Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs is an open-world action game about undercover police officer Wei Shen, who investigates organised crime in Hong Kong. To take down the triads from within, he has to earn their trust. With every mission, the lines between his police work and life in the underworld blur.

The freely explorable city combines car chases, melee fights, shootouts and a continuous crime story. The original version was released in 2012 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Sleeping Dogs was released in North America on Aug 14, 2012. In Europe, the original version for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 launched on Aug 17, 2012. The German USK-rated version followed later.

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition was released in Europe on Oct 10, 2014 as an updated version for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. It is a standalone product with technical improvements and built-in additional content.

The original Sleeping Dogs was released natively for Windows PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There is no separate PS4 or Xbox One version of this original. The technically updated Definitive Edition was released on those consoles instead.

If you own a key for a specific version, you should therefore distinguish between the original and the Definitive Edition. The later Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles are no proof of new native releases of the 2012 game.

Sleeping Dogs combines an open city with a story-driven campaign. Wei Shen drives through Hong Kong, chases suspects, gets into brawls and takes on jobs for both the police and the triads.

Between the main missions there are side quests, races, fights and exploration to take part in. The game is built around a single player character and has no co-op campaign mode.

The original received several additional pieces of content. Nightmare in North Point was released on Oct 30, 2012 and tells a standalone supernatural story with ghosts and jiangshi. Year of the Snake takes Wei back into police service in a further storyline.

Further DLC packs add vehicles, clothing, missions and equipment. The original PC game is required for this content, which is sold separately. The Definitive Edition already includes the expansions released earlier.

For the original PC version, Steam lists a minimum of a dual-core processor at 2.4 GHz, 2 GB RAM, a DirectX 10 compatible graphics card and 15 GB of free storage. A quad-core processor, 4 GB RAM and a graphics card on the level of a GeForce GTX 560 or Radeon HD 6950 are recommended.

These details refer to the original PC version. The Definitive Edition has its own hardware requirements.

Wei Shen returns to Hong Kong and is sent in as an undercover officer into the Sun On Yee triad organisation. There he works his way up through a hierarchy of gang members and competing interests. At the same time, his superiors demand usable results, while his new surroundings demand loyalty and obedience.

The story depends on Wei having to switch between two roles. The city serves not just as a backdrop but as the setting for conflicts between police, crime and personal ties.

In direct confrontations, unarmed melee combat is the focus. Wei combines punches, kicks, counterattacks and actions with objects from the environment. Firearms also appear, but they do not dominate every fight.

Progress unlocks additional fighting techniques. This sets Sleeping Dogs apart from open-world games in which shootouts take center stage.

The game world is modeled on Hong Kong, with dense traffic, narrow streets, markets, neon signs and busy shopping districts. Wei moves through the city on foot, on motorcycles and in cars.

Besides the main investigation, you can complete activities around the city. The mix of busy main roads and smaller neighborhoods shapes both the chases and the calmer exploration phases.

Cars and motorcycles are a central part of many missions and chases. In traffic, the game switches between normal driving, escape and aggressive maneuvers against enemy vehicles.

Races and freely accessible vehicles offer additional ways to explore Hong Kong independently of the main story.

Wei develops in several areas over the course of the story. Police assignments and missions for the Triads set different priorities. New skills improve, among other things, melee combat and how you interact with the game world.

The progression system supports the protagonist’s dual role without the story splitting into two completely separate campaigns.

The Definitive Edition overhauls Sleeping Dogs with sharper textures, improved lighting, denser traffic and reworked technical effects. It also bundles content that was originally sold separately, including Nightmare in North Point and Year of the Snake.

The original PC game and the Definitive Edition are different executable versions. The later PS4 and Xbox One releases belong to the Definitive Edition and not to the native 2012 releases.

The original PC version offers English voice audio. German on-screen text is among the supported language options. The Definitive Edition also lists German for the interface and text, while the voices remain in English.