Who doesn’t like John Woo? Woo is one of the greatest action directors today lending great style to films like BROKEN ARROW or FACE/OFF. So wouldn’t you like to step into the shoes of one of his characters and shoot the hell out of things? The answer is Yes and the method is John Woo’s “Stranglehold” video game. Granted, I am not usually into PC games unless they are of the SIM-variety, but for an action-packed game this couldn’t be a better choice.
The best comparison may be that this game is a cross between a typical Woo film and the popular revenge video game “Max Payne.” Stranglehold features excessive gunplay, dramatic cinematic moments, and slow-motion dives.
You play Inspector Tequila in Stranglehold with Chow Yun Fat reprising his movie role and providing the voiceover work. The story is very engaging and involves a kidnapped girl, a dead cop, and lots of drug money. The cutscenes are sometimes touching and melodramatic
As Tequila, you gun through seven chapters, traveling through the Hong Kong marketplace to an elaborate casino and end at the main villain’s estate. Your main objective is to kill everyone and proceed towards the exit.
You are paired with dual Beretta pistols. What is interesting about the gunplay is that you are limited in your amount of ammunition, yet you never have to reload. This works well considering the action never lets up long enough for you to hit a single button to reload. You are constantly shot at from multiple directions and surrounded by enemies. Other weapons to play with are a Carbine assault rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, and light machine gun. You only get one weapon type per class and unfortunately there is little variety.
Tequila is also bestowed with four different powers while progressing through Stranglehold. As you kill, you’ll begin filling your Tequila meter in anticipation of using “Tequila Bombs”. The first level of Tequila juice gets you a Health Boost. Second is Precision Aiming, which is slow motion with zoom in on the nearest enemy. The third level earns you Barrage, which is 20 seconds of enhanced firepower and invincibility similar to the Blind Rage action in “Scarface: The World is Yours”. (Equip the rocket launcher for additional fun in this mode). And lastly you acquire the Smart Bomb, which enables you to spin in a circle firing with total accuracy. The Tequila Bombs are loads of fun, but you may find yourself skipping these in favor of shooting people yourself.
On the HUD is a Tequila Time meter just below your health. You enter this with a tap of a mouse button, the screen changes to sepia, and bullets can be seen as they slowly approach. The meter runs out quickly, but fills just as fast. Tequila Time also kicks in any time you dive. Hold the Space Bar to dive in any direction. If you’re near an object like a railing, chandelier, etc Tequila will interact with said object and time slows. This leads to some kick ass moments like sliding down banisters, running up fossilized dinosaurs, and swinging from chandeliers all while shooting the baddies.
Several objects in the environment are interactive, which can sometimes be problematic. For example, you can be next to a railing and dive forward instead of hopping onto the rail as you intended. Most of the time the interaction works, but during the few instances it doesn’t, it can be frustrating.
But one of the most aggravating of issues was the camera. Considering how fast paced the game is, it becomes quite a chore to manually adjust the camera during various movements. If you turn on the “camera spring” option, this problem can be resolved for the most part.
The Stranglehold single-player story mode only lasts up to 8 hours, but has an online multiplayer for up to six players consisting of Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Every online player has access to the Tequila Bombs. But trying to use slow motion doesn’t work when the other players are moving at the regular pace.
PC Requirements: Dual Core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and a GeForce 7800 video card.
Bottom Line: Extremely fast paced shooter with some kick ass action, but should be a bit longer.
Rating: 8/10
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