The Sleeping Dogs 2 pitch also outlines a number of tweaks to the game's combat system and open world. One feature, the 'face' system, would track Wei's standing with the numerous factions of the megacity, which would give the player bonuses and dynamically adjust mission opportunities-a little like the systems in Grand Theft Auto 2 or Mercenaries 2. The documents outline a host of other new additions to the Sleeping Dogs formula, though it's hard to know how United Front Games would have prioritized these ideas.

We need not look any further than No Man's Sky to see how procedural content can sometimes sound better onР’В paper.

Procedural content is incredibly tough to pass off as handcrafted content. The biggest problem for this feature, like Skyrim, would be making sure the procedural quests didn't feel repetitive after the fifth one. The documents use an example of a corruption case surprisingly (and procedurally) turning into a murder case when a target NPC is found dead. One element that the developers hoped would keep these procedurally generated campaigns fresh were 'twists,' which could suddenly turn an established mission its head. If you didn't own Sleeping Dogs 2, the hope was to craft an enjoyable free-to-play game that pointed you towards the console game. If you summoned a police patrol on a mobile device, you'd see that in-game as a helicopter flying by. If you owned Sleeping Dogs 2, your choices in the mobile game influenced what's happening in the city, the gangs in control, etc. Playing as inspector Jane Teng, you would 'manage the police force and try to control territories' from your mobile device. Perhaps the most ambitious feature-and the most oh-so-2013-sounding, as well-was how players would interact with their version of Pearl River Megacity 'using mobile devices and the next gen cloud.' (The developers made it clear cloud-based questions didn't have many answers, largely because the technical specs and features of next-gen consoles were in flux.) This gives us ample opportunity to explore both characters fully, and gives the player the revelatory experience of discovering both sides of the story.' Depending on the character selected, the audience (and characters) will only see one side of the story until both threads are played. Deciding to split up and follow different leads, Wei's thread will follow him as he busts heads for information, while Fang plants evidence by breaking into a suspect's house. 'An opening scene consists of Wei and Fang talking together, discussing what the next step of an investigation should be. Here's one example of how that might have played out: The player would have the ability to arrest any NPC in the world, and influence a branching storyline that swapped between both Shen and Fang. This time, Shen would be joined by a 'conflicted, corrupt partner' named Henry Fang, as they explored China's Pearl River Megacity, a noted economic hub- and, yes, a real place. Sleeping Dogs 2 would have picked up after the original game, once again following the previously exploits of (formerly undercover) officer Wei Shen.

I asked Square Enix for comment on this story, but the company has not responded.

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