Part 4

Learn how to master melee combat, environmental kills, gunplay, and driving in Sleeping Dogs. This guide covers counters, disarms, cover mechanics, and vehicle combat.

Alright, let's dive into the nitty-gritty of how Wei fights and shoots in Sleeping Dogs. This part of the game really ramps up the action, and honestly, it's where it earns its mature rating!

Environmental Kills: You'll notice certain things in the environment glowing red. Grab a downed enemy (press Circle when they're on the ground) and drag them over to one of these spots. Press Circle again to perform a brutal, often one-hit kill. If you want to do this faster, just hold X to run with the enemy, and you'll automatically perform the environmental kill. Doing five unique environmental kills will snag you the 'Environmentalist' trophy, so keep an eye out for those opportunities!

Melee Combat Basics:

• Picking Up Enemies: Hold Circle to pick up an enemy who's already down and enter a grapple.
• Tackling: Tap Circle while running to tackle an opponent to the ground.
• Disarming: The Circle button can also be used to disarm enemies.
• Counters: This is HUGE. When an enemy glows red, they're about to attack. Tap Triangle to reverse their attack. This is super important for controlling fights, and if you're in the middle of another move, a counter will cancel that animation, letting you react quickly. Always be ready to tap Triangle when you see that red glow!

Melee Weapon Tips: Press R1 to pick up any melee weapon lying on the ground (they'll be flashing blue). You can only carry one at a time, and they break after a limited number of uses. You can throw a melee weapon by tapping R2, or drop it by holding the D-pad down. Fun fact: you can sometimes find a tyre iron in the trunk of certain cars. Remember, killing with ten different weapons earns the 'Whatever's Handy' trophy.

Clothing Bonuses: Wearing a matching set of three 'Minor Thug Bonus' or 'Thug Bonus' clothing items gives you a +5% or +10% melee damage boost, respectively. It's worth checking out the clothing buffs!

Enemy Classes: You'll face four main types of melee opponents:

• Grappler: These guys can't be grappled by you, so focus on counters and heavy attacks.
• Striker: They're pretty well-rounded and will block your attacks often.
• Armed Thugs: These are dangerous, so countering their attacks is your best bet.
• Brawler: They hit hard and defend well, but they're the easiest to grapple.

You can practice against all these types at Sifu Kwok's training dojo in southern North Point, which opens up during the Amanda mission. It's a great place to hone your skills without consequence.

Shootin':

Guns aren't common in Hong Kong, so they often appear as temporary power-ups, much like in classic HK action movies. You won't routinely carry one, but you can disarm enemies or pick one up from fallen foes. Many missions will involve standard cover-based shooting sequences.

Shooting Controls:

• Free Aim: L2
• Shoot: R2
• Cover: L1
• Reload: R1

Once you press L1 to enter cover, you have a few options:

• Aim and Shoot: Hold L2 to pop out and aim, then tap or hold R2 to fire.
• Blind Fire: Tap or hold R2 without aiming for less accurate shots.
• Vaulting: Press X to vault over cover. If you hold L2 (aim) during the vault, you'll trigger a slow-motion 'bullet-time' effect. Scoring headshots can extend this! Vaulting over cover can also disarm an enemy if they're right behind it.
• Exit Cover: Press L1 again.

Firearm Tips: Press R1 to pick up a firearm (it'll be flashing blue). Hold R1 to swap your current gun for a new one. Killing with ten different firearms gets you the 'Gun Nut' trophy. You can drop a gun by holding the D-pad down. If you have a handgun, you can holster it by tapping D-pad down and draw it again by pressing D-pad down or R2. You can pick up a melee weapon while carrying a pistol, but drawing the gun will make Wei drop the melee weapon. Some weapons have accessories you can toggle on/off with R3.

Police Trunk Key: After unlocking the 'Police Trunk Key' cop upgrade (see Section 05a), you can also grab shotguns from police car trunks.

Drivin':

You'll be doing a lot of driving, whether it's for missions, side-activities, or races. Remember, traffic drives on the left in Hong Kong, and cars are right-hand drive. You can drive on the right, but expect more collisions!

Driving Controls:

• Reverse / Brake: L2
• Accelerate: R2
• Free Aim (in vehicle): L1
• Shoot (in vehicle): R1

You can shoot while driving, and the game automatically slows down time for more accurate fire. Aiming for tires can disable vehicles.

Vehicle Movement:

• Steering/Leaning: Left Stick (lean forwards/backwards on bikes).
• Wheelies/Stoppies: On a bike, lean back and accelerate (R2) for a wheelie, or lean forward and hit the handbrake (Circle) for a stoppie.
• Free Look/Rear View: Right Stick (hold back for rear view).
• Enter/Exit Vehicle: Triangle.

You can use any vehicles you own (collected from a garage) or steal parked cars. Just remember that the driving controls swap the triggers for acceleration/braking, moving aiming and shooting to the shoulder buttons.