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Stranglehold chokes.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: September 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Stranglehold is the single worst multiplayer game ever created. These guys took a lunch break and decided to add some net-code. You have a game where you can shoot someone point-blank half a dozen times and still get nothing on them unless you have run around some box of a level and picked up a bunch of paper cranes to pull off some real trite power moves. Bullet time? Again?!?

Single-play in Stranglehold has the occasional fun part but nothing at all original about it. The level designs range from boxes to bigger boxes. The programmers seem to think intriguing level design is secondary to throwing half the Chinese army at you at any given time. The destructive environments will keep you interested for about five seconds.
Rent this game if you want, just don't buy it and feel like you wasted your precious money like I did.

Empty box

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: January 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Box was received empty!! After contacting customer service it as replaced in record time-thanks for great customer service.

Derivative, repetitive gameplay, last gen graphics

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: September 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I will be honest and state that this review is based upon the Stranglehold demo and not the full version, which I have not played. However, I can't imagine the full version deviating greatly from the demo version.

Graphics - cut scenes look awful with facial expressions and CG from several years ago. In game graphics slightly better, but still look like polished Xbox graphics, not 360/ps3 quality.
Sound - Sound feels muted and muffled, lacks any real standout music or voice acting.
Gameplay - Slow down time, shoot things that blow up or fall, slide on stairways and counters, shoot anything that shoots at you. Gameplay is interesting for about the first 2-5 minutes, after that it just becomes villain killing ad nauseum. Literally hundreds of guys to shoot each level and about four different ways to kill them.

There were three of us sitting down to play this demo and it scored a resounding 0/3 for who would like to try the full version. This was coming from a group of people that had bought, played and beaten classic turds like nightmare creatures, deathtrap dungeon and other bad games.

Do yourself a favor and go play Max Payne or Bloodrayne again instead of trying this one. At least try the demo first.

Like being strangled ...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: September 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The hype for this game, along with the screen shots, and the mere fact that John Woo teamed up with actor Chow Yun-Fat really had me thinking there was no way this game couldn't be great. So I picked it up at the rental store, and thank God I did only rent this game and waste $5 as opposed to $60.

From the moment you turn the game on, the graphics and story line pull you right in. You watch a few movie segments go by, which are awesome, and then you are cast into game play. This is when the game takes a sharp turn down hill.

From the moment you start playing you are hopelessly delivered an ambiance trying to recreate something between the lines of games' Max Payne, Dead to Rights, and The Punisher. Instead, you end up flying around with guns blazing on what seems like unlimited ammo at your dumb enemies mindlessly killing everything in sight. I might add that there are ridiculous amounts of enemies that come at you from all over the place, and yet it takes about a hundred gun shots or so to bring you down. This is on the normal difficulty I might add. Then while you're trying to like this game, you can't help but realize the graphics on this game could have been accomplished on a last-gen console, and it probably could have been even better than that.

I'd also like to mention that your enemies' AI are probably dumber than a toaster oven. They don't take cover. They don't try and flank you or out wit you. They just all simply take bad shots at you as they stand in the middle of their little area waiting to be shot.

The game controls are a bit clumsy as well, making this game even harder to try and enjoy. It's easy to shoot, don't get me wrong, but with so many enemies coming around you from all different angles out of nowhere, it's difficult to try and get a grasp on who and what you're shooting at. There is a cover system, but no where near is there the kind of fluidity that takes place in gaining cover compared to Gears of War or the late Tom Clancy games of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.

There is no innovation of any kind either. Bullet time is stolen from Max Payne, and there's the kind of third person shooting game play we get that's reminiscent from second and third rate games. The stages and levels get old fast. It's the same every few seconds. Go into an area, fight off 50 bad guys, press the left control pad button a few times to heal yourself, and move on. I lost interest after a half of days worth of game play. I think I would rather be strangled to near death than play this game. Then again, playing this game was kind of like that. *shrugs*

Way over rated

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The graphics the game has are decent but extremely repetive. You can expect to see the same objects over and over. The games objectives are thrown together and bland. Go blow up ten meth labs. Rinse and repeat. The Tequila time gets very annoying. Do to the fact that it activates every time you walk by a table or any other "interactive environment." The weapons are generic and repetitive. The game is bland and forgettable. A rent only.

Lousy 3rd person shooter

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I like 3rd person shooters but this game is terrible... Bad graphics, horrible playability... DO NOT BUY. Rent if you want to try it... you will get tired of it soon...

Good not great, but still one helluva ride!!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Stranglehold is basically Max Payne meets, well, John Woo. This game is action packed from start to finish, although it is on the short side. The graphics are nice, and they get much better on the later levels. Controls are what you expect for a Max Payne rip-off, plus a few John Woo signature specials moves. The multi-player isn't too deep, but still fun. If you are a fan of Chow Yun-Fat/John Woo movies and/or Max Payne then you will probably dig this.

