Stranglehold

"It should be rubbish, but it isn't"

Let's get something out of the way first: technically, Stranglehold is not a very good game at all. In fact, it has countless flaws that not only prevent it from being hailed a true classic, but rather force it in quite the opposite direction. Simply put, it is a mere shadow of what it could have been and doesn't feel like anything that couldn't have been achieved on the last generation of consoles.

That said, Stranglehold is a game that scores a lot more highly than it should based on technicalities, because despite it's nagging problems...it's terrific fun. Admittedly, some will find it repetitive, unimaginative and largely lacking in innovation. But Stranglehold definitely will appeal to its target audience and very much so at that.

The game marks John Woo's debut in the video game market, with a game based on cult hit Hard Boiled, featuring detective Tequilla. Stranglehold features Tequilla, involved in a different storyline based on the same style as the popular movie, right down to the gameplay. The game is intended to be action-packed, with no room for stealth, puzzle solving, navigation, character building or any other common cliches in action/adventure titles nowadays. The aim is simply to blast your way through hoards of enemies.

Bleak as that may sound, the atmosphere created by the gameplay engine is strangely addictive. Game cliches are sacrificed, being replaced by action movie cliches. On one hand, these may not convert well to a videogame at all, but on the other, people who think such moments are "cool" in action movies should thoroughly enjoy playing them out.

Gameplay is very simple. Tequilla can hold two weapons at once (there is a considerable range available on each level), plus grenades which are obtained mid-way through the game. Other than shooting, the only commands which need to be known are dive (which sees Tequilla spring forwards, backwards or to the side in true slow-mo movie style), cover (one game cliche which does survive Stranglehold, but is often irrelevant since enemies are able to shoot at the player regardless) and certain special abilities, which range from being great fun to very useful depending on the situation. The controls are well designated, allowing the player a comfortable experience, but to what extent are the gameplay mechanics enjoyable?

Well, there is something about the killing of enemies in Stranglehold that makes the whole experience somewhat thrilling. Perhaps its their reaction, the slow motion or even the numerous methods of taking them down. Objects in the surrounding environment can often be utilised in order to aid the player's killing spree. For example, neon signs being shot down, chandaliers being swung from, rockfalls being triggererd, trolleys being ridden...the list goes on. Each seems typical of a characteristic people love in action movies, particularly John Woo movies.

In fact, in Stranglehold, almost everything in the environment is destructible, adding a real sense of adrenaline to the gunfights. Objects tumble from walls and pillars around you as your blast towards the enemies. Much of the game takes place in slow-motion too - arguably a little too much. Slow motion is brought about not only through diving to avoid bullets or gain better aim, but can also be triggered manually through a push of R2 (although only for a limited time). Diving and shooting at enemies is a great rush, but due to the somewhat limited choice of commands in Stranglehold, you will find yourself using the dive feature far too often. The game essentially becomes a slow-mo fest, switching from simulation of an action movie to a complete exhaustion of action-movie cliches. Even for the most hardcore action fans, diving and shooting will become tiresome after 5-6 hours of play. Although the game isn't terribly long overall anyway...whether this is a good or bad thing depends on exactly how much you're enjoying it by the end.

The special moves, whilst they introduce an additional element of fun, are largely ineffective for progressing through difficult sections of the game. Health regeneration is the only one which can prove extremely useful, the others are just there to massage the "cool" factor which the game evidently aims to fully incorporate. One allows the player to aim at a specific body part and follow the bullet as it strikes it. This is entertaining the first few times, but once the limited enemy reactions have been explored, somewhat worthless, since it provides little tactical advantage. "Barrage" allows unlimited ammo, invincibility and rapid firing rate for a limited time, which is excellent for destroying some scenery or clearing out a room full of enemies but will quite often go to waste and makes things far too easy, since it can be used fairly often. The final ability is the spin attack, which sees Tequilla automatically spin around, shooting everything that moves. This effectively clears a room of enemies and while this might be great to watch once, it's a somewhat cheap way of completing a section, without being particularly thrilling either.

So all in all, once the novelty of Stranglehold wears off, you won't be playing it much. The novelty itself is great; it's just a shame it doesn't last the course. Because once Stranglehold is stripped of the enjoyment incited by the "coolness" of the action-movie style gameplay, it begins to feel like a pretty sloppy version of action/adventure games that have done everything better. The whole movement system is designed largely for frantic gameplay and isn't intended to look realistic in the slightest, in fitting with its style. The way that Tequilla springs up after each dive just looks ridiculous. Difficulty levels leave something to be desired too. The easier ones are simply too easy; the player can run into numerous bullets and not even come close to dying. Then on harder settings, the worthless nature of the covering system renders many attempts to avoid being hit completely irrelevant, leaving the player in a kind of "shoot or be shot" scenario.

There is an online multiplayer mode, which, as you can imagine, doesn't really work on many levels. The moves used in single-player mode are more limited online and without so much slow-motion, the whole experience feels totally different, as well as awkward. Since the community is thus far practically non-existent anyway, online is not a feature likely to be exploited in Stranglehold and that's no big loss at all.

Visually, Stranglehold can be considered "acceptable". It definitely fails to make use of the power of the consoles on which it plays and doesn't feel like a significant advancement from last gen at all. Tequilla and the other characters look good, but some of the scenery just screams "PS2". Then again, as with the rest of the game, graphics can be considered a technicality neglected in favour of action-packed over the top gameplay. A good decision? That's for you to decide. You just can't help feeling like the game could have been so much better though, had its visuals been up to standard with the majority of today's new releases. In fact, the game could also have been a lot deeper and stretched across more markets had the gameplay been better thought out and expanded, rather than being designed purely for action freaks. Altogether, the graphics are sufficient, but at the end of the day, they're just "there", rather than blowing you away. Much like many of the other features in Stranglehold (sound, storyline etc.) and in fact, much like the game itself.

To summarise, Stranglehold is far from being an epic. In fact, it's far from being a technically brilliant game. It was never designed for deep tactical gameplay, or even to be challenging for the right reasons. The idea is "shoot things, in the coolest way possible, as often as possible". Some will find this to be incredible fun, for at least the first half of the game, if not more. Others will feel deprived of proper mechanics and intelligent gameplay, discrediting the game for even what it does do well. If you're into John Woo and/or love any games that are action-packed, buy it now. If you're into action movies and/or action/games in general, rent it. If none of the above apply to you, give it a miss altogether.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/03/07

Game Release: Stranglehold (EU, 11/30/07)