Stranglehold - 8/10
When you think about video game characters, gamers have been blessed with such an awesome variety of characters to use through games, whether it be stereotypical gruff agent types with voice tones that sound like they smoke a pack of cigerettes a day, cutesy fluffy adorable animals with guns bigger than Ben Hur himself, or foxy curvy female operatives that use seduction to harm evil. You have got to love the choice you are given, but there is always that image in your mind thats just saying "wouldnt it be better if i was acting someone like Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, John Woo or Chow Yun Fat?" Well now you can! Don on the yellow outfit with the black stripe if you like, because no game captures the true experience better than Stranglehold does. Admittedly you dont really play as either of those big names i mentioned, you play as Inspector Tequila Yuen, a no nonsense Hong Kong cop whose goal is to bring the criminals and thugs that populate the city streets to justice, the best part about this is, Mr Yuen prefers to bring down these thugs with two guns, and has a penchant for killing with style. And that is what this game is all about.
The goal here is to rescue Yuen's kidnapped daughter, and bring down the organisation, Russian mobs and Chinese gangs who have her captured. Dont yawn about the plot, it may seem cliched, and well, it is, but this game is not about the storyline, its about style, true John Woo style, and it delivers it in vases. The game world will become your oyster with Yuen, he is incredible to use and no sub par plot can ever prevent you from having fun with this ultra stylish title. Dont expect an epic action adventure with majestic storyline and memorable villians, MGS4 isnt out yet after all, but expect popcorn cinematic fun at its purest.
There is never a dull moment whilst playing Stranglehold, the game literally encourages style. For example when entering a level, you can blow the scenery to bits, and you will also be rewarded for style if you take out objects that are in the environment. The ways to kill enemies and approach missions are simply mouth watering with the options they give you, you can pepper enemy thugs flesh with a hail of hot lead, you can dive over a kicked down tables in a chinese restaurant, or you can use the environment to your advantage, shooting neon lit ceiling signs to distract enemies or even going as far as blasting the rocky mountains, which result in stones and rubble tumbling down on unsuspecting thugs. Its an awesome secondary approach to the action and makes you wonder why it wasnt implemented in most action games of this nature.
The interactivity of the environments also makes the action more intense, dont be thinking you are safe hiding behind that marble pillar or museum fossil, because if bullets from enemy gunfire start attacking that pillar you're hiding behind, it will eventually expose Yuen making him a sitting duck for enemies to kill. The fact that around 85% of the scenery can be blown to smithereens really makes this game more than just a weekend renter. The settings demand destruction and are hungry for your arsenals anger, floors can cave in, rails can be dislodged from there hinges, bar bottles shatter, slot machines can be massacred and walls are mottled by bullet holes. Some levels are just so insanely fun to fight through, one too many wayward bullet pellets in the aquarium will have the place blow out in a sea of water and fishes and a few bullet sprays in the history museum will have that nearby T-Rex skeleton shatter into a pile of bone particles. The environments really suit the feel of a John Woo inspired game too, Yuen will be diving through lush marble museums, neon lit Hong Kong market streets, seedy back alley slums, smokey sleazy bars and lavish dragon restaurants. Make no mistake, this is the Rush Hour of gaming, if fun had more definitions, Stranglehold would be one of those meanings.
If you thought that sounded like fun then you havent seen nothing yet. Yuen also has the ability to not only do an aerial dive in the air with two guns blazing at once but also a slow motion maneuver, similar to Max Payne's "Bullet Time" which has the screen washed in blood red and sepia toned effects as our badass copper mowing down droves of thugs in a slow motion trance of bullet tracers and crosshairs. There is nothing like it, and it really gets the adrenaline pumping to new highs. But wait, there is more, Yuen also has, what the game likes to call, "Tequila Bombs" Each Tequila Bomb has a different effect, some of them can heal Yuen if he is bruised and injured, while some allow for a slow motion zoom which makes locking on to that distant enemy much easier. The best Tequila Bomb would be the one that allows Yuen to turn invincable for a short period of time and freezes the pace of the action but not your weapons, meaning you can fire at a speedy pace while the action has gone in slow motion mode, the effect is only minimum lasting so make the best of it, especially against boss battles that you will encounter in the game. I strongly suggest equipping the bullet showering assault rifle, lead packed sub machineguns, kill count chaos causing twin Uzi's or fan fave, the shotgun! You will never get tired of watching the impact of your shotty shells lift an enemy goon off his feet in slow motion, it is a moment that will make you smirk and beam. You will find yourself wanting to do the Tequila Bombs constantly, as the small span they last only makes you hungry for them more. The final Tequila Bomb which has Yuen using a flock of doves to attack his enemies is kind of pointless and doesnt do a great deal of damage to enemies, it could have been substituted by a much greater effect, but its still fun to use nonetheless. Another element to gameplay is the stand offs which has Yuen standing still * you cant move him* the goal here is two blast all enemies while dodging enemy gunfire which can be quite tough considering you cant control Yuens movements during this sequence. Then there is the fun boss battles, dont expect any mystical ogre masked creeps here, Strangleholds villians mainly consist of mafia types with cuban cigars, beretta wielding chums and crims in suits with hot asian daughters. Nothing out of the ordinary in boss battles, but they are fun nonetheless.
Visually, the game has a fantastic overall presentation to it that really catches the vibe of hong kong kung fu movies inspired by John Woo. Yuen is also, visually excellently animated. You will notice snippets of this in Yuens face, his *sometimes blood splattered* face will grimace during the midst of a hectic gun battles which really makes him feel quite real and alive for a video game character. Although Yuen is amazingly realistic the enmies are sadly not as good. They still look real but there faces resemble zombies, lifeless at times, but that will hardly be an issue when you step into the action that this games offers. The detail in interaction in the environments are second to none and dont need an introduction, in a word, they are brilliant.
Overall, i have not had as much fun with a game like this since Heavenly Sword, Stranglehold reeks of class and style, the visuals are nice enough to impress, the audio and voice work by Chow Yun Fat and Co is solid enough and the destructable environments and authentic cinematic action and style the game breaths and more than enough for the price you pay,and to wrap it all up, the game even comes bundled with a copy of the Blu Ray edition of the movie Hard Boiled to further feed your hunger for all things kung fu orientated. Whether it will be a keeper depends on what kind of gamer you are, i will keep this one for sure, for the simple reason of the action it offers, it encourages, forces you to have fun and it doesnt mind forcing you either. Make your own decision, hire i first, but it may very well be a waste of rent money as i can see anyone picking this up and having more than a blast. Its not just for kicks, Stranglehold should appeal to all action junkies
Submitted by callan5
11/11/2007
10
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