Sleeping Dogs: Year of the Snake
Like Nightmare in North Point, Year of the Snake exists as a separate menu option at the title screen, meaning it and its unlockables are distinct from the main game. This DLC, too, consists of about an hour of story content, and another less-than-hour of pointless extra collectibles. Year of the Snake does differ in that it opens up the entire city map, and spreads its missions all around; but this only really highlights how little content there is.
Year of the Snake has a promising opening, with officer Wei Shen - back on the beat after his wild and destructive undercover op - being unofficially rebuked for said destruction, checking meters and writing tickets during the new year celebration. But after witnessing a hit-and-run, and detaining some cultists ranting about the end of the world, Wei discovers a plot by an insane cult to usher in an apocalypse foretold for the year of the snake.
... And that's about it. The missions from here are mostly a routine assortment of fighting and shooting, although from the perspective of an officer instead of a triad (and you do get a stun-gun for combat, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly). The exceptional mission-type is finding a car bomb, after which you have to drive the car into the water. Ultimately, the story culminates in the arrest - not epic, climactic battle, but arrest - of the cult leader.
The whole affair is a serious let-down, tempered only by the low expectations its sibling DLCs have set. Where are the cult leader's insane rants and taunts, goading the police to action? Where are the confrontations with police and political leadership, testing the investigators' patience? Where are the media reports that stir up a panic throughout the city? Year of the Snake may start as an emulation of high-octane police stories, but it completely fails to follow up on the idea, and as a result it lacks any personality it might have been able to create.
Like Nightmare in North Point, this DLC is worthwhile only if you're hugely into Sleeping Dogs already; and like Nightmare in North Point, its only real strength is that it's built on a great core game. It has no real value of its own. And without any sense of personality or humor, it ends up feeling even less substantial than its ghost-zombie brother.
Better than: ...
Not as good as: Sleeping Dogs: Nightmare in North Point, Sleeping Dogs: Zodiac Tournament
Come on, guys: at this point, I'm only buying these DLCs as a show of support.
Progress: Finished the story and collected all the whatevers.