Top SEO Apps for Businesses

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Let me take you back to 20 years ago; there was no such thing as the Internet, no one had even thought about search engines, and smartphones were a distant fantasy.

Today, these technologies have become a vital part of society. Aside from transforming our personal day-to-day lives, the invention of digital technology has also had a profound impact on the world of business.

Operating a business was previously about forming relationships through basic human face-to-face contact. Now, you can operate a business without ever meeting any of your clients, and you can even run a business from the palm of your hand.

Digital has become big business. And you can’t mention digital business without the matter of SEO.

So, if you’re looking to boost your business’ digital presence with the help of your smartphone or tablet, here are a selection of top SEO apps that’ll help you to do so.

WordPress

If you have a website or blog page that uses the WordPress theme, this app will be right up your street.

Available on a variety of platforms, including Apple and Android, the app allows you to manage the content side of your SEO right from your fingertips.

You can edit existing articles, change existing links or add new articles with anchor texts and hyperlinks without even having to think about writing in HTML. You can also effortlessly add photos, check your spelling and even change existing keywords in an instant should the competition drop for a particular trending keyword.

If you’re also keen to see how an article has gone down with your readers, with the ability to edit, modify and reply to your comments, staying in touch with your readers couldn’t be simpler.

Google Analytics

The Google Analytics app is the perfect SEO reporting platform; it allows you to measure your sales and conversion, as well as gives you a good overview of how users have found your site, how they’ve utilized it, as well as how you can keep them returning to it.

Aside from analyzing your reports, Google Analytics also holds the power to analyse your social media programs and your content – so every aspect of your SEO is completely covered.

SEM Calculator

Available from the App Store, the SEM Calculator app helps you to analyse every aspect of your Search Engine Marketing, through the use of the app’s multiple calculators.

A useful tool for businesses that use affiliate marketing, Adsense or online buying of banners, the app assists you in working out your cost per impression for many of your marketing campaigns. By doing so, the app provides an effective overview on which of your campaigns are working well, and those that aren’t – so you can decide where your marketing budget would be best spent, or where it’s most needed.

HootSuite

No one can argue the influence of social media on today’s world; most have it, most use it, and most follow it in one way or another. It’s for these reasons that social media has become such a prominent part of SEO and why so many companies now implement it.

As Vroom SEO in Dublin believe, ‘it’s the varied and distinct nature of groups in social media which allows companies to target a specific demographic in a way they previously could not.’

Whether you’ve decided to implement Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ as backlinks for your website or blog, HootSuite allows you to stay ahead of your social media management by managing all of your social networks on one single dashboard.

By doing so, this allows businesses to improve SEO influence by efficiently tracking conversations and brand mentions, as well effectively building backlinks and social media traffic for your site.

 

This article was written by Ella Mason, an experienced freelance writer. Ella specialises in providing informative and engaging technology advice to businesses.

 

 

Sleeping Dogs Video Game Review

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Unlike my many of contemporaries I knew about Sleeping Dogs a long time ago – it was formerly going to be released as True Crime – Hong Kong, that was until Activision dropped it to focus on ‘more lucrative’ titles. Utterly disappointed, I was overjoyed when developers Square Enix and United Front Games decided on taking up the challenge. Only problem was, I knew that by the time the game would have been released the title would have been in development for near on over two and a half years – and believe it or not, that is a hell of a long time in video gaming land; things move on very quickly and it would take something special for any title to come out on top after that kind of delay.

The first True Crime was something special, a mix of free open world and a gripping crime story at its centre. It played out like an interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ book from the 80’s with multiple paths giving you different endings and incorporating some impeccable voice talent from the likes of Christopher Walken and Gary Oldman. Its sequel True Crime: New York City was a lacklustre affair with little going for it besides the hip-hop soundtrack and evolved graphics. It was little wonder then that the idea here was to ‘reboot’ the series.

The wait for Sleeping Dogs may have been lengthy and done the game no real favours graphically at least, but the wait in development means that what we have here is way better than its predecessors and stands up adequately to most open world titles of its generation.

In Sleeping Dogs you play as Wei Shen, a Hong Kong native who has returned after spending some time in the States. Driven by a desire to avenge his sister’s death, he accepts an undercover op’ to infiltrate the Sun On Yee triad and help take them down from the inside. It’s a typical tale of an undercover cop getting in way too deep and typical of the Hollywood movies it is based upon the story is full of more twists and turns than a rally car racetrack. Similar to another open world title that this is bound to be compared to – Grand Theft Auto – you start out on the lowest rungs of the criminal ladder, completing various missions in order to prove your loyalty and ascend the ranks. This often means that sometimes you will do things like a cop – for example busting criminals or following and doing surveillance jobs for the police – and other times like a triad – delivering drugs, operating drug rackets and beating other gangs to a pulp. Wei’s police superiors suspect he’s getting in too deep and there is this whole ‘brother’ loyalty thing that operates within the gang which means that you constantly have to prove yourself to get in deeper in order to take out the bad guy. No pressure then.

