Reviews
Thanks to a sale on Xbox One I have recently been enjoying the Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition. Whether you agree with re-vamped old gen games making a comeback on the new generation or not for the right price it can be a great excuse to jump back into one of your favourite game worlds.
Since Sleeping Dogs was released there is now a free to play PC only game called Triad Wars set within the universe, this game is multiplayer and occurs on the flip side of Sleeping Dogs with players working their way up the criminal ladder rather than trying to bring it down. Whilst not a true sequel provides an appropriate backdrop for the follow up that Sleeping Dogs deserves.
One of the greatest things about Sleeping Dogs is that it makes you feel like you are in the middle of a John Woo movie, and who better to help with the sequel than the man himself! In 2007 John Woo, with the now disbanded Midway, developed Stranglehold. A follow on from the 1992 Hong Kong action film, Hard Boiled. Starring Chow Yun-fat the game was well received for its high-octane action but criticised for its short length and lacking visuals. There was a planned sequel titled Gunrunner that would also star Vin Diesel and feature co-op gameplay, this game was cancelled with the financial decline of Midway.
Combining these two games has the potential for an action masterpiece! Sleeping Dogs, whilst superior with its melee fighting, lacked the same bullet time shoot outs that made Stranglehold so enjoyable. Chow Yun-fat’s character, Inspector “Tequila” Yuen, was able to dive in any direction, run along obstacles and create real movie moments but lacked the open world freedom of Sleeping Dogs.
Even the characters would complement each other and with Triad Wars focusing on the criminal activities going on in Hong Kong this dream sequel would be free to delve into the policing world. On one side you have Inspector Tequila, an incorruptible officer of the law bringing the Triads to justice one bullet at a time! On the other side Wei Shen, voiced by the very talented Will Yun Lee, an undercover cop working his way up the ladder of a criminal organisation. We are shown early on in Sleeping Dogs that only the very high ups know that Wei is undercover, and early on in Stranglehold we see that Inspector Tequila does not always listen to his superiors! Inspector Tequila would go after Wei regardless of what his orders are and Wei being undercover would have to deal with this trouble causing cop without killing him, add in some John Woo magic with obligatory slow motion doves and what a story it could be.
These two games would work so well in a crossover that I can’t believe it hasn’t been done already. The melee combat, explosive driving and character progression from Sleeping Dogs with the shooting mechanics, environmental interaction and a-list power of Chow Yun-fat and John Woo would be masterpiece.
What do you think about this crossover? Do you have a dream video game crossover you wish would happen? Let me know in the comments.
