Childrens Toyshop
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Video Games : Stranglehold (Xbox 360)
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Rating: 
- Good but not brilliant
I bought Stranglehold as i'm a fan of 'Shoot em ups' and liked the original film, Hard Boiled, of which this is the game sequel.
If your looking for vast expansive levels, challenging quests or free area's to roam like GTA then this isn't the game for you.
However if you like lots of guns, blowing the crap out of everything you see around you and some wicked close up shots when you kill people with the precision shot option then this is the game for you. Its fun, playable and has some neat features like 'tequilla time' and style points for fancy kills.
In summary, its a real good shooting game and there isn't a game out there which beats it on environmental destruction..... and like i said,use precision shot for some great close ups.
Rating:
- Lots of fun for John Woo fans, but let down by frustrating difficulty level.
JOHN WOO PRESENTS STRANGLEHOLD is a 'spiritual' sequel to his 1992 Hong Kong film HARD-BOILED, which starred Chow Yun-Fat (who was also seen in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON; THE KILLER; A BETTER TOMORROW; BULLETPROOF MONK and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END) as police Inspector 'Tequila' Yuen. This game allows you to reprise the role of that iconic character (who is also voiced by Chow himself!) as you unravel a case involving two girls who get kidnapped by a crime syndicate.
The game itself is a third-person shooter that uses the Unreal engine (as did other titles like GEARS OF WAR and RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS), but there are quite a few things that make this quite different from those:
(1) STRANGLEHOLD has the most destructive environments in videogame history. Pretty much anything can be destroyed, from tables to glass windows to ornate vases and dragons. In some instances you can use this to your advantage, for if you see a suspended sign above a baddie you can shoot the sign so that it falls on top of him!
(2) You build up a Tequila Bomb meter (in the bottom-left corner) that allows you to pull off one of four special moves (although you don't get the ability to use them until certain points in the game, but you don't have to wait all that long before they become available).
(3) Being a John Woo-based game, if you're familiar with the best of Woo's movies then you know the drill: slow-motion, ballistic gun-battles with people leaping around and using their environment in imaginative ways to avoid getting shot or otherwise killed. Tequila can do things like dive forwards, sideways or backwards and shoot in any direction; bounce off walls to get a good shot in; slide down stair banisters while shooting; swing from chandeliers while shooting; or even ride on a trolley (a.k.a. rollcart) while shooting at people! A lot of imagination has gone into this game to make it feel like you're in an interactive John Woo film, especially as you have a Tequila Time meter (which is essentially slow-motion) to aid you in your quest to try and pull off the most stylish kills; you can earn even more style points and Tequila Bomb power by stringing style combos together, such as leaping off a wall then landing on a trolley!
About those Tequila Bombs (TB) mentioned in (2). Each time you kill someone you gain TB power, and you gain it much more quickly if you pull off stylish kills compared to ones where you're just standing and shooting. Once it reaches a high-enough level for a specific TB move you can execute it; it can also be filled up even more quickly by locating paper cranes scattered about the place. My favourite one of these, besides the first one (which allows you to restore lost health, which is handy if you don't know where to find or cannot easily access a first-aid kit on a wall or on the floor), is the Precision Aim. You go into first-person mode and move a crosshair about the screen to try and hit a baddie in a specific body part (it will also zoom in on distant baddies); you do this and fire to send a bullet (upon which the camera hitches a ride) hurtling towards your target and get some graphic results as the guy on the receiving end gets shot (whether or not he dies depends on where you hit him, assuming you hit him at all).
Weapons available to you include the basic Berettas (something that we're used to seeing Chow holding!), shotguns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and others (which I'll leave as a surprise). There is some strategy involved because some guns are more powerful than others while others are better suited to long-distance shots than others. You can also only carry two different types of gun, but you can switch between the two at any point. Later on you also get a stash of grenades.
So far so good, but is the game any good? Well, I enjoyed it, and so did quite a few other people, although I feel that you will get more out of the game if you've seen the John Woo movies from Hong Kong (not just Hard-Boiled), as opposed to just his Hollywood fare, where he was told he couldn't really do what he was most famous for to quite the same degree, effectively watering down his trademark style.
Graphics aren't great, but then I expected that, if only due to the demands of trying to get the destructible backgrounds to work, so maybe more was spent on that than super-realistic visuals (but even then they're still hardly atrocious).
Sound is pretty good, although I would've preferred a meatier sound for the Beretta than the one that is currently there. The other weapons have perfectly suitable sounds, so no complaints there.
