If there's anything we've learned from Hong Kong cinema, it's that infiltrating the Mob requires absolute vigilance, a plausible cover story, and tibia-crushing fighting skills. Gamers should be prepared to employ all three in August's Sleeping Dogs from Square Enix and United Front Games.
Roaming HK's seediest streets—replicated by United Front after half a dozen research trips—detective Wei Shen seeks out members of a centuries-old Hong Kong triad, trying to topple the clan from within. The game's producers took cues from HK cinema classics Hard Boiled and Infernal Affairs (which Martin Scorsese remade in 2006 as The Departed), and John Woo-like touches abound, from slo-mo shootouts to leaps off of speeding motorcycles.
Between gang fights, gamers will have to dip into their bag of spycraft: cracking safes, tracing phones, monitoring bad guys on hacked surveillance cameras, and tipping off the boys at HQ about triad action. Just remember who you're fighting for. "You're not a Denzel Washington by-any-means-necessary cop," producer Dan Sochan says. "We prefer to be on the other side: the cop who might be doing some bad things in the world but who still has good intentions." Just another Chow Yun Fat character with a heart of gold.
