John Woo Presents Stranglehold

“Stranglehold” was released back in 2007 and after all these years it still absolutely and totally rocks. The game has not aged a bit and I would dare to say that it was even ahead of its time in its destructive environment and non stop action.

“Stranglehold” is a sequel to the movie “Hard Boiled”, an action cult favorite and the game manages to successfully mimic the style perfectly in intense and stylish shootings.

The story is simple and basically an excuse for the action but its decent enough. The stakes are high as Tequila must fight the Russian mob and the triads alone to rescue his daughter and her mother, “the one who got away”, his one true love, before they are used as an “asset” in a bloody gang war. The cut-scenes are well made, the character models still hold up today and the voice acting is excellent. Chow Yun-Fat lends his voice to Tequila and he does a wonderful job. Even John Woo reprises his small role from the film. There are loads of fan service here, with Woo´s doves flying all over the action sequences and the paper cranes also from the movie hidden in the levels.

The graphics are excellent. Every level has a different feel and style and the artistic design is amazing. The destruction present in every gunfight is simply magnificent. Even today you don't find this sort of mayhem in most games. Every object can be affected by bullets, the walls get bullet holes, glass smashes, giant signs come crashing down on enemies, its just crazy fun. When you kill the last enemy and you look around and see the damage you caused around you its just too cool!

The gameplay is where the problems start for “Stranglehold”. The game consists mostly of run and gun. There is cover but its mostly useless as the enemies will rush you or the cover will rapidly be destroyed. The game can be brutal in the amount of enemies that it throws at you. There is also no regenerative health but old school health packs. You will be overwhelmed at times. This is where “Tequila Bombs” come into play. Tequila has four “special powers”. As you kill enemies in the most stylish ways possible you fill up you “special bar” and then you unleash hell! You can get a bit of health back in the first ability. Another ability consists of zooming in on an enemy and shooting him straight in the face or if you´re a bit evil in the groin area. The enemy will react to the damaged area which can provide some very fun but sadistic scenes. The third ability consists on having near-immunity and infinite ammo on your weapon for a few seconds. This was my favorite. You get a small scene of Tequila reloading his weapon while bullets fly past him and then you´re back in third person and raining death down on enemies with things being absolutely obliterated around you. This ability provided some of the most satisfying moments in the game for me. The last ability sees Tequila spin around shooting in slow motion with doves flying over him and every enemy in his reach will be instantly killed. The scenes are always amazingly cool but there is no input from the player and it felt sort of cheap for me so I rarely used it. But still, its an awesome sight.

The shooting itself is very satisfying. The weapons feel powerful, especially the shotgun and the dual revolvers are always amazing. Tequila´s movements are tight and the acrobatics are smooth. Taking a page out of “Max Payne” Tequila has his own “bullet time” and he can dive through the air, forwards or backwards in slow-mo while shooting. He can slide down stair rails or hang on chandeliers and then drop, shooting everyone in sight. Everything works flawlessly. The level design is perfect for this sort of stylish killing with numerous opportunities for incredible acrobatics.

The problem with “Stranglehold” is that the entire gameplay consists only of this. Stylish shooting and a destructible environment. The game shows all it has to offer in the first level and while its all very fun it soon turns a bit repetitive even with the distinct locations you fight through the game. “Stranglehold” is also very short. I finished the game in about five hours on normal which is challenging and with more than a few deaths. The final two levels especially seem way too limited. The game also has numerous problems on the PS3 with bad frame-rate, audio glitches and an overall weak performance. Ah the early days of the PS3... remember “The Orange Box”? Well “Stranglehold” is not quite as disastrous as that but it still has its fair share of technical problems.

Still the game is immensely entertaining while it lasts and I wish there could have been a sequel had Midway not had all those nasty financial problems. Even with its flaws, like being repetitive and a weak plot “Stranglehold” had a lot going for it. It was fast paced, with brutally satisfying action, magnificent level design, great art and a real life action icon as a star. It could have used some more levels and more gameplay diversity but “Stranglehold” will always be a cult game for me and one I never get tired of playing.