Stranglehold Xbox 360 Video Game Review

If you read my bio, you will notice I love martial art movies, especially those only available from Hong Kong. In fact my personal DVD library is filled with about 150 of the top Hong Kong martial arts and action titles. I also own every movie Chow Yun Fat has starred in. For those who may not know the name, he is one of the biggest Hong Kong action stars. His movie Hard Boiled is among the top ten all time best action movies rated among movie critics all across the world.

Chow also starred in the Replacement Killers. Most people know him from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. While this movie was good, it can’t touch the non-stop action and gun play of the 1992 Hard Boiled. For the past few years Midway and Tiger games owned by John Woo has been had at work creating Stranglehold which is based on Inspector Tequila from the movie Hard Boiled. While the game had its issues with delays and changes, it finally hit. I predicted the game would be a sleeper hit. Read the full review and see why I was right.

Gameplay

Taking a character from a well known 1992 Hong Kong movie and creating a game around it is not an easy task. Most people never saw the movie unless they are fans or know where to buy the imported movie. In fact the movie was just recently released for the first time in the US on DVD. So John Woo and the team had an uphill battle to start with. The solution was simple yet very effective. Base the game around the story that takes place years after the movie and get the gamer interested in Inspector Tequila’s life.

They used the old “root for the hero” angle and while most games have failed horribly trying this angle, Stranglehold manages to pull it off perfectly. Tequila is a cop with his own set of rules. He’s a hot head but the sort of cop who cares about people but not protocol. The game starts off with Tequila trying to find a cop killer and soon takes the player on a strange and interesting non-stop action ride though the streets of Hong Kong and the US and back again.

At first glance the game could be easily seen at as a Max Payne clone and pushed aside. While it has some slow motion effects, Stranglehold offers gamers a chance to destroy almost everything in the world of the game. You also get to shoot almost every gun ever made. It’s one hell of a great game and a rush to play. It’s not a run and gun type of game though and those who try this method will find dying gets old fast. You need to use the destructible levels and tequila bombs to your advantage. These include barrage attack, spin attack, precession aim and healing. You fill the meter by performing style kills including leaping, sliding and even cart-riding while shooting down the bad guys on the way to unraveling the story.

Most games like this try hard to create a story and leave the cut scenes too short or drag them out and make it very boring. Stranglehold somehow manages to take the main parts of the movie and tie it in with the new story with great cut scenes that almost look like a real movie. What I enjoyed the most about the game is that you start to care about the characters and want to finish the next level to see what happens next. I have heard and read that others thought the game was enjoyable but too short and the game was a quick fix. I disagree and think the game has some great levels and seemed the right length.

The biggest difference between other games and Stranglehold is there are several ways to kill the enemies and bosses. Due to the nature of the level design, you can hang from a rope, chandelier or anything else and fight. It really begins to feel like you’re in the world and not just controlling it. This is why it is the best movie-based game I have ever played!

Control

The controls are perfect for the game. The right trigger shoots and the left trigger controls the tequila timer which allows you to slow down time, perform wall jumps and other great moves. The A button switches weapons B is for grenades and X is to pick up new weapons.

It takes very little time to get used to the controls but it does take time to master them all. Overall the controls are great and there is never a time where anything seems out of place or hard to perform. No complaints at all and most gamers will learn all the controls within 30 minutes of playing.

Xbox Live

You earn money by completing the levels and destruction of valuable objects. This money can be used in the unlock shop to buy characters to use online. The online mode is a simple death match with 6 players in any of the levels of the game. While it is fun, it can get a bit old but I did enjoy being able to test my skills of the game against others.

I also liked the fact some of the levels have booby traps, lasers and other obstacles you need to avoid while dodging the other players. It has the normal ranked or unranked match types and finding a game is easy enough. I really liked the idea of an online mode but to be honest the main appeal of the game is the single-player game.

Graphics

Using the Unreal engine the character models are great looking and each level has its own unique look and feel to it. Each boss has something different. Some are huge and menacing looking while others are skinny and creepy looking. They really did a great job with the few characters from the movie Hard Boiled. This is especially true with Chow Yun Fat. Of course his time spent in motion capturing session aided this.

They really were able to create a John Woo feel to the game. Any game that has destructible levels can look great in places but usually show some quirks. Stranglehold looks amazing and every level looks as good as the last one. Of course there are a few very minor flaws.

Audio

Having Chow Yun Fat and John Woo in the studio to record their parts helps the game really bring out the characters and make them believable. They also used a few others stars of the movie and each main character sounded convincing. The sounds of each weapon are dead on and also help the players get into the game.

I also liked the music and think it cues in right when it should. Overall a great job in the audio section. The extra dialogue for the extended cut scenes were well done also.

Replay Value

The game has three different levels of difficulty you can choose from. Each level adds more enemies and new things to see. They really added plenty to make gamers want to replay the game after finishing it once. Also some of the achievements are not possible to unlock the first time you play the game. Stranglehold is not a title that is going to appeal to everyone the same way.

If you like action, then of course you will want to play it on the hardest setting to try and beat it while others may be content beating it once and then playing online. I enjoyed it and after playing the last mission, I wanted to go right back and try and collect and unlock things I missed. I think most gamers who enjoy action games will want to do the same.

Bottom Line

Overall Score: 8.4/10.0

Stranglehold delivered exactly what Jon Woo promised and while the wait was a little long, it was worth waiting for. I wish the online mode was a little deeper and followed more of the formula from the single-player game but it was fun. It also shows any game based on a movie or a character from one does not need to stink and can be well done with the right team behind it. Stranglehold will get your heart racing and hold your interests while playing. Overall it’s just like a Jon Woo film that you control.

Links

Official Website: http://www.strangleholdgame.com/

Midway Games: http://www.midway.com/rxpage/MidwayHome.html

Filed under: Reviews • Xbox 360

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