3. Sleeping Dogs
Released: August 2012Month Offered: January 2014 Sleeping Dogs was truly one of the games that you played or... didn't know existed. A spiritual successor to the True Crime series, it delivered in almost every respect. The game environment was flawlessly designed, the combat was fantastic and the story, while not riveting, was a good and thrill-filled ride. Its giveaway was a favour to open-world fans, as they were able to experience a game that took the best from its contemporaries, moulding them into a standalone and unique game. Square Enix really deserves some credit, simply because three of the bigger games they published from 2012 and 2013 were offered up all within two years of release; Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution being the other two alongside Sleeping Dogs. It may be possible Squenix agreed to this simply because they saw these three as
commercial failures, but Sleeping Dogs still felt like it was a brand new game even if it was over a year old when we received it. Next to Hitman: Absolution, SD is the fastest a big title has been turned around from release and given away in the Games With Gold program.