That said, this game could have been a lot better. First off, its rather short. There are 7 levels, each one takes about an hour or so. Luckily it is challenging and you will find yourself dying a bunch so don't expect to finish this in one sitting. The game also could have used more guns. Its got the dual pistols, assault rifle, shotgun, mp5, machine gun, nades and a rocket launcher. There was no sniper rifle or uzi-type weapon. You also could only have dual pistols. No dual automatics, which would have been fun. Lastly, there is some serious compression going on in the cutscenes. The voice-overs are top-notch, but I was expecting a lot more from the cinematics. The real-time cut-scenes look much better IMO. The AI is also pretty dumb, most of the time they either hold a position or run straight at you, nothing new here.

Overall this is a fun but shallow game. If you are a big Hong Kong action movie-buff, then this is the game for you. Otherwise its a solid rental because you can probably beat it in a couple of days.

Fun but ...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Stranglehold was fun to play but I found it too simple after playing for a few hours. I just wanted to get it over with. After completing Halo 3, Bioshock and Mass Effect I was looking for something to tide me over until the next "best" FPS came along. Stranglehold filled that spot.

I passed it along to my grandson. I think he will get a kick out of the slow motion and trick moves. It is rated "Mature" but I did not see anything that offensive, not like Gears of War anyway.

interesting

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

i found this game in a bargain bin for 25 bucks an decided to pick it up i was actually really impressed the first hour or so playing it and really enjoyed it but after awhile there was just so much stuff goin on onscreen that i started to get a headache lol and i found the never having to reload kinda cheesy along with the endless amount of enemies flooding out of random doors a lil repetative but all in all i really enjoyed the action movie style stunts and destructable environments really fun theres just so much on screen commotion

It's action movie in a box, baby!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: September 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Wow...what is there to say about Stranglehold?

If Bioshock was your lovemaking session, then Stranglehold would be the cigarette that you need afterwards to recovering while waiting to go another round (Halo 3).

Many comparisons have been made between this and Max Payne regarding the style in which this game is played but also I think a dash of Devil May Cry was added to this recipe.

This game also reminds me of Tomb Raider without all the puzzles.

But most of all the game is balls to the wall action.

Stranglehold is pretty much a straightforward action movie which you control, where you must simply mow down hordes of enemies but in the most stylish way possible; if it moves, kill it.

By doing so, you advance the story. And it so far is a decently told story, not a great blockbuster but if you have watched enough Hong Kong cops and robbers movie, this is what you are getting. The story is simple: Drug kingpins are killing cops....kill all the kingpings until you find head kingpin....does it need to be more complex than that? NO!

You will be too busy destroying everything in sight and I do mean everything. While you are making your merry romp thru the streets of Hong Kong, not only will you find that you can shoot up the set around you but also there are certain peices that you can shoot out to cause more destruction....properly placed baddies can be killed by exploding barrels, dropped air conditioning units, rocks and much more.

And of course as you proceed, you get power ups as you go to slow down time (Tequila Time), hit enemies in certain spots (Precision Aiming) and all out mass killing (Barrage)not to mention the signature Woo Mexican Standoff (which really is a mini game in and of itself).

there are also many weapons including the Golden Pistols which you ca get early on if you know where to look.

Does it get repitive after awhile? Sure...but it doesn't stop the fun. In fact there is one level that you play that lifts the idea from G.R.A.W. where you face attackers from a helicopter.

How well does it control? It handles itself pretty well once you get it down pat. There are no changes to controls once you are dual wielding guns and if you ask me, sticking yourself behind coverage in some aspects handles a lot better than Gears of War. One button push, look and fire and run when done.

Graphically speaking, the game looks pretty good. Tequila looks pretty well refined but the baddies look just like in the movies...a whole bunch of forgettable faces trying to kill you. The scenery also looks great but you won't have time to enjoy it as you are too busy shooting it all up and after you cleared it you get to see what's around you. There is a lot of attention paid to some of the details. You start wondering if these guys are gonna catch lung cancer from all the well rendered cigarettes smoked, the alleys look like some of the most unsafe places this side of New York.

Soundwise, this game is gorgeous. The ambient sound from the city scenes will make you feel that this is a crapmed city. Babies crying, TVs being watched...yeah...you are there....when the guns go off they sound like they are all around you and when things blow?

Well let's just say, turn down your subwoofer if you feel your neighbors paying a late visit if you wake them up. This is one of the most ambient sound sets I have heard since Call of Duty 2 interms of gunplay.

To a point, I think maybe a brief tutorial could have been added to give players a chance to learn and practice some of the moves but on the other hand it's really hard to pull out some fo the moves used when it's hard to exactly get an idea where your enemies are going to appear.

Also, some may complain that the game may be too 'railish' as you can't go everywhere in some sections but think of how much of a good thing that may be...while you are concentrating on trying to pull off a hard combo, you have to worry about sliding off a pier into the water. On the other hand, you can jump off a lot of objects and don't have to worry too muich about dying...whether it takes away from the realism....it's up to you...but then one man going up against 10+ enemies all shooting at him and not dying is a tiny bit absurd too hmm?

To sum it up, if you want some mindless gunplay to tide you over til Halo 3, this is the game to play. This is the closest you can get to being in a Hong Kong flick without having to sign on stunt man. Try it as a rental first but if you really like it, buy it.

Now if we can just get a decent Die Hard game......

8 out of 10

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