PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360 — April 12, 2013 at 9:00 am

Wake Them Up To Play | Sleeping Dogs DLC Review

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As an open-world sandbox game, Sleeping Dogs has a lot of content to offer the player straight out of the box. From extra side missions to finding collectibles (and even a little gambling here and there), there’s something for just about everyone in the game already. Since its release, Sleeping Dogs has been viewed as a critical success, and now with the extra content, gamers now have the chance to have even more to do in the game. Today we’re going to look at the story-based DLC packs and tell you if they’re worth the extra money.

[gn_heading]Nightmare in North Point[/gn_heading]

This content was released in October and has a Halloween-type theme. After a late night date between Wei Shen and Not Ping, a former member of the triad, Big Scar Wu comes back from hell and abducts Not Ping. His plan is to exact revenge on the Sun on Yee for killing him and putting his body into a cat food grinder. The afterlife has a twisted sense of humor, and Wu has been turned into an anthropomorphic cat. Recruiting an army of demons and bosses killed in the main story portion of the game, Wu (or Smiley Cat) seeks revenge and to create a criminal empire from the afterlife…and it’s up to Wei to stop him.

The vast majority of this portion only uses one section of the map and is very hand-to-hand combat based. A fetch mission starts off the game to give Wei magic powers to fight off some of the demons. The combat hasn’t changed, so those that did like the martial arts style of combat in the game will have fun with this DLC pack. The ridiculous story and combat heavy missions make this worth your time to play. However, that time only rounds out to about an hour or two of gameplay; it’s very short, and there isn’t much else to keep the player engaged in this specific mode.

7/10

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 

[gn_heading]The Zodiac Tournament[/gn_heading]

Inspector Teng calls in Wei Shen to investigate an illegal fighting tournament on a nearby island. Teng hands Wei an invitation, and he takes a boat to the mysterious island to meet up with the other fighters in the tournament. Dr. Zhang, the Tournament Master, informs the contestants they are the best of the best, and the tournament is attended by the richest and most powerful men in Asia gambling on the outcome of their matches.

This one also rounds out to roughly an hour of gameplay and also has very limited exploration. However, for those that love Bruce Lee films, this DLC pack pays homage to the martial arts star’s film Enter the Dragon. The camera even adds a filter to make the footage look like the Bruce Lee films of that era. Also, since it is a fighting tournament, the missions are mostly combat heavy. This pack is worth buying, if for no other reason than the Bruce Lee tribute.

9/10

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 

[gn_heading]Year of the Snake[/gn_heading]

Set after the main story of the game, the Year of the Snake revolves around the Chinese New Year celebration, and a doomsday cult predicting the end of the world wreaking havoc across Hong Kong in order to cleanse the city of evil. Starting off, Inspector Teng demotes Wei Shen from his undercover duties because the bosses are unhappy with how reckless Shen has handled everything. Shen is then shown in a cut-scene writing up a parking ticket when he spots a suspicious car. Shen chases it down and apprehends the suspects, only to find the car is wired with explosives. Shen takes the car and drives it into the bay, away from civilians. While interrogating the suspects, Shen finds out their plan to purge the city of the evil people and the mastermind behind it all: Master Chu.

This is by far the best of all the DLC packs. Mixing in elements of fighting, shooting, and chases, Year of the Snake adds in just about everything you would normally see in the story potion of the game. With dedicated side missions, this DLC pack feels like an extra chapter in the world of Sleeping Dogs. Combining that with the fact that this DLC pack utilizes most of the map, there is plenty to do for the player. Plus, there is the humor in the beginning seeing Wei performing menial policing duties.

10/10

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ 

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  • dakan45

    Why did zodiac get so much praise? Its 20 minutes of scripted punches.

  • H Ng

    Nice!