Thankfully the fantastic voice acting and skilful story writing bring this game to life in the way only Stranglehold and Max Payne 3 could achieve; successfully managing to blend English and Cantonese into a compelling storyline on par with the best action films.

None of the individual elements in Sleeping Dogs are the best-in-class; graphics are above average but nothing to write home about; club scenes don’t sizzle the way they do in Max Payne; dance floors are empty compared to the heaving floors seen in Payne 3. Character models tend to look like plastic dolls when viewed up close, and some gestures characters make are rigid and unnatural. Rather shamefully too, there are some repeat palette and character models seen akin to The Amazing Spiderman game of late.

Sleeping Dogs’ combat mechanic is lifted straight out of Batman’s Arkham Series with one button used for countering attacks and the other used to initiate a combo, there is a slight variation – holding the attack button down and you deliver a hard attack. But come on; lets be honest it is standard fare. I found the counter attack button to be rather sloppy; sometimes countering and other times failing to do so which was annoying as well as frustrating when you are surrounded by enemies and have limited life. Where Sleeping Dogs differs to similar systems is with the emphasis on environment attacks. The circle button is used for grabbing and once you have hold of an opponent held you can deliver a number of combos to eliminate them. In most places once grabbed you can drag enemies to certain objects around you and use these things to finish them off for example throw them into a fish tank or whack their head into a speaker. These environmental finishers are satisfying to see and later when you are surrounded by enemies you realise that doing a finisher can get rid of some opponents quickly and thus give you more time to take on the more powerful assailants uninterrupted.

One criticism that can’t be levelled at Sleeping Dogs is the capturing the atmosphere of Hong Kong. The market place is a good example, loads of people populate it, you hear people chattering, market sellers screaming at you to buy their pirate DVDs, cooks fry things up in restaurants, merchants hock their wares at the marketplace, and dancers perform at a street festival it’s all very enjoyable and when you do find a market seller you like the clothing of you try to go back there – just as in real life presumably. This city may not be accurately modelled on the real thing, but it nonetheless has a powerful identity all of its own. 

Driving in Sleeping Dogs feels good. Arcade style handling makes it easy to hop into any vehicle and tackling corners in no time. Like another title – Driver – sometimes you have to escape police presence or take out other Triads in their vehicles. Here it is done with equal merit; Cars spin out of control, explode or flip over and any passengers in the car you are in give you the respect you are owed. Later there are shoot-outs that involve shooting out the tires of pursuing cars which, whilst not particularly challenging is still thrilling and later in the game Wei also has the ability to perform action hijacks, leaping from one vehicle to another and forcibly taking the driver’s place. It’s an outrageous move that gives Sleeping Dogs a bit more of that Hong Kong action movie feel.

Big Guns aren’t a major focal point in Sleeping Dogs as the action tends to centre on Martial Arts. When shoot-outs happen they are loud, brash and in your face. Gun combat makes use of the now standard cover system, and though it doesn’t quite measure up to the intensity seen in other games, there are more than a few dramatic touches. You can vault over tables or other objects, you can slip into a slow-motion aiming mode, taking enemies out as you speed forward. You can also mix up combat and gunplay together, for example you can quickly disarm an enemy and use his gun to take out others. There are some memorable cinematic scenes for example one shoot-out takes place in a hospital with nurses and doctors becoming involved in the fray – very good indeed.

In all sandbox games you have a staple of side missions. Sleeping Dogs is no exception; here there are loads to do, from taking over drug rackets to sending out a message to other gangs to helping people that your gang protects. You can even try your hand at Karaoke. Everything helps to raise your ‘face’ the currency in this game which equates to respect. The city is huge and there is a lot to do. The game is far from linear but in contrast is at its best when it is and the story is unravelling.

Regrettably there is no multiplayer in this title – and for that it may always come second place to the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne. What it does do is incorporate a system similar to the Auto Log mode whereby in certain tasks and challenges you are measured against your friends and other players. Certain missions can be replayed too. This keeps a certain level of replayability but not much.

My verdict

True Crime…um sorry Sleeping Dogs may be a title that we have we have waited wei too long for, but is well worth playing. Yes, graphically it is not out of this world but the storyline is compelling, the gameplay interesting and immersive and more than able to stand its own against other titles in its genre. With the Limited Edition of the game costing the same as most premium titles it is a bargain and should be snapped up pronto.

9.1/10