Originally conceived as a reboot of the rough True Crime series, Dog went through several developers, cancellations and redesigns that gave it some poor buzz. But when finally revealed in 2012, the game was a true delight for lovers of open-world games and Hong Kong action films in general. The plot is classic: Wei Shen is a cop going undercover in the Hong Kong Triads, trying to get closer to the big bosses. We get the classic stuff of him balancing his dual lives (you can do some police missions) and the game smartly lets you earn points as either cop or crook, a good motif that GTA has never gotten into. Of course, it gets complicated with Wei realizing the irony that the Triad has more honor than his fellow officers. But what makes the game shine is how it approaches things. Yes, you do some driving and shooting but the bulk of action is in fantastic melee combat as you can upgrade with new martial arts moves and pull off some damn awesome environmental kills to take guys down. Melee fighting is something GTA has never been able to do well but Dogs makes it so natural that you end up loving the brawling more than any shooting levels. And of course, all of this unfolds in a brilliantly realized Hong Kong, one that many residents of the city hail as a near perfect recreation. The poor buzz may have held it back from huge success as does its shorter story length and overtly Asian motif. But "Dogs" did come closer than others to unseating GTA in terms of popularity. It was a great hit and showed that transplanting that formula to an international locale ups the ante and produced a game that not only stands equal to any GTA entry but even better and more in depth than what Rockstar has done.
A freelance writer with love of comic books, sci-fi/fantasy, action films, pro wrestling and more. An inventive mind and history major who hopes to bring some of that to readers.
