There are many things in life that the virtual worlds are modelled after. Sometimes these are the fantasy worlds of magic and sorcery, other times they are the science fiction of Deep Space Nine and still there are others modelled after sports and movies. But rare is a game produced entirely after one person. Renowned Hong Kong film director John Woo is the person that Midway’s Stranglehold personifies.

For those in the dark, John Woo is acclaimed for his use of slow motion, graceful action scenes and balletic gun fights. He has produced notable Hollywood movies, since his crossover in 1993 like Hard Boiled, The Killer and Mission Impossible II. Stranglehold, the game, not to be confused with a 1994 independent film of the same name, was made in collaboration with the director and is dedicated to his cinematic style.

In addition, Stranglehold also serves as a “spiritual sequel” to Woo’s 1992 production, Hard Boiled. The game is a First-Person Shooter (FPS) that revolves around Inspector “Tequila” Yuen. The game character is played by Chow Yun Fatt reprising his role in the film.

In homage of Woo, much of Stranglehold’s focus is, not surprisingly, on gun fights and battle sequences. The storyline, characters and environments all play second-fiddle to this premise as the aim of the game is brutally simple, just blast the heck out of everyone and make sure you do it with style. The combat is fast paced, intense and like most FPS titles will require quick finger reflexes.

Novelty Factor

One notable novelty in the FPS genre is the absence of reloading. Yes, you heard us right. The game has absolutely no need of reloading. Midway’s sacrifice of realism for virtual trigger-happy bliss will be heaven to players tired of reload pauses in their average Counter-Strike experiences. This concept is excellent because it channels all concentration on aiming and surviving, which is the focus of the game. However, ammunition is still needed and bullets are unfortunately, not infinite. This is not totally bad as most enemies drop ammo upon death, and you’ll hardly find yourself worrying about the lack of gun juice.

Game Mechanics

Staying true to Woo’s action trademark, Stranglehold presents slow motion battles known as “Tequila Time”. Upon activation, this game mechanic kicks in as a player’s ability that enables game time to slow down; allowing ease of aiming and dodging of bullets. This, of course, is extremely useful in difficult gun battles. The slow motion sequence is similar to the many fighting scenes of The Matrix trilogy where Neo moves in slowed time to dodge barrages of metal. Activated by the right mouse button, Tequila Time is fun to use but also requires some recharge time. The ability can also auto activate when players dive, jump or interact with the environment.

In addition to Tequila Time, Stranglehold does offer players extra abilities as well. These are termed as “Tequila Bombs” and they come in 4 different forms that can only be invoked when players garner enough style points. Style points are gained by killing enemies in a creative fashion, such as sliding down railings while pumping rounds and exacting insane damage on your targets. Creative kills don’t just offer personal satisfaction anymore when they are tangibly rewarded in game. The system is similar to the Tony Hawk Pro’s skating series where players gain cash by doing outlandish skateboard stunts. The crazier the stunt, the more money you get, while here it’s the cooler the kill, the more points you get.

The Tequila Bombs are as follows – Health Boost, Precision Aim, Barrage Attack and Spin Attack. The barrage attack is by far the most beautiful and satisfying ability to use. When invoked, players get a 20-second “Superman” period where Tequila has insane firepower and near invulnerability. There’s nothing like obliterating rooms filled with evil henchmen with a shotgun, blasting whole pillars and structures into twisted scrap and burning metal. The graphics of the destruction are amazingly gratifying.

Graphics

Needless to say, the graphic quality of Stranglehold is respectable and does warrant some praise. However, movement animation and character models are not entirely up to standard. The game suffers from what most FPS titles struggle with-, the lack of unique character modelling. The character structures are somewhat block-ish and lacklustre. Also, with the sheer amount of baddies that Tequila faces, characters tend to look generic and boring after a while and you become increasingly aware that you’re pretty much fighting the same fights repetitively. Animation is equally guilty of being utterly predictable as the baddies seem to take the same poses and use the same gestures throughout the rounds.

Weaponry

If mindless shooting is the focus, it would be wise for the producers to inject a wide variety of weaponry to give players sweet choices for inventive wanton destruction. Unfortunately, Stranglehold fails this need as weapons are again predictable and limited to the standard models available in almost every other FPS title.
All in all, Stranglehold requires little thinking and offers a trip of pure carnage that will definitely satisfy the trigger happy. John Woo fans will also find this a real treat as the whole simulation is very much like one of his flicks. Immersing in Woo’s world is not entirely for everyone though, and can get predictable after a while, losing the very flavour that brought you there in the first place.

Platform: PC

Developer: Midway

Website: http://strangleholdgame.com/

Genre: First Person Shooter

Price: $49.99

Graphics: 7.5 / 10
Sound: 7 / 10
Plot: 7/10
Game play: 8 / 10
Addictive Rating: 7.5 / 10
Overall Rating: 7.8 / 10