Stranglehold

by Midway

Product Features

• Engage the enemy in Tequila Time by targeting and firing in real-time while the world dramatically slows and enjoy the exhilaration of running up railings, swinging from chandeliers, and leaping onto moving objects - all without complex controls.
• Using the Massive D physics engine, bring the world down on your enemies, carve your own realistic path of destruction through environments and maneuver through unique piles of debris which persist in the environment.
• In the only video game to offer the authentic Woo experience, John Woo partners with Midway to create the ultimate action video game with all of the director's signature cinematic action, character focused storytelling, and revolutionary directing style.
• Prove you are the ultimate renegade cop as players from around the world show off their gunplay skill and compete online in the most realistic next-gen environments.
• Also available on the Playstation 3 game console.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GPVUOY
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 5, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,793 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #38 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Action > Shooter
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Xbox 360 | Edition: Standard

Amazon.com

Honor is his code. Vengeance is his mission. Bloodshed is his only option.

Experience the excitement of true next-gen action while continuing the story of John Woo's influential action film, Hard Boiled, starring Chow Yun-Fat. Ensnared by a crime boss with a gripping secret, Inspector Tequila is forced to cross the line from sworn duty to bloody revenge. Engage your enemies with intense cinematic gun battles and cause massive environmental damage in real-time or revolutionary slow-motion Tequila Time.

Features

• Cinematic Gun Battles
  Engage the enemy in "Tequila Time" by targeting and firing in real-time while the world dramatically slows and enjoy the exhilaration of running up railings, swinging from chandeliers, and leaping onto moving objects – all without complex controls.
• Unbelievably Destructible Environments
  Using the Massive D physics engine, bring the world down on your enemies, carve your own realistic path of destruction through environments and maneuver through unique piles of debris which persist in the environment.
• The Only Authentic John Woo Video Game Experience
  John Woo partners with Midway to create the ultimate action video game with all of the director's signature cinematic action, character focused storytelling, and revolutionary directing style.
• Online Action
  Prove you are the ultimate renegade cop as players from around the world show-off their gunplay skills and compete online in the most realistic next-gen environments.

Product Description

Honor is his code. Vengeance is his mission. Bloodshed is his only option... Experience the excitement of the true next-gen action while continuing the story of John Woo's influential action film, "Hard Boiled" starring Chow Yun-Fat. Ensnared by a crime boss with a gripping secret, Inspector Tequila is forced to cross the line from sworn duty to bloody revenge. Engage your enemies with intense cinematic gun battles and cause massive environmental damage in real-time or revolutionary slow-motion Tequila Time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's action movie in a box, baby!!!, September 4, 2007

By 

H. Crosland "Dredded Panthyr" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Stranglehold (Video Game)

Wow...what is there to say about Stranglehold?

If Bioshock was your lovemaking session, then Stranglehold would be the cigarette that you need afterwards to recovering while waiting to go another round (Halo 3).

Many comparisons have been made between this and Max Payne regarding the style in which this game is played but also I think a dash of Devil May Cry was added to this recipe.

This game also reminds me of Tomb Raider without all the puzzles.

But most of all the game is balls to the wall action.

Stranglehold is pretty much a straightforward action movie which you control, where you must simply mow down hordes of enemies but in the most stylish way possible; if it moves, kill it.

By doing so, you advance the story. And it so far is a decently told story, not a great blockbuster but if you have watched enough Hong Kong cops and robbers movie, this is what you are getting. The story is simple: Drug kingpins are killing cops....kill all the kingpings until you find head kingpin....does it need to be more complex than that? NO!

You will be too busy destroying everything in sight and I do mean everything. While you are making your merry romp thru the streets of Hong Kong, not only will you find that you can shoot up the set around you but also there are certain peices that you can shoot out to cause more destruction....properly placed baddies can be killed by exploding barrels, dropped air conditioning units, rocks and much more.

And of course as you proceed, you get power ups as you go to slow down time (Tequila Time), hit enemies in certain spots (Precision Aiming) and all out mass killing (Barrage)not to mention the signature Woo Mexican Standoff (which really is a mini game in and of itself).

there are also many weapons including the Golden Pistols which you ca get early on if you know where to look.

Does it get repitive after awhile? Sure...but it doesn't stop the fun. In fact there is one level that you play that lifts the idea from G.R.A.W. where you face attackers from a helicopter.

How well does it control? It handles itself pretty well once you get it down pat. There are no changes to controls once you are dual wielding guns and if you ask me, sticking yourself behind coverage in some aspects handles a lot better than Gears of War. One button push, look and fire and run when done.

Graphically speaking, the game looks pretty good. Tequila looks pretty well refined but the baddies look just like in the movies...a whole bunch of forgettable faces trying to kill you. The scenery also looks great but you won't have time to enjoy it as you are too busy shooting it all up and after you cleared it you get to see what's around you. There is a lot of attention paid to some of the details. You start wondering if these guys are gonna catch lung cancer from all the well rendered cigarettes smoked, the alleys look like some of the most unsafe places this side of New York.

Soundwise, this game is gorgeous. The ambient sound from the city scenes will make you feel that this is a crapmed city. Babies crying, TVs being watched...yeah...you are there....when the guns go off they sound like they are all around you and when things blow?

Well let's just say, turn down your subwoofer if you feel your neighbors paying a late visit if you wake them up. This is one of the most ambient sound sets I have heard since Call of Duty 2 interms of gunplay.

