There will be doves: impressions on the PS3 Stranglehold demo

I consider myself a die-hard fanboy of John Woo and his trademark gun-toting “ballet of death” movies. There’s a kind of poetry in his films that even the most peace-loving pacifist cannot deny. So imagine my excitement when I found out that I would be the one giving out QJ.NET’s first impressions on the new video game lovingly directed by John Woo. Throw in Chow Yun-Fat as the main protagonist and you’ve just got yourself one happy little fanboy jumping up and down while he mows down hordes of gangsters in Midway Game’s John Woo Presents Stranglehold.

Right off the bat, after the initial loading screen, you instantly feel like you’ve just been pulled into a John Woo film as the opening cinematics roll. All the basic elements of his films are there: gangsters, enough blood to fill a small lake, and an excessive amount of dynamic camera angles enough to make anyone’s head spin. The character design for Chow Yun-Fat himself makes him instantly recognizable as he reprises his role as the hard-boiled (pun intended) Inspector “Tequila” Yuen.

In the opening scene, one of his fellow police officers in the Hong Kong police force is summarily dispatched by a local Triad gang. Tequila then steps up to the group’s challenge to send a lone cop to meet with the gangsters in the Kowloon market area. Of course, what follows is a series of gunfights, excessive fatalities and stand-offs that’s enough to fill any action movie buff’s testosterone-powered needs. Little does Tequila know however that the Triad already has a little insurance in their pockets against the gung-ho cop…

Check out more impressions on Inspector Tequila’s mad gun skills and John Woo’s greatness right after the jump!

   

I consider myself a die-hard fanboy of John Woo and his trademark gun-toting “ballet of death” movies. There’s a kind of poetry in his films that even the most peace-loving pacifist cannot deny. So imagine my excitement when I found out that I would be the one giving out QJ.NET’s  first impressions on the new video game lovingly directed by John Woo. Throw in Chow Yun-Fat as the main protagonist and you’ve just got yourself one happy little fanboy jumping up and down while he mows down hordes of gangsters in Midway Game’s John Woo Presents Stranglehold.

Right off the bat, after the initial loading screen, you instantly feel like you’ve just been pulled into a John Woo film as the opening cinematics roll. All the basic elements of his films are there: gangsters, enough blood to fill a small lake, and an excessive amount of dynamic camera angles enough to make anyone’s head spin. The character design for Chow Yun-Fat himself makes him instantly recognizable as he reprises his role as the hard-boiled (pun intended) Inspector “Tequila” Yuen.

In the opening scene, one of his fellow police officers in the Hong Kong police force is summarily dispatched by a local Triad gang. Tequila then steps up to the group’s challenge to send a lone cop to meet with the gangsters in the Kowloon market area. Of course, what follows is a series of gunfights, excessive fatalities and stand-offs that’s enough to fill any action movie buff’s testosterone-powered needs. Little does Tequila know however that the Triad already has a little insurance in their pockets against the gung-ho cop…

 

The demo itself has everything the developers have promised. From totally interactive and destructible environments, bullet-time action scenes (Max Payne has got nothing on this game, trust me), and a host of gun-fighting tricks in Tequila’s arsenal, even seasoned veterans of shooter games will appreciate it as the game is pretty challenging with all the fast-paced action scenes will leave players scrambling at the controls, wondering when the seemingly endless stream of gangsters will end.

Though the demo itself is relatively short, the replayability factor is enough to keep you going for a good hour. As you finish the game in one of the initial difficulty levels, a new one pops up, as well as giving Tequila a new “Tequila Bomb” move you can use in your next run through of the game. The demo scales up from Casual, Normal, Hard and Hard Boiled (a pleasant reference to the movie in which the game was based on) difficulty levels.

The Tequila Bomb moves are all tributes to the trademark action maneuvers you’ll definitely see in a John Woo film. And while a lot of games have incorporated the patented “bullet time” action scenes, John Woo reminds us all why he is the grand daddy of the entire “gun ballet” concept. Practically everything in the game’s environment is just waiting to be blown up. The way Tequila interacts with the various objects around him, leaves no doubt in your mind that this is indeed a John Woo production. So expect to see Tequila slide down stair handrails, swing across chandeliers and more.

  

I really just have to mention the coolness factor the precision shot Tequila Bomb maneuver gives for the game. It puts a whole new meaning to the word “cinematic” in a shooter. After activating it, everything goes into bullet time and you get a chance to make a single fatal shot on a target’s body part of your choice. Nothing says “ouch” more than a well-aimed shot in someone’s crotch. I still remember the cheering in the background when I pulled it off with sadistic glee.

The only complaint with the demo I could think of is the same interactivity that Tequila’s character seems to overly abuse in the game. With all the bullets flying across the screen, everything blowing up here and there, you end up cursing Tequila when he decides to conveniently slide across a small table right into the sights of a gangster’s shotgun. However, you eventually get used to the controls after a while and just learn to sit back and enjoy the endless amount of mayhem the game offers you.

Also, it seems to slow down a bit in Hard Boiled mode when too many baddies, bullets and explosions just seem bog down your console. Asides from that, this is definitely one game any fan of John Woo or even shooter games will want to pick up. With September finally here, you can expect that the game will be on the local shelves soon (if it’s not there already). My only other hope for the game is that they make a Stranglehold movie; after that I can die happy.

Oh, and did I mention there were doves in the game?