Jon Woo's Stranglehold

[The Juggler]

Downloaded this demo last night and gave it some stick...

First impressions... I thought it was good fun... the graphics were great and the gun play was good. Not sure if the gun play would become a little too much the same over and over but with the added Tequila meter I am hoping it won't.

Every time you kill a bad guy your T-Meter increases... everytime you kill a bad guy with style it increases more and you get stars too... with style I mean slowmo flying or sliding across counters while blasting or shootying gas bottles to blow up the bad guys or better still shoot objects that fall on your foe and kill them.
As you metter increases you can swap this earned meterage into health (there are first aid boxes on walls that also replenish your heath too) or if you let it build up even further into accurate shot.
Now this accurate shot is excellent... basically the action goes into slow mo and your gun sight zooms onto your opponent... you aim and then fire.... you are then presented with a cinematic of your bullet flight and the death of your victim... but wait... depending on where you shoot the bad guy depends on his death throws..... shoot him in the head and he will fly backwards, in the arm and he spins around and falls off of stuff (not always dead), throat shots, knee shots etc... give different results... the next level on the T-Meter gives you mass carnage with your weapons... you have unlimited ammo and quick rate of fire for a limited time period. Very useful when you are about to be overrun by gun wielding Chinese waiters looking for a tip.

The slow motion (ala Matrix) is kinda cool and comes on automatically when you leap and jump while shooting... but you can also switch this on and off manually as desired... the amount of time in slo-mo is measured by a power line that rapidly drops and when empty your slo-mo abilities are gone... but it also increases by itself over a small period of time.

Another intersting feature is the Mexican Standoff... you are surrounded by a group of said above waiters all with their guns drawn, as are you... cue the slowmo and you have to dodge incoming bullets while aiming and blasting the bad guys one by one... it's not that hard to master and adds something different to the gameplay.

It looks as though the whole game is going to flow like a movie with bad dialogue and acting... just how I like it
Cinematics seem to be mixed in with gameplay and I am guessing these are going to help with that interactive movie feeling.

A sub game is that you have to collect these paper birds too... much like the name tags in Gears... when you find one your T-Meter recieves a nice boost.

The gameplay (based totally on the demo) seems to be very linear with little room for you to explore apart from the set path destined for Tequila (that's the hero's name by the way).

The demo when completed will continue to show various parts of in game footage which look great... it also shows some online play as well so hopefully the replay level will be present with that feature.

So then.... I liked it and had great fun doing the demo in easy and then in hard modes. I am unsure if the game play woul;d vary enough that it would not become repeditive... lets face it one Chinese back alley is very much like every other Chinese back alley.

I am more than likely going to get this game when it comes out at the end of the month and hope that the games appeal will last until it's end.

If you guys download the demo let me know your opinions please.



Des

[Kernel Kev]

Awesome review Des, am downloading it soon, so it is basically "the Matrix - Path of Neo" without the fighting?

Shame its without the fighting, i would LOVE a new Matrix game to appear.



Kev

[The Juggler]

Hiya Kev.... not sure if fighting comes into the game later on or not... but on the demo if you get close enough you automatically bash your opponent with the butt of your guns... so no real fighting which you control.

Let me know what you think of the demo though fella.



Des

[Kernel Kev]

Will do, thats a shame though.

I loved running towards an enemy and then up the wall, onto the ceiling and slamming down on them.

No fighting game has beat the matrix in my eyes.



Kev

[VAMP]

Do you know anything about the movie this is supposed to be the sequel for (I think it's called Hardboiled)?

The reason I ask is because they offer two versions of the game on PS3, the premium version includes a remastered HD version of the movie on the Blu Ray game disc.

I'm wondering if the movie's any good because I'm gonna get the game for sure, but I wanna know if I should spend the extra $10 for the Premium version. It seems like a really cool bonus (especially for only $10), but not if the movie sucks.

Thanks in advance.

[Kernel Kev]

Ok downloaded and played last night...

First thoughts were, "i hope this isnt all the game is", very repetetive, not many coices of killing. Shoot or shoot is the options.

Then i notice the cover button, and the jump around button, and the slide over things like a penguin button and i soon found myself highly amused.

The environments, as the game says, is the most destructable yet, using platforms above doors to kill the enemys is a neat trick. There are also gas canisters and im sure in the full version there will be plenty more cool options to choose from, the showdown thingy is F****** brilliant, at this time i was in stitches. You can dodge bullets, and you control it, unlike the matrix which does it automaticaly. At this time i was hooked.

And then... precision aim popped up, and so without a moments thought i pressed it. Here i was greeted with many options which were in the form of, "Which limb shall i shoot him in" So i had to go for his eye, that was funny, prancing around holding his head. The next guy with a straght head shot just fell to the floor. Shoot them in the arm and they wave it aroun for a while and then start shooting again, (it dosent kill them). Then i ventured to the poor guys manly hood and it dosent take much to guess how he reacted, I am yet to try the knee's.

I then saw the video at the end and the multiplayer looks great fun, im not sure how they are to get around the slow motion part though.

All in all, looks promising yet still debating to get it. Maybe it will be a bargain bucket jobby in 6 months time.



Kev

[Kernel Kev]

Ok, kept playing the demo to unlock all the special moves.

With the D-pad you have four options. Health, precision, barage, and spin.

Health dosent need explaining, precision i described above, barage basically turns you invincible, makes your gun automatic (yep shotguns aswell) and slows down time for accurate shooting.

This is very fun indeed as sure does get you out of some tight spots. Spin is basically, when your stuck in the middle of the street with like 10 people all shooting at you, a movie starts where he holds his guns out in opposite directions and starts spinning, it shows the enemies falling to the floor. It then stops and you are left with an empty street that looks like its armagedon.

I would love to know if barage will work with rocket launchers, as i was amazed at the damage i caused with just a shotgun. If i knew how to take screenshots on the 360 i would have taken it. Im gonna find an image on the t'internet...
YouTube - Stranglehold - Dodging Bullets

This is a video, couldnt find a good one of the true destruction that can be caused but this is good enough.



Kev

[The Juggler]

Will get this game just for the giggle factor... didn't know it was based on a movie though... might have to get that too just to add another dimension to the game play.


Des

[VAMP]

Originally Posted by The Juggler

Will get this game just for the giggle factor... didn't know it was based on a movie though... might have to get that too just to add another dimension to the game play.


Des

Hhhmmm...interesting. So you think the move will add to the gameplay/story. I might just get the bundle with the movie then.

[odhranus]

I downloaded the demo and forgot about it until late last night, I gave it a quick go, absolutely loved it, the amount of people to shoot at and the slowdown thing is great, especially when sliding down bannisters, looks cool, very cinematic. Think I'll be getting this game (after Gears of course). The movie at the end was just the topping on the cake for me