To a point, I think maybe a brief tutorial could have been added to give players a chance to learn and practice some of the moves but on the other hand it's really hard to pull out some fo the moves used when it's hard to exactly get an idea where your enemies are going to appear.

Also, some may complain that the game may be too 'railish' as you can't go everywhere in some sections but think of how much of a good thing that may be...while you are concentrating on trying to pull off a hard combo, you have to worry about sliding off a pier into the water. On the other hand, you can jump off a lot of objects and don't have to worry too muich about dying...whether it takes away from the realism....it's up to you...but then one man going up against 10+ enemies all shooting at him and not dying is a tiny bit absurd too hmm?

To sum it up, if you want some mindless gunplay to tide you over til Halo 3, this is the game to play. This is the closest you can get to being in a Hong Kong flick without having to sign on stunt man. Try it as a rental first but if you really like it, buy it.


Now if we can just get a decent Die Hard game......


8 out of 10

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shoot, Tequila, Shoot, November 2, 2007

By 

Lestor neeker Wong (Singapore) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Stranglehold (Video Game)

You can see Stranglehold from two different perspectives. You can see it as a repetitive shooter that pits you against waves after waves of (cheap) enemies that suddenly appear from nowhere. Or, you can see it as a great homage to one of the great action movies of all-time, Hard Boiled. I choose the latter, and it was no wonder I had so much fun with it.

The story isn't important, since intense action featuring Chow Yun-Fat as Inspector Tequila is the order here. But if you must know, it involves some dead cop and the kidnapping of Tequila's ex-girlfriend and daughter. Reason enough for a massive surge of killing? You bet.

Playing through seven levels, you get to control Tequila and his array of skills (most have to be unlocked). Apart from the usual third-person shooting, you'll get abilities like the precision aim, which allows a first-person view, zoomed in, for a free-aim at whichever part of an enemy's body you see fit. Shooting at balls is highly recommended if you're sadistic. Like me.

Other skills like the barrage allows a moment of mad, unstoppable shooting and invulnerability. But the most dramatic skills of them is, you guess, the spin attack. Much like the 1,001 movies that Chow has made, this attack involves the guy turning 360 degrees while shooting two guns at various enemies surrounding him. Doves are complimentary. I guess the doves must be there to moan the death of all those goons that dare stay within your vicinity when you does this thing.

Using these skills are not free though. You need to earn the juice (ok, "tequila bombs") to use them, and using them reduces the juice. You earn it by performing stylish kills, helped by the fully destructible environments in the game. See a signboard above an enemy, shoot it, and it falls straight down to send the idiot to his maker. See a roll cart? Jump on top of it and start shooting people while moving around. See a gas tank near an enemy? Shoot it and enjoy the explosion takes care of matters. You can also combine these actions to score combos for more juices, so that you can use the above-mentioned skills more liberally.

There's also the matter of "tequila time", which basically happens when you perform kills while interacting with the environment (like, when rolling on a roll cart or sliding up and down on a banister). What happens is that time slows when tequila time is on, giving more time to shun bullets as well as kill morons. You can also activate this by simply diving around and pressing one of the shoulder buttons. It looks great, and it works well. In fact, it's probably a life-saver for most players trying to beat the more challenging levels.

On challenging levels, the game features four different difficulties. But even on casual, it becomes extremely painful to play through towards the end of the campaign. The enemy's AI is ridiculously aggressive, and you don't get to hide behind a wall like Gears of War for health recovery. Expect to die (many times) as you search for the best way to neutralize the threat. Things can tougher on the hard-boiled challenge (the most difficult mode) - a hit on you takes out 3/4 of your life! That's how it goes, and it isn't apologetic at all about it.

It should be apologetic, however, about the last-gen graphics though. It wasn't so glaring on my old SDTV when I first played the game. But recently, I bought a HDTV, and the flaws are pretty obvious. I mean, when an environment looks dull even on HD, you know it's bad. The character models also look dated, even though they manage to capture the movement of the models quite smoothly. Audios wise, it's just a bunch of explosions and some action music. Nothing of major note here, but it does what it was required.

All in all, Stranglehold is a fun shooter that recycles some old gameplay ideas (from Max Payne, I believe) rather successfully. The various attacking methods are fun to use, but the insane difficulty may scare some shooter noobs away. Engage with caution.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like it for what it is and not what it isnt., September 18, 2007

By 

C. Smith "otherthani" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Stranglehold (Video Game)

I went into this game expecting a no nonsense, fast paced, action packed, arcade like 3rd person shooter.... and it was everything I expected. Midway and John Woo do not pretend or attempt to make this game anything else. The game in a nutshell has 7 levels (about an hour each for skilled gamers) filled with hordes of enemies, countless ammo at your disposal, and tequila time (bullet time) mixed in. At times you can also kill enemies using the enviornment (explosive canisters and overhead signs mostly. The sniper mode, barrage mode and spinning mode upgrades come in handy when the enemies get overwhealming (and they do at times). In an era where games are becomming more complex (I like these games too), sometimes its nice to play an adreneline filled game where its not required to think much. The games only down fall is that its over within 7-10 hours, however I plan on keeping this game on my shelf for when I just want to blow things up. If the short game play bothers you... rent it... its worth at least 7 hours of your time.

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