Sleeping Dogs DLC- Year of the Snake Review

The newest DLC for Sleeping Dogs is out already.  As a fan of the game, I was looking forward to the newest story DLC.  We all know the previous weapon DLC was a disappointment, so I was hoping this will be good.  I was wrong.

Sleeping Dogs DLC- Monkey King Pack Review

Sleeping Dogs released their newest DLC- The Monkey King Pack earlier this week.  For those of you who don't know who the Monkey King is, he's Sun Wukong from the classic Chinese literature Journey to the West.  The influential literature and characters are also the original roots for the Dragon Ball series.  I am a big fan of Journey to the West, so when I found out there's a DLC based on the literature I downloaded it right way.  And when I play the DLC, I was disappointed immediately.

The DLC's gimmicks are Sun Wukong's costume, a ride based on his cloud- Somersault Cloud, a staff and improved melee skills.  While all these sounds awesome, but the actual execution is depressing.  I enter the game and check my apartment right away to put the the Monkey King outfit.  The outfit is satisfying as it really makes me look like the Monkey King, and increases my melee skills like it promised.  Then I spend the longest time looking for the staff.  Sun Wukong is famous for his extant-able staff, and it is one of the reasons I bought the DLC.  After digging through my apartment and turns up nothing, I decide to go to my other apartment to check it out, hoping that's the reason.  I decided to ride the Somersault Cloud bike to my other apartment only to find a piece of crap bike with clouds around it when I'm riding it.  The bike is not any faster, or anything special ability. It really just a skin for the bike. After I arrive the other apartments, I still can't find the staff, so I go online to find information of where the staff is. Nothing turns up again. Just when I'm about to rule this as a game glitch, I see my guy hitting someone with the staff! So it turns out that the staff only appears when you're in battle, and only when you're wearing the Monkey King outfit. This is the point where I turn off the game, and come to an understanding that I just wasted my money on this.

I'm not saying this is not a good DLC, I'm just saying that this is not the DLC I'm looking for. Square Enix also announces that they're releasing a story DLC called "The Year of Snake" sometime this month. Let's hope that DLC will be better than this one.

My Score: 5/10

Sleeping Dogs Reviews

Sleeping Dogs is Grand Theft Auto in Hong Kong. What more can I say?  But it doesn't mean that this is just another Grand Theft Auto game, no sir.  Despite it being another opening world sand box game you're allowed to roam free and do whatever you want (kill, kill, kill), Sleeping Dog is unique enough for it to be taken seriously.
The game is about a Chinese-American San Francisco cop named Wei Shen, which means "danger" in Chinese, can you smell the cheese?  

No, it's not "danger" zone.  It's "Wei Shen" zone.  Get it?  ;) wink!

Anyway, for some reason, Wei Shen goes undercover in Hong Kong to infiltrate the triad organization- Sun On Yee.  And yeah, I know I said "for some reason."  I guess I wasn't paying attention, huh?  Anyway, as Wei continues to infiltrate the gang, he begins to grow feelings for them.  He begins to see things differently, and notices that the senior officer who asks him to go undercover might be as guilty as the gangsters.  Okay, the story of the game might not be its strongest suit.  It really is one of the most typical story ever.  A cop infiltrates a gang, notices that the gangsters have heart and cannot bear to bring them down or kill them.  It's undercover cop stories 101.  There're also many moments where characters are introduced like they were in the game already but I have no idea who they are.  Funny though, this doesn't make the story confusing at all.  The story carries on just fine, and you learn who those characters are right away.  I think the story narrates like this to allow the players to feel that a long time have passed, and that's how Wei starting to grow feelings for the gang.
The game play is similar to other open world sandbox games.  Things you are allowed to do in other sandbox games, you're allowed to do in this one.  The fact that this place takes place in Hong Kong adds that one additional flavor to the game that makes it unique.  You can have your character running around, trying to figure out what the heck people are talking about in Cantonese, figuring out what exactly is a curry fish ball, or you can just enjoy the fact that Hong Kong people drive on the other side of the street.  Let me tell you, it is really hard to get used to driving on the wrong side of the streets.  Car accidents happen all the time in Sleeping Dogs.  It's all these little details that suck you into the world of Sleeping Dogs.  There're many times in the game that I just wait behind red light, forgetting that it is just a game and I should just run over the red lights.
Overall, I really like Sleeping Dogs.  I'm about to finish the game soon and I can't wait to see the endings.
8.7/10        

Sleeping Dogs...

I'm currently playing this game right now. I have an addicting personality, so I have to finish this game first before I care about anything else.
The blog is going to slow down a bit. Sorry :(
I will post a review after I pretty much finish the game.