Today Xbigy Games was able to visit Square Enix in London, where the company was presenting their upcoming True Crime successor, Sleeping Dogs.

Sleeping Dogs puts players in the shoes of Shen Wei, a police officer who’s trying to infiltrate the triads.

The demo we played started out with a few cinematics showing the game’s protagonist hooking up with a contact who was able to get him his first job working for the Triads, this is where our mission began. We were told to find a thug who’s been getting into trouble. After spotting the man in question, we were supposed to chase him down, leading us into a lair filled with more bad guys, where we finally got to get into a fight (beating up civilians on they way didn’t count). Upon brutally getting ahold of our target, the police arrived, arresting everyone at the scene.

A few cutscenes rolled, granting us a deeper insight on who’s working on the inside before we were given a small space to explore and try out a few vehicles.

The final game is planned to include over 65 vehicles, with everything from cars to boats. Variety plays a big part in your characters customisation as well, with stores offering various outfits and accessories. Together with the colourful mix of side activities, such as karaoke, Sleeping Dogs feels like a mix of Yakuza and Saints Row.

It’s difficult not to compare sandbox titles with one another these days,  however, something that felt oddly familiar was the combat system. What instantly comes to mind while countering attacks and dealing out quick jabs in a crowd of enemies, is the Batman Arkham series. This is because before development shifted to Rocksteady, Batman Arkham Asylum was in the hands of a few of Square Enix’s employees.

According to Developer Alastair Cornish, the transition from Activision to Square Enix was made easier by having talent on board that had worked on other franchises with adaptable mechanics, such as the Free Flow Combat. Though it must be noted that Shen Wei is sadly not as limber as the Dark Knight, which makes for a more gritty one-on-one style of encounters. The fighting was actually inspired by the techniques the creative team experienced, during their travels with actual Hong Kong police officers.

What is missing in agility while taking down enemies is made up for during other aspects of the game. You get a few basic vaults and wallruns which add a little flavour to the basic running, with cover vaults playing a bigger role during shootouts. When you leap over an obstacle with an enemy on the other side, the NPC is disarmed and taken out. If you are already armed and decide to jump out of your cover, you are automatically thrown into bullettime to give you an edge in dangerous situations. It’s important to note that although there is an aim assist, there is no lock on while firing your weapon.

During car chases Wei’s superhuman abilities are taken to the next level, where we got to taste a little inspiration coming in from Just Cause. Players are able hijack other vehicles by leaping off of their own, mid-drive, making for some insane moments.

However, Pulling off stunts or racking up crazy killstreaks aren’t mere XP bonuses in Sleeping Dogs. The game features a leaderboard system where users can submit challenges to the community or their friends with everything from mission times to civilian beat downs.

When the action gets intense, especially during some of scripted moments, the overall visual style and lighting is visually entertaining. Streets are filled with colourful neon lights and NPC street performers, though some of the textures and animations feel a little rough. Moreover, during the in-game cinematics facial expressions are pretty basic, which ruin some of the voice acting performances. We hope to see some polish in the game’s presentation by the time it’s released.

Regardless of the interesting mix of gameplay, the graphics are a factor that might stand in this title’s way, though we choose to hold back on our judgement until we see the final product.

Sleeping Dogs, will be released August 17, in the UK and August 14, in North America.