Gameplay is the real decider as to whether you like the game or hate it with a passion. While it's a lot of fun diving around and trying to pull off stylish kills, there really isn't a huge amount of variety in the gameplay, and for some that may not be enough. There are also bits where wave after wave of baddies seem to come at you, which some people might find tedious and annoying, especially as there is no radar, so they can easily sneak up behind you if you're not constantly alert. You also cannot really hide from them to prevent you from being seen by them, as you can in games like Rainbow Six Vegas, where a foe has to actually see you to know you're there and to take action. Even through a wall your presence will be made aware to the baddies, as if by telepathic connection, and as soon as you're in the immediate vicinity they will come for you. This is a tad unrealistic and can be frustrating at times.
Although you can take cover behind things, like in many of these games, you sometimes have to be choosy as to what to hide behind, because some of the things you can hide behind can be destroyed by gunfire (sometimes frighteningly quickly)! Here, a tactical element comes into play as you try to think quickly on your feet where you can go to avoid being shot when your cover is completely destroyed. You can shoot while remaining in cover, although you cannot look all the way around you while hiding (only about 180 degrees each way), which I thought was a bit unfair and can lead to someone coming up behind you and whacking you with a melee attack (which does TONS of damage - and you can't simply wait for your health to recover like in other shooters; in STRANGLEHOLD you have to either use the health-restoring TB or go and find a first-aid box! The biggest problem with this facet about cover is that sometimes the onslaught of baddies is so intense that you barely get enough time to think, which often leads to more frustrating deaths.
Regarding the stylish kills, sometimes you have to align yourself correctly with an object (e.g. stair bainster) to run up it or slide down it (you'll know if you're in the right position to interact with it because it glows white when you are), and when there's a choice or you're in a hurry to avoid being shot, sometimes it can do the wrong thing, or at least do something unexpected, which can lead to yet more frustrating deaths. This alone can make the game much more anger-inducing than it really needs to be, not helped by the fact that many of the restart points are quite widely spread apart, or the fact that some levels have snipers with laser-sighted assault rifles - these do a LOT of damage when they hit you, even on the easier difficulty levels. In fact, I think they do a bit too much damage, really. The game's hard enough as it is; even on the easier settings it's quite a challenge without those annoying snipers making it a real deathtrap!
Yet, despite its flaws, I still felt compelled to play on. I love the Tequila character and the experience of diving around and trying to pull off the most stylish kills that I could, it's that much of a guilty pleasure. It's just that, with a little more thought, the game could've been less frustrating and slightly better designed than it is, which would've made it a true classic.
Rating:
- Absolute Carnage
Had Soooo Much Fun Playin The Demo And The Demo Left Me Cliffhnagerd into wat it was like next time was gettin my copy today but i didnt pay attention to the post man knockin on my door so my bad but i cant wait to get my copy it is going to be absoultly brilliant and the ps3 sucks its like £400 for a blue ray and blue ray just the same as hd-dvd and ps3 is lost the market so its all about xbox ps3 has lost all the exclusives to xbox
Rating: - It's big, it's bold, and it's John Woo!
One of the best titles to join the Xbox 360 Elite Gaming Collection, Stranglehold is a top notch shooter that deserves a chance. I don't seem why people would not like this game. This game differs a lot because of the special gaming physics combined with the Unreal Engine 3.0. The 'Massive D' Physic is incredible, as it allows you to destroy everything around you, and use it against the enemy. This is will be a reason this game will be remembered.
As in John Woo's style, you get shootouts, doves flying, and loads of diving and jumping all over the place. The controls are easy to pick up and place down, and you'll have a fun shooting all over the place. It's generaly one of those games where you can go crazy. The story is hollywood-style at it's best. Loads of action, great dialogue and an awesome plot. Adding top-notch voice talent, how can anyone not like it?
The graphics are great, yet sometimes you'll wonder it looks slow. The odd framerate drop is here and there, but it doesn't matter, neither does it stop it from being perfect.
All in all, Stranglehold I'd reccomend to anyone looking for a slice of action.
Rating: - Woo(t)! A fun and frantic shooter!
I had no expectations of this game. Hard Boiled is my fave action movie of all time, but games based off movies in this manner rarely deliver. Surprisingly, though, I'm loving this game.
Controlling Chow Yun Fat's Inspector Tequila, you blast your way through impressively interactive and destructible environments using a variety of moves and skills that will have you grinning like an idiot as you do such outlandish maneuvers as dive off a balcony in slow motion and swing from a chandelier while blowing people clear across the room with a shotgun before aiming and shooting someone in the mouth only to be treated to a slow motion close up of them vomiting blood into their hands as they fall to their knees. It's an orgy of gore destruction the likes of which has rarely been seen in a game.
It's quite similar to the classic Max Payne gameplay wise, but is far more polished and easier to play, with easy to get to grips with controls and moves, and a fantastic story pushing events along. This game is a fantastic title that is very easy to overlook, but should be at least tried by everyone.
