Stranglehold

"A John Woo film in game form, but more intense."

Often compared to Max Payne, Stranglehold is an intense third-person shooter that makes other action games seem as slow as turn-based RPG's. Most of the time, movie-based games are looked-down upon. However, all though this isn't exactly based off of an official movie, it's the "official" sequel of John Woo's most popular film, Hard Boiled. It's basically that in game form. Now if you haven't seen any John Woo, or basically any Chinese action movie, you have to know that they are adrenaline-filled with over-the-top gunfights (And I emphasize that statement). Stranglehold takes heavy influence of that and makes an action game that you've never seen. It's probably one of the most overwhelming games I've ever played. Ever.

If you have seen Hard Boiled or other relevant movies, you'd see that Max Payne was influenced by them. Now you may ask why they are compared. Well in this game, you have "Tequila time" which is basically the exact same thing as "Bullet Time" from Max Payne, all though I think Tequila Time is crafted better, in the sense that it only goes in slow-motion if you're facing an enemy or you are in the position to fire at one, or several.

Now with that being said, Stranglehold takes place 18-years after the plot in Hard Boiled, so don't expect much relevance between the two. James Wong, the leader of the "Dragon Claw Triad," the most powerful gang in Hong Kong, is having problems. The "Golden" Kane," an up-and-coming gang kidnaps both Wong's daughter and grand-daughter, for the sake of trying to take-over something of Wong's. Now he seeks help from none other than, Inspector Tequila, voiced by acclaimed actor, Chow Yun-Fat. Tequila is not your average officer; he's basically a vigilante with a badge, in the sense that he'd rather kill a criminal than arrest them. There are some interesting plot twists and the story is enough to keep you satisfied. You can't really expect a mind-blowing story in a game like this.

The graphics are very impressive. The facial models are incredibly detailed, as with the environments. Say if you go into water and come out on dry land, you'll see water dripping from your clothes. If it's raining, you can look closely at Tequila's hair and see that it's drenched. I'm surprised with visuals like these that it didn't get praised. Even for a late 2007 title, it looks better than a lot of the console games on the market. All though it does suffer from two minor faults: repetitive-looking environments and enemies. The destruction that you leave is brilliantly detailed and realistic.

Oh, that's another thing that I have to mention. The destructible environments. Even with the release of Battlefield: Bad Company, which came after this, this still has the most destructible environments I've seen in a game this-generation. Practically everything can be shot at and you'll notice differences in it besides bullet holes. In Bad Company, basically the only thing that was destructible, aside from vehicles, were trees, walls, and buildings and probably a couple other things. In this, buildings, pillars, vehicles, furniture, etc. can be "destroyed" in one way or the other.

The voice-acting is not exactly "top-notch," I'm still glad Chow Yun-Fat voiced-over Tequila, since, really, no one else is fit to play him. The other voice-overs are nothing special and hardly worth noting. The background music and sound-effects however, are top-notch. Since I'm not a "music in video games" expert, I'm not going to elaborate; I'm just going to say the music fits perfectly with the mood. The sound-effects, flawless. One of the factors that makes this game so intense, aside from the game play, are the sound-effects. Hook your red/white A/V cables into the back of your stereo, or whatever you use, and turn that ***** up. If a stereo is out of the question, just turn your TV up. Man, that is what intense sound-effects are all about.

The game play, oh my god, the game play is INTENSE. All though if you look past the wide variety of moves and other stuff, this plays like your typical third-person shooter, just more insane. You have your weapons, which are lacking, and you shoot the enemy. Simple as that. The thing that makes this unique (again, aside from the wide variety of moves, etc) is you don't do the same thing over and over. Ok, I'll elaborate by making an example. In many shooters, first or third-person, if you can plant charges, C4, whatever, you probably have to do it in a lot of the missions, making it boring and repetitive. In this, stuff like that is considered "special occasions," essentially making each level different. For example, if you look in the manual, you'll see "Guitar Cases" under the "Pick Ups" section. You only use these in one level and that's the Mega Restaurant level, in which they are almost mandatory. In other levels, they aren't really necessary. In the same section, you'll see "Bombs." Instead of using C4 charges in 75% of the missions, you only use these in two separate missions. They don't force them upon you when they aren't needed. And I have to say, I like that.

