Stranglehold

Written by Nick Doukas  on June 02, 2006

First Impressions: Got you in a stranglehold baby, you best get out of the wayЕ

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Before we even start, let me just point out that, yes Ц those are lyrics from Ted Nugent's rock opus Stranglehold. Now, love or hate the Nuge (also known as the Motor City Madman for you youngins out there) you've got to respect his contribution to rock and roll. John Woo's contribution to the medium of action films has been nothing less groundbreaking. Up until this point, numerous games have tried to capture the slow motion, balletic grace of the gunfights seen in the director's films - Max Payne and Dead to Rights most notably. However, since John Woo invented this style of gunplay with films like Hard Boiled and The Killer, it's only fitting that Chow Yun-Fat (who became a box office sensation in those films) stars in Stranglehold, the first game with direct input from Woo himself. Developed by the Midway team that brought the excellent but underappreciated Psi-Ops to the gaming world, Stranglehold looks to bring everything fans of the genre love to the table, all rendered in incredibly realistic next gen style.

Stranglehold promises to push the boundaries of cinematic gaming according to Midway's chief marketing officer, Steve Allison "The video game industry continues to push the envelope, bridging the worlds of games and movies to produce revolutionary entertainment for consumers. To have John Woo creatively involved in Stranglehold and Chow Yun-Fat reprising his role as Inspector Tequila is truly a dream come true for fans of Hong Kong action movies. This game is the first pure example of the convergence of entertainment. Stranglehold is an example of what is possible in the next generation of video games as a viable approach to building a new IP as a gaming franchise that speaks to a fan base through its star and director, in the same way a film does." Sounds good, but exactly what does that all mean? Basically, it means that the character models, environments and special effects presented in the game are not only extremely graphically impressive, but fully interactive as well. You can grab enemies as human shields, hang from chandeliers as you fire down upon armies of thugs, run along a railing, slide across tables, and perform a myriad of other extraordinarily cool moves as the venerable Inspector Tequila.

Basically the game is designed so that each stage is a virtual playground of acrobatic gunfighting. The controls are extremely simple, with the thumbsticks controlling movement and the camera, the right trigger for firing weapons and the left trigger is context sensitive and handles most anything else. Since Inspector Tequila will automatically vault tables and jump over other objects as he approaches them, the player gets to concentrate on blasting bad guys and looking incredibly stylish while dealing out copious amounts of lead. From the demo footage shown at E3 I can tell you this game definitely looks fantastic so far, with fully destructible environments Ц and I do mean fully. Once you and your foes are done blasting apart a teahouse, market, museum or hotel (just some of the areas you'll visit in the game) it will look like a train wreck Ц tiles blasted off walls, plaster and other debris strewn everywhere Ц exactly what you'd expect after half a dozen guys get done unloading hundreds and hundreds of rounds. Of course, you'll be able to handle two fisted shooting (a .45 for each hand Ц that's a John Woo staple) and drop into slow motion dives Ц in fact, it's integral to gameplay as you'll charge up your style meter the more dramatic your kills become, at which point you'll be able to draw on your specials Ц colorful and cinematic variations on signature moves from Woo's films.

The game world looks bright and vibrant, while also displaying a gritty and realistic look. The model of Chow Yun-Fat looks amazingly lifelike, and animates just as well Ц you can see evidence of this during gameplay as Tequila takes cover behind a large pillar. As the gangsters blast away at him, tearing chunks out of the tiling and spraying shrapnel everywhere, Tequila ducks and shields his face realistically to avoid being hit by the flying debris. New physics and far more lifelike animations will be something that comes to full fruition this generation, no doubt. Everything else in the game looks sharp as a tack, from the detailed texture work to the spot on gunfire and other destructive effects, there's no mistaking Stranglehold for anything but a next gen game. From a gameplay standpoint, as well as a graphical one, this title is seriously impressive.

The story concerns the usual John Woo themes Ц love, honor, brotherhood Ц and as the game begins you'll take it to the crime bosses (and endless waves of their foot soldiers of course) of Hong Kong, but eventually the plot shifts to the city of Chicago as Tequila takes on Russian mobsters who've kidnapped his family. In addition, it looks like there will be an online multiplayer mode, but details are extremely scarce at the time of this writing.