Awesome stuff.
- Good but not brilliantI bought Stranglehold as i'm a fan of 'Shoot em ups' and liked the original film, Hard Boiled, of which this is the game sequel.
If your looking for vast expansive levels, challenging quests or free area's to roam like GTA then this isn't the game for you.
However if you like lots of guns, blowing the crap out of everything you see around you and some wicked close up shots when you kill people with the precision shot option then this is the game for you. Its fun, playable and has some neat features like 'tequilla time' and style points for fancy kills.
In summary, its a real good shooting game and there isn't a game out there which beats it on environmental destruction..... and like i said,use precision shot for some great close ups.
Rating:
- Lots of fun for John Woo fans, but let down by frustrating difficulty level.JOHN WOO PRESENTS STRANGLEHOLD is a 'spiritual' sequel to his 1992 Hong Kong film HARD-BOILED, which starred Chow Yun-Fat (who was also seen in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON; THE KILLER; A BETTER TOMORROW; BULLETPROOF MONK and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END) as police Inspector 'Tequila' Yuen. This game allows you to reprise the role of that iconic character (who is also voiced by Chow himself!) as you unravel a case involving two girls who get kidnapped by a crime syndicate.
The game itself is a third-person shooter that uses the Unreal engine (as did other titles like GEARS OF WAR and RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS), but there are quite a few things that make this quite different from those:
(1) STRANGLEHOLD has the most destructive environments in videogame history. Pretty much anything can be destroyed, from tables to glass windows to ornate vases and dragons. In some instances you can use this to your advantage, for if you see a suspended sign above a baddie you can shoot the sign so that it falls on top of him!
(2) You build up a Tequila Bomb meter (in the bottom-left corner) that allows you to pull off one of four special moves (although you don't get the ability to use them until certain points in the game, but you don't have to wait all that long before they become available).
(3) Being a John Woo-based game, if you're familiar with the best of Woo's movies then you know the drill: slow-motion, ballistic gun-battles with people leaping around and using their environment in imaginative ways to avoid getting shot or otherwise killed. Tequila can do things like dive forwards, sideways or backwards and shoot in any direction; bounce off walls to get a good shot in; slide down stair banisters while shooting; swing from chandeliers while shooting; or even ride on a trolley (a.k.a. rollcart) while shooting at people! A lot of imagination has gone into this game to make it feel like you're in an interactive John Woo film, especially as you have a Tequila Time meter (which is essentially slow-motion) to aid you in your quest to try and pull off the most stylish kills; you can earn even more style points and Tequila Bomb power by stringing style combos together, such as leaping off a wall then landing on a trolley!
About those Tequila Bombs (TB) mentioned in (2). Each time you kill someone you gain TB power, and you gain it much more quickly if you pull off stylish kills compared to ones where you're just standing and shooting. Once it reaches a high-enough level for a specific TB move you can execute it; it can also be filled up even more quickly by locating paper cranes scattered about the place. My favourite one of these, besides the first one (which allows you to restore lost health, which is handy if you don't know where to find or cannot easily access a first-aid kit on a wall or on the floor), is the Precision Aim. You go into first-person mode and move a crosshair about the screen to try and hit a baddie in a specific body part (it will also zoom in on distant baddies); you do this and fire to send a bullet (upon which the camera hitches a ride) hurtling towards your target and get some graphic results as the guy on the receiving end gets shot (whether or not he dies depends on where you hit him, assuming you hit him at all).
Weapons available to you include the basic Berettas (something that we're used to seeing Chow holding!), shotguns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and others (which I'll leave as a surprise). There is some strategy involved because some guns are more powerful than others while others are better suited to long-distance shots than others. You can also only carry two different types of gun, but you can switch between the two at any point. Later on you also get a stash of grenades.
So far so good, but is the game any good? Well, I enjoyed it, and so did quite a few other people, although I feel that you will get more out of the game if you've seen the John Woo movies from Hong Kong (not just Hard-Boiled), as opposed to just his Hollywood fare, where he was told he couldn't really do what he was most famous for to quite the same degree, effectively watering down his trademark style.
Graphics aren't great, but then I expected that, if only due to the demands of trying to get the destructible backgrounds to work, so maybe more was spent on that than super-realistic visuals (but even then they're still hardly atrocious).
Sound is pretty good, although I would've preferred a meatier sound for the Beretta than the one that is currently there. The other weapons have perfectly suitable sounds, so no complaints there.
