Reviews of John Woo Presents Stranglehold

WOOnderful

Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 1 September 2009 08:36 (A review of John Woo Presents Stranglehold)

If you are a fan of bullet time then this is the perfect game for you. Stranglehold reminds me of an East Asian Max Payne. Chow Yun-Fat reprises his role as the cop named Tequila from Hard Boiled and the scene is set in the back alleys and crack dens of China.

With the story in place and the license to shoot as many Triad ‘muddertukkas’ in the face as physically possible (And believe me the body count is staggering) you are pushed into an alley filled with some pretty angry Chinamen. These opening levels are designed to ease you into the game (Unless the difficulty is set to Hard Boiled in which case good freaking luck) and introduce you to the control system and health regeneration system. Having spawned into the alley, without even blinking to get my bearings my instant reaction was to sprint around the first corner, hit Tequila time (Bullet time), jump through the air, land on a service trolley and roll 20 yards, all the while smashing the shoot button. From the moment the debris fell from around the square, the doves cleared, the dust settled, the bodies cooled and the trolley creaked to a halt, the carnage was addictive. The bullet time system is an extravaganza once you master it and the game finds the next level because of it.

Other Tequila time specials include sliding down hand rails while unloading four thousand rounds into the nearest drug dealer’s chest. Or if you’d prefer, you can dive round a corner, rolling and shooting the interactive neon signs & air con units making them splatter any unfortunate schmuck who happens to be underneath them. Or if it floats your boat, you can slide over a table, shooting the explosive barrels that litter the room causing them to incinerate anything nearby. Or come to think of it....hmmm.....I better stop because I could go on and on, I think you get the picture. Inspector Tequila can interact with anything in the level and with Tequila time in place any number of destructive outcomes present an option.

Amongst all of this there are style points which recharge other special abilities and standoffs which consist of aiming and shooting at an enemy while dodging his projectiles Matrix style.

The plot jangles on amongst the carnage and if you can follow it then it is a pretty good piece of writing. John Woo’s American film making abilities are often questionable (Hard target instantaneously popping into my mind – “WHY HUNT WHEN YOU CAN KILL” HAHAHA) but his Chinese films are epic and this falls somewhere in the middle of these forays. Besides I can’t get enough of them slow mo dove scenes so who cares. To be short the plot is a matter of opinion and if you despise cheesy Kung-Fu movies then you probably won’t like the story but rumour has it the game is being made into a live action feature providing some credibility for the plot in game.

If the story isn’t your cup of oriental infusion then the game play will more than make up for it so don’t be put off. Having said this, the game is short (Very Short; Around seven hours or so I’ve read) so be prepared. However ‘replayability’ is decent, especially in Hard Boiled mode which sees an extreme increase in difficulty so be prepared to play with a couple of plasters over your thumbs.

The short game play and poor multiplayer are the only thing that truly stain the game and that’s only because you want it to go on and on. However with the game being made platinum the price is minimal so it is really worth a punt if you’re short of ideas and want a game to just unload on. Great graphics, great game play and a great gun toting funfest. A short but insanely fun piece of software - 8/10


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Stranglehold was good but could be better

Posted : 8 months ago on 25 April 2009 06:46 (A review of John Woo Presents Stranglehold)

Stranglehold is either a game you love or hate the game stars Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo written the story to the game he also also featured in the game. Stranglehold has you playing as Tequila it's a follow up from John Woo's movie Hard Boiled (which I've got to see). The story I found was quite average Tequila loses the girl he loves which he has not been able to see for years she has been kidnapped along with Tequila daughter (Teko) which Russian's have kidnapped them.

The best part about Stranglehold is been able to slow down time and dodge bullets it really makes the game a lot more interesting as it's something different. The show down battles were actually good it just really makes the game more unique and that you can just shoot someone and watch what happens close up like shooting some far in the face it's quite good to see it just slow down.

I enjoyed Stranglehold but then again I found it really repetitive as it many enemies come at you at once and it be honest it gets annoying and sometimes frustrating. The levels were good at the start but I found the worst levels were the boat ones I just didn't enjoy them but I did like the levels later in the game towards the end. Stranglehold is easy to play due to it's very simple controls the buttons you will use most is just L1 and R1.

The one level I thought was kind of pathetic you have a huge gang with guns and such and you have to defend a Jazz group now I don't why the hell they stand there and keep playing. Tequila has to defend them but why would you stand in the middle of a gun fight because I certainly wouldn't.

One of the most annoying things within the game was the voice acting I mean some of the people in the game were Chinese but they had an American accent which I thought if it's Chinese person born in Hong Kong they should at least have the accent. I noticed Tequila having the accent with Chow Yun-Fat doing the voice over (although I am not sure if he does do the voice over as looking in the credits it says someone else does the voice acting for Tequila)

Multiplayer is actually dead no one plays it anymore I only had it for like 4 days so far and only had 1 game online since then I have tried and it says no game found. I don't understand why people don't play this online because it is actually a decent game and online when I got the chance to play it you know it is fun. I am annoyed that the Stranglehold map pack is still on the Playstation Store for £9.99 whats the point since no one plays it anymore.

I do think Midway could have done a better job I did feel that the game were to short and the story felt rushed you didn't get much information on the bosses it was just like this you meet them you don't really get to know much about them then kill them. Stranglehold is good but could have been better the graphics are decent but it has problems as the audio sometimes just cuts off for no apparent reason. This game is only worth getting if you see it cheap as I didn't really think it was long enough without multiplayer I found that the game really doesn't have replay value because it's rare I will play through a game twice. If Stranglehold has a sequel for some reason I just hope it's made by a Japanese developer. The last thing I have to say is the ending with Teko was actually good as it was sweet revenge.

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