Conclusion, final thoughts and awards.
So let’s sum up John Woo’s Stranglehold, a game that, given the engine under the hood and the reputation of the guy endorsing it, should be something pretty special.Well, though it pains me to use a cliché, John Woo’s Stranglehold is a case of style over slightly flawed content. Even if we ignore the game engine ‘quirks’ and the control issues, what we’ve got here is stylish shooter that pretty much shows you everything it’s got in the first three levels and then stretches that out over the next 10 hours.
That’s not to say that you won’t enjoy those ten hours of gameplay but I’ll warn you now that it does become somewhat repetitive, especially when environmental kills are highlighted with a spangly gleam and slow-motion Tequila Time is the norm and not the ‘extra’. In fact, that’s probably the biggest disappointment with John Woo’s Stranglehold over everything else, the complete over-use of Tequila Time. Sliding over a table? Tequila Time. Shooting around a corner? Tequila Time. Standing on a railing, not moving one inch either way but a bad guy comes into view? Tequila Time. Making a cup of coffee but drop the lid for the milk so you dive for it to stop it getting all fluffy and needing a rinse under the tap? Tequila Time. Ok, so I made that last one up but you get the idea.
Click for larger imageSo what it boils down to is that John Woo’s Stranglehold is all about fairly mindless blasting. I’d like to say that on the harder skill levels it offers up some sort of challenge but that’s not the case. The AI is just about as dumb as you could ever expect AI to be and often you can find a safe spot to hide in and let the AI come to you to be slaughtered or you can just take cover and slaughter them in slow motion with the obligatory Tequila Time. The bosses aren’t much more of a challenge either, with attack patterns that wouldn’t test a three year old and no special weakness points to aim for… they can all be pretty easily dispatched with the use of the Barrage special attack.
Click for larger imageAll in all, John Woo’s Stranglehold is fine if you fancy a bit of mindless blasting but if you’re looking for something to give you a challenge, you won’t find it here. This is popcorn gaming at it’s very best but if you’re looking for something that requires a bit of finesse and skill, you’ll be better served with The Orange Box.
Pros
Plenty of John Woo style slow motion action
More shooty action than an NRA convention
Tequila Time fun… for a while
Special Moves, especially Spin Attack, are lovely to watch
Cons
Massive overuse of slow motion Tequila Time
Context sensitive controls can be a pain
About as challenging as falling out of bed
Gets repetitive early on
Incredibly long cutscenes
Shows you all it’s got in the first three levels
John Woo’s Stranglehold is a case of style over flawed content
HEXUS Awards
John Woo’s Stranglehold
