8 Great Video Games That Inspired EVEN BETTER Ones

8. True Crime Inspired Sleeping Dogs

True Crime: Streets of LA occupies a bit of an awkward spot in the annals of open-world action-adventure games, because while many dismissed it at the time as an also-ran Grand Theft Auto III clone, it brought a whole ton of its own distinct personality to the table.

After all, did GTA III let you fight a dragon? Methinks not.

Sequel True Crime: New York City was released in 2005, and though a third game was planned, it was ultimately cancelled in 2011.

Square Enix then ended up acquiring the rights to this game and reworked it into an entirely original title, Sleeping Dogs.

Sleeping Dogs boasts the lived-in world and brutal violence you’d expect from a True Crime game but also dared to go deeper, with its more emotionally engaging story and generally polished presentation.

The combat, the characters, and the evocative Hong Kong setting elevated Sleeping Dogs far above the already stellar achievements of the original True Crime, yet a planned sequel was sadly scrapped because the game failed to meet Square Enix’s lofty sales targets. Boo.