Stranglehold

10/10

Matrix slow-mo take you to visit Hong Kong. Fast targeting required. No reloading. Earn your Tequila reputation as a Police Hotshot. Classic.

A less serious and more gameplay centered john woo game with great gunplay but a poor story.

An over the top shooter in every respect, but from the mind of John Woo, what else would you expect? Makes things interesting with lots of environmental interactions, abilities, and a score system. Some of the level design is annoying because it doesn't really take advantage of the previously mentioned systems, enemies tend to just spawn all around you at random, and the boss fight are pretty bad. Overall, an enjoyable experience. If you are into John Woo films and the Max Payne series, this is definitely worth picking up, especially on sale.

I don't think that I watched the movie, but damn, this game is fun. It's an over the top action shooter similar to Max Payne and Total Overdose, where you mow down bad guys by the dozens while everything around you crumbles and explodes upon the slightest touch. The story of the game is pretty light and cliché, but serviceable and gives you some context about the destruction you unleash. While it starts simple, the later levels become more puzzle like, both in terms of pure survivability, but also from the level design itself. Especially the penthouse level, while pretty silly from a logical point of view, is a fighting puzzle and was a nice change of pace. All in all though, the game is pretty repetitive from a gameplay point of view, because all you do is jumping around like an angry grasshopper while shooting your guns non-stop. There is one turret section, but aside from that, there are no sections that would add variety and it does get a bit old towards the end. It also doesn't help that the game suffers from Pain Killeritis, meaning that you often walk from arena to arena, instead of having proper levels. Your weapon arsenal is also compact and I think it may should have had one or two more weapons, but it was fine. You have a pistol, a Deagle, a Shotgun, an Assault Rifle, an SMG and the rare Rocket Launcher and MG, with all one handed weapons being able to be dual wielded. What I have to give the game credit for is how smooth it plays. No matter if you just want to jump to the side, jump off a wall, glide down a handrail or take a stroll on a serving cart, I was able to do them very easily without much of a hassle, although railguards sometimes bring you to a full stop when they take an angle. Another great thing is the presentation. You fight through regular Hong Kong streets, through a Triad casino, stilt houses or a museum while enemies have overly dramatic screams or death animations, especially if you use the precision shot. So yes, get it.