10 Video Games Everyone Hated (Until They Played Them)

By the early 2010s, players were incredibly over the sheer number of Grand Theft Auto clones that had flooded the market for the prior decade, and so 2012's Sleeping Dogs seemed like it was chasing a trend that was already fading firmly out of fashion.

Little in Square Enix's marketing sold it as anything but a generic, by-the-numbers open-world cinematic action game in the vein of GTA, and even its unique Hong Kong setting couldn't much move the needle.

But in the decade-plus since Sleeping Dogs' release, it's fair to say that its legacy has endured as arguably the greatest of all the me-too GTA clones. 

Sure, it's not the most original game in the world, but the varied open world, interesting characters, great voice acting, and stellar art direction made it a worthy romp regardless.

But unfortunately it failed to meet the publisher's lofty sales expectations, and so a planned sequel was ultimately scrapped.