John Woo Presents Stranglehold – PC – Review

John Woo has been involved in films
for many years, but Stranglehold is his debut in the video-game world. Taking
styling cues from his directing and the gameplay mechanics of Max Payne,
Stranglehold does well to hold up in the frenzy of over-the-top-action releases
this year. The game includes all of the quintessential elements of a Woo film
including an unfathomable amount of bullets, dual pistol wielding, a ridiculous
amount of environmental destruction and doves… lots of doves. Oh, and did I
mention all of this happens in slow motion?

The fans of Hardboiled can clap with
glee to know that Chow Yun-Fat returns as “Inspector” Tequila in what can be
called a sort of sequel to the movie. The events of Stranglehold take place a
while after the film as Tequila takes on a new investigation involving the
murder of a fellow cop. As the story unfolds there are a huge amount of gangs
that run a lot of the underground Hong Kong and eventually one of them kidnaps a
close family member and a friend. No matter what happens though, it’s always
just Tequila, the one-man army, being sent into a building littered with
hundreds of bad guys. So basically the story of Stranglehold serves the same
purpose as the stories do in his films, they are excuses to start shooting and
blowing things up, and that my friends, is exactly what you get to do.

You play from the third-person
perspective and are able to do ridiculous amounts of stunts, all being performed
in a very ‘Enter The Matrix’-type control scheme. Different moves and stunts are
initiated by the action button such as flipping off of things, diving,
side-jumping etc. When performing these moves Tequila inflicts more damage than
usual, so the game really encourages you to do them as much as possible. When
pulled off successfully though, the gauge at the bottom of the screen slowly
fills up to reward with you special abilities or moves as the game progresses.
To the game’s credit, the slow-mo moves look so cool that even after being
performed so many times in a row they really don’t get boring.

This is credited to the massive
amount of sheer crap that is in each level to destroy. Chunks of stuff is flying
all over the room, glass is breaking, marble is falling off the pillars and
walls; it’s all very detailed and looks absolutely fantastic in slow-motion. The
visuals alone are crafted very well and reflect Woo’s personal touch throughout
the entire game.

In the end, Strangehold is a
high-octane punch with minimal, and dare I say non-existent, story? The
multi-play is anemic, with only two modes of gameplay and gets very old when
trying to shoot your friends when they do the same stunts you are doing off the
same pillars. But, the single-player is fun. Period. If you like shooting and
blowing things up in slow-motion for no reason, get this game.

Gameplay: 7.8
Running, flipping, shooting and blowing things up all in slow motion = cool.

Graphics: 9.0
Beautiful graphics, and visuals even though everything has got that glossy look.

Sound: 8.5
Great orchestral soundtrack, and sound effects that fit very well with his
movies.

Difficulty: Medium
The game isn’t too difficult, but the checkpoint saves make you redo a lot when
you die

Concept: 7.5
Playing a Jon Woo film is every testosterone junkie’s dream and for his first
attempt in the world of gaming he did quite well.

Multiplayer: 4.0
A little boring compared to the great feel and cinematics of the single player.
Only a couple hours of entertainment at most.

Overall: 7.6
If you are a fan of third-person action or Jon Woo, this game will deliver a fun
and exciting ride. If you are into deep stories and complex characters with
story plot twists, avoid this and anything else Jon Woo for that matter.