Stranglehold

Having seen Hard-Boiled and The Killer, I know the score when it comes to John Woo and works influenced by his films; dual pistols, no reloading unless it looks cool, environmental destruction, acrobatic gunfights, and slow-motion. Stranglehold offers these things and more, but many small things keep me from enjoying it as much as any of the Max Payne titles or F.E.A.R., such as: - Jank cover mechanics which make me pop out, aiming at no one - Jank railing/fence-walking which doesn't catch when I press the space bar to interact - Platforming as jank as Max Payne's, which could be alleviated with a proper jump key - A somewhat uncompelling story which excuses the (surprisingly great) variety of locations to shoot up, complete with Chow Yun-Fat's flat voicework as Tequila - The strange decision to have "Tequila Time" (the slomo mechanic) activate the instant the player has enemies in view while diving or doing environmental parkour - Bullet-sponge enemies, ESPECIALLY the bosses, which make the game a slog after the second level All the same, the combat is enjoyably arcade-y in its pacing and sound design; the music goes as hard as the hospital shootout in Hard-Boiled; the character-action-esque abilities like the long-range snipe and spinning room-clearer are clear tributes to key scenes in that same film and others like The Matrix and Equilibrium. The "showdown" sequences that involve leaning while shooting take great reflex to accomplish and feel undeniably badass. Midway made Stranglehold as a sequel to Hard-Boiled, and their love for it shows in the mechanics they put in. Ultimately, though, it feels lackluster compared to other John Woo-influenced games because a lot of the gameplay elements don't seem to mesh together. I expected a Hong Kong action movie experience, and at best, I got more than a passable imitation; the influencer being influenced, and not always for the better. I'd still recommend it; I had my fun.

It's fun for few hours, but later it's the same clunky arena after the arena gameplay, where destructible surroundings almost dissappear after first levels that devs shows in every promo lol Impact from guns? No. Bullet physics? No. Visuals? No. Game looks awful in fullHD Third Person Shooter from 2007 that has weaker combat than first Max Payne from 2001> Are you serious? I can pick random game from PS3\X360 library and there's very high chances that there we have more exiting shooting mechanics and style than we have in Stranglehold

I originally bought this for the PS3 when it first released and I still have it. It was a licensed movie thing, which I normally avoid. However, the reason I bought it is because the original release actually came with a copy of Hard Boiled on Blu-ray on a separate disk, which wasn't available any other way at the time. [This release does not include the original film.] Surprisingly, the game is pretty good. It's not amazing, but is authentic to the source, feature's Chow Yun-Fat himself doing a decent enough phone in performance, and has some nice setpieces in it. It's well worth the price if you're a fan of Max Payne or 80s-90s Chow Yun-Fat films. For what it is, it's better than it has any right to be.

I was looking forward to what was described as an interactive sequal to one of my favorite movies of all time: Hard Boiled (favorite director plus favorite action hero), but that can't happen without an easier "easy" mode. Yeah, I'm not the hardcore gamer most players are, so I rely on an easy mode in order to enjoy the story. If a "movie" just ends over and over with the lead character dying halfway through the story, it's a waste of money. So, other than that, it's easily a 5-star game, (for the first few levels). By contrast, a less serious game like Total Overdose has an Easy Mode that can alow you to get right though the story (ridiculous as it may be) to the climax and finale, and then add more difficulty as one sees fit. So, it's a fun ride for a while, but not every John Woo movie fan is a skilled gamer, so the game falls short of being that perfect immersive experience.

There are little things that really pissed me off in one level of the game. Once I figured it out it was no problem. The story was solid, like an action movie except you took control of the protagonist. Highly recommend it.