Earlier, I've been mentioning a "wide variety of moves." What I mean by that is you can interact with the environment in several different ways. And for your enjoyment and benefit, I'll briefly explain them all. Tequila Time, which I've mentioned, slows down time. There are two ways you can use it, automatically or manually. If you press the left-trigger, you'll dive in whichever direction you want it to, and if you're facing an enemy or capable of aiming at one, Tequila Time will turn on automatically. Or if you're overwhelmed, or just for the hell of it, you can press the Right Button and this will trigger Tequila Time on or off while just standing. You can do Wall Springs and Wall Moves. Wall Moves is your typical "hiding behind walls for cover" moves. Wall Springs are basically Wall Runs where you run up a vertical surface and jump (or do a back flip) off of the wall. You can also walk on railings and run up or slide down banisters. You can also jump and then swing on chandeliers and shoot enemies whilst doing so. In some cases, where it's impossible to walk from point A to point B, you can hang on to a "Zip-Line" and slide to point B. You can also just run directly towards a table and you'll slide over it. When you dive and hit the ground, you can stay in the prone position and roll over (if you want). And last, but certainly not lease, you can dive onto a cart and roll on it, you can also steer it. I forgot to mention that if you do all of these and are facing an enemy or enemies, Tequila Time will automatically trigger.

One of the most mandatory options in this game is the different moves on your "Tequila Bomb Gauge." Well, they aren't exactly "moves," so to speak, more like special things you can do. As you progress, you unlock more. The first you unlock is the Health Boost gauge. It's what it sounds like, it's for emergencies. It revives a little bit of health each time you use it. The second move you unlock is the Precision Aim gauge. This is like a sniper rifle-esque thing where you zoom in with your pistol, this is used for far away enemy(ies) and to subtract minor health from bosses, there is also a cool and short cinematic each time you use it. The third you unlock, and probably the most useful, is the Barrage Attack. This shows a close-up of Tequila reloading his current weapon, and then the screen will move back a little and also change. What this does is practically make you invincible and you have unlimited ammo for a brief amount of time, it's also stronger. The rounds you fire look similar to how the Shotgun rounds do in Time Crisis 3. This is essential for most boss battles. The last move you unlock is the Spin Attack. If you are feeling overwhelmed by enemies, use this and it'll show Tequila spin around and around killing practically all the enemies surrounded you. The cinematic in this could be a cut-scene alone. The catch? You have to fill up your Gauge, much like the Pocket bike Racer Burger King Game, except you have to earn "Style Points." The move you do determines how much of the gauge is used. You can also fill up your gauge by obtaining Origami Cranes.

Now I mentioned "Style Points." You get ranked for each kill you do. If you interact with the environment, you'll get more style points. For example, if you kill an enemy by just walking forward and shooting, you'll probably get 1-star (this is ranked on a 1 to 5-star scale, by the way). If you say, do a Wall Spring and kill someone while you're still in the air, you'll probably get a 4-star ranking, and possibly a 5-star. These are most essential to fill up your Tequila Bomb Gauge. You can also link these together and do "Style Combos" which will refill your gauge fast. To accomplish these, you have to kill one enemy, and then kill another before the combo timer runs out. If you don't do it in time, it resets.

The weapon variety is lacking, but you don't need a heavy set of different weapons. I could probably name all of them in my head. If you've seen Hard Boiled, you'd know Inspector Tequila's signature weapons are dual-wielded pistols. You also have a .44 caliber pistol, which can also be dual-wielded, but it's slower than the other pistol. There is also, of course, a pump-action shotgun, an Assault Rifle, submachine guns (also can be dual-wielded), a Rocket Launcher, a heavy Machine gun, and Fragmentation grenades. I'm not sure, but I think there are also Molotov Cocktails. Every firearm is compatible with the Barrage and Spin-Attack (Yay!). Oh, I forgot to mention, there is a secret, but rare gun. I'm not going to say what it is, but it was a famous weapon in GOLDENeye 007 for the N64. This too, is compatible with the Barrage and Spin-Attack and can also be dual-wielded.

There are boss battles, all which are incredible, but not too memorable...except for one and maybe the last one. Using the Barrage Attack is almost mandatory for all of them. There are also a good number of them. Another thing that I failed to mention was "Special Breakables." This brings a small puzzle element to the game play, some are essential to progress; most are just ways to kill hard-to-reach enemies. You can also kick-up small tables for quick cover, shoot explode able objects, and blow up vehicles. All the mayhem you cause accumulates into a sum. At the end of each level, mission, whatever, it shows how much moneys-worth of stuff you destroyed, which go in the millions. One thing, out of the whole game, that could've been scraped are the stand-offs, or at least worked on. They are interesting, but the controls for it are a bit flawed. What are they? Play the game and find out.

After all is said and done, this is an excellent game. It's around 9-10 hours, which is a decent length. Some of the levels are fun and you could play them again. The Style Points you earn can be used as currency and you can buy unlockable features in the Unlock Shop. Aside from earning more style points to unlock different things, the only replay value lies in unlocking "Hard Boiled" mode, which is incredibly difficult. But by now, this game is probably les than $30 at most places, so it's worth having in your collection. It's one of those games you'll pick up again in a couple months/years and relive the awesome experience once more. This is definitely one of the most underrated games, ever. If you liked Max Payne or Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, then you'll love this.

Final Rating: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/08

Game Release: Stranglehold (US, 09/05/07)