Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1 (up to 6 online)

Supported HD: 720p, 1080p, Ethernet Broadband Required

Movies and their sequels are both a blessing and a curse. Some of these franchises show no signs of studios letting up, not to mention you have networks like Sci-Fi Channel who just seems determined to buy up the rights for every bad science fiction and horror film they can and make even worse made for TV movies. But, it’s not essential that sequels hit theaters, television, or video. Midway and John Woo actually have the right idea with creating a “sequel” that isn’t a movie necessarily, but a game.

Some may know John Woo’s Hard Boiled, the last film that the director did while still in Hong Kong, others may not, but it’s still one of the top movies from that country when it comes to body count with an astounding 307 dead, and fans quite pleased. Stranglehold once again puts Inspector Tequila Yuen back into action, though his superiors may not be happy about it. A police officer in Hong Kong does missing and soon, the department gets a ransom call and a request for one officer to come to the Kowloon market. Yuen volunteers for the job, leaving a trail of dead in his path, and soon he finds the officers badge and a photograph of the now dead fellow officer. Soon he crosses paths with the Triads, still going against orders of course, and things get worse when his ex-wife has been kidnapped and this brings the Russian mob into the picture. But for Tequila, anyone who is unfortunate enough to cross his paths let along into his gun sights will meet the same fate as he work to bring down the mobsters . . . . his way.

Stranglehold to some extent recaptures the glory of Woo’s movies prior to him coming to the United States to direct. Most fans that appreciated his films back when he was still in Hong Kong almost universally agree that Woo’s works now pale in comparison to what was seen in Hong Kong, but Stranglehold isn’t some tame and toned down presentation. The game plays as a third person action title where you will follow Tequila as he guns down high ranking mob bosses and plenty of their underlings, and the body count surpasses what Hard Boiled presented, but then again, the world of video games offers a lot more when it comes to violence. And let’s point out, that’s why there’s a rating system, so quit pointing fingers and blaming the industry for your unsupervised children buying games that you disapprove of.

A great deal of the style seen in Woo’s films carries over into Stranglehold, so if you are close to a table for instance and move up against it, Tequila will slide over it, followed by a shower of whatever happens to be sitting on top of it. Some items, such as push carts, will allow you to ride on them temporarily and dish out more pain and bullets, but this is just one minor element. You are rewarded for your killings based on your style, and this is incredibly important, not to mention something that can be quite cool to watch. If you’re close to a banister or a telephone pole, Tequila can jump up and balance across it, unleashing more hot lead in the process, but he will also enter what is known in the game as “Tequila Time.” This has nothing to do with salt and lime, but instead a slow down of the game which will let you target more accurately and kill more underlings in the process. However, this aspect has a time limit, and the way to build it back up all goes back to your stylish method of killing.

“Tequila Time” will begin automatically when you approach highlighted objects and press the L1 button, and outside of objects Tequila will dive, but you can also enter into it manually by pressing R2, and there are many times when it becomes necessary to use this outside of the norm. However, Tequila has some other methods to use against his seemingly endless parade of enemies. With shots being fired from all directions, taking damage becomes unavoidable. There are sections that you can utilize to hide from fire, but the destruction of environment has been brought into the game as well, so if you’re hiding behind a pillar for instance, that may not last long. Using terrain effectively is another important factor and the game goes beyond just shooting blindly. For example, a Triad member on a walkway might happen to have a sign hanging above him and by targeting that instead of him, not only will you earn more points for style, you may kill him and a few of his friends in the process. If all else fails however, and you’re taking too much damage, you can either try and find a health kit which will restore all of your health or use Tequila’s starting ability which you’ll see in the Tequila Bomb Gauge at the bottom of the screen. This will heal you slightly, giving you some necessary survival skills.

The Tequila Bomb Gauge will continue to gain new abilities with a total of four different skills. Precision Aim works a bit like Tequila Time, and the action is slowed down temporarily, allowing you to get a better shot at your opponent. With your aim perfected, you will follow the bullet as it imbeds itself into members of the mob, killing most save for the bosses, and enough shots like this can make short work of them as well. The Barrage Attack is one of the cooler abilities that Tequila has. By using this, he will go into a brief cutscene where he reloads whatever weapons he is currently using, then the action slows down again allowing him unleash a devastating torrent of bullets. Finally, Tequila will gain the spin attack, an option that can be used when you’re surrounded and there seems to be no other option. This satisfies the necessary martial arts aspect that is found in Woo’s films, and that is seen from time to time during gameplay when a foe gets just close enough to take a gun to the head.

Stranglehold will also toss in standoff moments. We’ve all seen this before, and in typical Woo fashion, Tequila will have guns pointed in opposite directions while he appears to be hopelessly outgunned. When the standoff mode starts, the gameplay slows down again, allowing you to get in shots either at enemies or nearby objects while avoiding bullets in a Matrix style. There events tend to pop up at least once during stages and are quite stylish and fun to play, even if they are temporary.

With a good deal of weaponry, grenades, and even some mild martial arts, Stranglehold has plenty of ways to dispatch any gang members that cross your path. There are even some things that seem minor but come across as being very cool, like having Tequila jump and kick off a wall, then slide across the ground while he fires his guns. There is also plenty of destruction and at the end of each stage; you’ll get a tally of the number of dead you’ve left in your path as well as the amount of destruction that you’ve caused to the stage, all of which will be result in a grade. The style points that you collect can be used outside of the game in the unlock shop to purchase videos, artwork, and even things for the online mode that Stranglehold has.

The online mode that Stranglehold offers is one of the downsides of the game and it really doesn’t offer too much. There are deathmatches and team deathmatches, and that’s actually all. Even worse is that I’ve logged in quite a few times and found that there was no one playing even though there are stats available for players that have.

Being a fan of Hard Boiled, I really enjoy seeing the film come to life. The character designs are quite good, though with the amount of enemies that you deal with, you can expect to see some rather generic looks from time to time. The game though does comes across quite well in the visual department, and seeing fruits explode into hundred of pieces when you shoot them or slide across tables, the ability to follow the path of the bullet as it hits its targets and the cutscenes are all rendered quite well. The stages are usually fairly easy to follow, though there are a few where exploration tends to be more of a key element that simply moving from point A to B. There are however a few character elements that have a plastic look to them, but it’s not something that really harms the game too much, though it does add a bit of unrealistic visuals. One thing I do with that the game had however was an option to change the language, though I’m guessing a Chinese audio option wasn’t recorded for the game. Since it is based on a Hong Kong film though, I at least would have enjoyed the game trying to bring that into the options as well.

I really would like to think that maybe other director’s would take a game like Stranglehold to heart and instead of giving us pointless theatrical, or direct-to-video sequels, give fans a fully interactive follow-up. I don’t think that will happen however, meaning that I will probably never get the chance to play a Friday the 13th game where I’m Jason, but I can dream. Stranglehold is a fairly solid action title that has enough tricks throw in to keep it unique and with a body count that can climb higher than what was seen in the film, fans of Hard Boiled and those who may have never seen it will enjoy a shot of Tequila.

 -mike-