Gameplay is the real decider as to whether you like the game or hate it with a passion. While it's a lot of fun diving around and trying to pull off stylish kills, there really isn't a huge amount of variety in the gameplay, and for some that may not be enough. There are also bits where wave after wave of baddies seem to come at you, which some people might find tedious and annoying, especially as there is no radar, so they can easily sneak up behind you if you're not constantly alert. You also cannot really hide from them to prevent you from being seen by them, as you can in games like Rainbow Six Vegas, where a foe has to actually see you to know you're there and to take action. Even through a wall your presence will be made aware to the baddies, as if by telepathic connection, and as soon as you're in the immediate vicinity they will come for you. This is a tad unrealistic and can be frustrating at times.
Although you can take cover behind things, like in many of these games, you sometimes have to be choosy as to what to hide behind, because some of the things you can hide behind can be destroyed by gunfire (sometimes frighteningly quickly)! Here, a tactical element comes into play as you try to think quickly on your feet where you can go to avoid being shot when your cover is completely destroyed. You can shoot while remaining in cover, although you cannot look all the way around you while hiding (only about 180 degrees each way), which I thought was a bit unfair and can lead to someone coming up behind you and whacking you with a melee attack (which does TONS of damage - and you can't simply wait for your health to recover like in other shooters; in STRANGLEHOLD you have to either use the health-restoring TB or go and find a first-aid box! The biggest problem with this facet about cover is that sometimes the onslaught of baddies is so intense that you barely get enough time to think, which often leads to more frustrating deaths.
Regarding the stylish kills, sometimes you have to align yourself correctly with an object (e.g. stair bainster) to run up it or slide down it (you'll know if you're in the right position to interact with it because it glows white when you are), and when there's a choice or you're in a hurry to avoid being shot, sometimes it can do the wrong thing, or at least do something unexpected, which can lead to yet more frustrating deaths. This alone can make the game much more anger-inducing than it really needs to be, not helped by the fact that many of the restart points are quite widely spread apart, or the fact that some levels have snipers with laser-sighted assault rifles - these do a LOT of damage when they hit you, even on the easier difficulty levels. In fact, I think they do a bit too much damage, really. The game's hard enough as it is; even on the easier settings it's quite a challenge without those annoying snipers making it a real deathtrap!
Yet, despite its flaws, I still felt compelled to play on. I love the Tequila character and the experience of diving around and trying to pull off the most stylish kills that I could, it's that much of a guilty pleasure. It's just that, with a little more thought, the game could've been less frustrating and slightly better designed than it is, which would've made it a true classic.
Rating:
- Absolute CarnageHad Soooo Much Fun Playin The Demo And The Demo Left Me Cliffhnagerd into wat it was like next time was gettin my copy today but i didnt pay attention to the post man knockin on my door so my bad but i cant wait to get my copy it is going to be absoultly brilliant and the ps3 sucks its like £400 for a blue ray and blue ray just the same as hd-dvd and ps3 is lost the market so its all about xbox ps3 has lost all the exclusives to xbox
Rating:
- It's big, it's bold, and it's John Woo!One of the best titles to join the Xbox 360 Elite Gaming Collection, Stranglehold is a top notch shooter that deserves a chance. I don't seem why people would not like this game. This game differs a lot because of the special gaming physics combined with the Unreal Engine 3.0. The 'Massive D' Physic is incredible, as it allows you to destroy everything around you, and use it against the enemy. This is will be a reason this game will be remembered.
As in John Woo's style, you get shootouts, doves flying, and loads of diving and jumping all over the place. The controls are easy to pick up and place down, and you'll have a fun shooting all over the place. It's generaly one of those games where you can go crazy. The story is hollywood-style at it's best. Loads of action, great dialogue and an awesome plot. Adding top-notch voice talent, how can anyone not like it?
The graphics are great, yet sometimes you'll wonder it looks slow. The odd framerate drop is here and there, but it doesn't matter, neither does it stop it from being perfect.
All in all, Stranglehold I'd reccomend to anyone looking for a slice of action.
Rating:
- Woo(t)! A fun and frantic shooter!I had no expectations of this game. Hard Boiled is my fave action movie of all time, but games based off movies in this manner rarely deliver. Surprisingly, though, I'm loving this game.
Controlling Chow Yun Fat's Inspector Tequila, you blast your way through impressively interactive and destructible environments using a variety of moves and skills that will have you grinning like an idiot as you do such outlandish maneuvers as dive off a balcony in slow motion and swing from a chandelier while blowing people clear across the room with a shotgun before aiming and shooting someone in the mouth only to be treated to a slow motion close up of them vomiting blood into their hands as they fall to their knees. It's an orgy of gore destruction the likes of which has rarely been seen in a game.
It's quite similar to the classic Max Payne gameplay wise, but is far more polished and easier to play, with easy to get to grips with controls and moves, and a fantastic story pushing events along. This game is a fantastic title that is very easy to overlook, but should be at least tried by everyone.
Awesome stuff.