Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #848 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Midway Games Ltd
• Released on: 2007-09-14
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Number of items: 1

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Companies are always going on about the synergy between movies and video games, but all this really ever seems to mean is lots of dreadful movie tie-ins where all the money has been spent on celebrity voiceovers. Stranglehold is different though, in that it’s essentially a sequel to 1992’s classic movie Hard Boiled, made purely for video games. This time Inspector "Tequila" Yuen is unleashing his unorthodox policing methods on Russian crime bosses in both Hong Kong and Chicago. It stars the likeness of original lead Chow Yun Fat and has been developed with hands-on help from director John Woo – who it turns out does seem to know a thing or two about video games.

Of course video games have been ripping off John Woo for years, particularly his trademark slow motion shots of two-handed pistol action. As a result this initially seems dangerously similar to Max Payne et al., but the graphical power of the next generation consoles and PC ensures that this is a far more dynamic and interactive affair. Not only can you make use of a bullet time effect (call "Tequila time" here) to slow down time around you but almost all of the scenery can be used too, from sliding down banisters guns firing to scooting across the room on top of a waiter’s trolley. The damage done as you go is truly impressive, with tiles shattering off the walls, chandeliers impaling bad guys as they fall and electric wires and water mains unhinging themselves everywhere. Making a mess has never been so much fun.
HARRISON DENT

Customer Reviews

Tiresome
If you have played the demo then you dont need to get the game. then demo gives you all the best things from the full game.
Perhaps ive been playing games too long, but max pain on the PC was doing this years ago and with much more depth and fun.
core concept is good and the mechanics work fine, (does feel like they just ripped off the max pain engine) but besides some nice settings its like they didnt have a clue what to do to make into a game, shoot 4 things, plant 4 bombs by pressing a, protect these people for 30 mins while endless waves of bad guys come, badly placed spawn points after death require you to trek though the same area again and again, very old fasioned and really really dull.
shooting people in the balls is fun though I will grant you. for a while at least.

Arguably too short but, amazing fun while it lasts.
Stranglehold is an all action shoot 'em up which is great fun while it lasts. A lot of complaints have been made that it's too short. I agree to a certain extent but because the game play is virtually the same throughout I don't think it could have been stretched much further.

The action is some of the most exciting ever seen on a games console and the way the scenery is destroyed adds to the immersion. Usually the damage to scenery in other shooters is minimal. In Stranglehold the damage is remarkable. Almost everything can be shot. During a gunfight, tables are knocked over, bottles smashed, concrete form pillars is smashed off and in one level even fish tanks can be shot spilling the contents all over the floor. At the end of a gunfight when you get your breath back and look at the room you are in the level of destruction is amazing.

Because the action is so fast and exciting its one of the few games you can let your mate have a go on and not get bored watching someone else play it.

Forty quid is definitely a lot to ask for a game that is this short, this easy and has very little replay value. However, now the price is half that it's definitely worth a purchase. Fans of big budget action films will love this.

Mental Fun!!
I must take issue with the people complaining that this game lacks depth - its a "shooter" for goodness sake?! What did you expect other than shooting?? And you do get loads of super fun, super varied and super exciting shooting. There's no lazy programming here. You can interact with your entire environment. The graphics are stunning. The character control is excellent. If you don't enjoy swinging in slow motion from a chandelier shooting gangsters with a machine gun then what in blazes are you doing buying a shooter anyway?! The difficultly levels really do change the game as well. In some games (see Gears of War), its hard to tell the difference between "Casual" and "Insane" difficulty - not here. I was reeeally struggling on hard as opposed to the relative sail through I had on Casual. And that's as it should be.

Only a couple of negatives - the game is short. I wanted more!!
The multi-player is poor - but I don't really like online shooters anyway. You just end up getting killed endlessly by the same nerd that spends his entire days and nights snipering newbies like me. It's their substitute for having a woman y'see....poor wee lambs.

Anyway - buy it.