Stranglehold

If you're a fan of Max Payne, this one's a no brainer. Make sure to get the FOV fix from PCGamingWiki, unless you want to vomit from such a low, unchangeable FOV. Seriously GoG, you need to start including shit like this as optional downloads under the main installer files.

It took me until the second level before I realized that Stranglehold has no reload mechanic. I was completely caught up in the constant barrage of action that I hadn’t noticed. The environment being ripped apart from bullets in every direction, while you’re flinging yourself through the air in slo-mo is something really special. Anyone who enjoys third-person shooters needs to check this out.

If,like me, you're an avid fan of HK action cinema (specifically during it's golden era, 1966 - 1994) then you will certainly hold Mr Woo in extremely high regard. Hand of Death, Last Hurrah for Chivalry, Heroes Shed No Tears, A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2, Just Heroes, The Killer, Bullet In The Head and of course, Hard Boiled are films I've enjoyed immensely. I'd particularly recommend the first two flicks as they're pretty obscure albeit they're not the gun-fu epics with which John will forever be associated. So here we have Stranglehold, a so called "sequel" to Hard Boiled. This is a sequel in the true HK tradition, one which is only very loosely connected to the bullet filled classic - namely in the shape of central protagonist Tequila - played by the truly great, Chow Yun Fat. What makes John Woo films so remarkable is his superb balancing of melodrama, character development and intense, beautifully choreographed, shot and edited action sequences. Well, Stranglehold is definitely a mixed bag - the plot is hardly worth mentioning, the characters bland in the extreme save for the presence of the aforementioned Chow Ynn Fat. Chow is unfortunately encumbered by dull, predictable PG-13 rated dialogue, not to mention the fact that the game's dialogue is in English - excluding some Cantonese cries in the background. The game's saving grace is it's action and it is this aspect which will see you through to the end. Repetitive in the extreme, it is the frenetically paced destruction which truly delights. Having influenced Remedy's bullet filled neo-noir Max Payne, it's here we come full circle - bullet time has come home, in the form of Tequila Time. Mechnically the game does not innovate, structurally the game does not impress but your enjoyment greatly exceeds the sum of the title's constituent parts. All in all Stranglehold is a solid weekend's entertainment.

Stranglehold is an average, but enjoyable shooter. Fun environment interaction, cool mechanics for shooting dudes, Chow Yun Fat with a horrific English accent. The only downside is that the default field of view is so narrow that it made me motionsick by the end of the second level, to the point where I couldn't play any longer. The camera gets so up close and personal that it almost feels like a first person shooter. Be wary of that if you do buy it.

Played this numerous times on Xbox and it's glorious! John Woo has created some of the movies ever like Bullet in the Head, Hard Boiled, Face Off, Red Cliff (director's cut), Windtalkers (director's cut / yes, go judge me) and then the very best movie of all time: The Killer (also with Chow Yun-Fat) Being a gigantic fan of John Woo, I gotta say that Stranglehold's story doesn't hold a candle to the movies. It's fine and it has his signature. Still quite entertaining. Not more, not less. But the gameplay... That's where its at! It makes you feel like a complete badass when you shoot at someone and everything around that person just get wrecked and throws sparks all over the place. Can't wait to play this again on PC after more than 10 years.