You'll find more than a pound of apples at the market
The action begins after a ransom call is made to head office demanding that an officer heads out alone to the deserted street market of Kowloon. Tequila volunteers, packs his pistol and heads downtown, where his battle against the Russian Mafia and heavily armed triads begins and his search for the ring-leader behind the murder of his colleague leads him through enemy-infested streets, casinos, docks, museums and restaurants.If you hadn't guessed already, Stranglehold is an extremely fast-paced third person shooter. You won't need to go searching for the bad guys, because around every corner enemies await you in their droves, running out of doorways and hurtling towards you with pistols and machine guns in hand, appearing on balconies with sniper rifles and generally throwing themselves at you at every opportunity.
There are a huge amount of enemies to kill, which does mean that the game has its moments where you suffer bouts of the 'been here, done that' syndrome, but credit does have to be given for some of the technical achievements made within the game in an attempt to keep the action fresh and exciting. And, for all its repetition, I can't deny that Stranglehold kept me entertained enough to want to battle right through to the bitter and bloody end.
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageEach mission in Stranglehold follows a similar pattern, which could possibly be interpreted as meaning that the game lacks any real depth and variety. You make your way through each level, killing any baddies that stand in your way. Eventually, you'll experience a Showdown', in which you're glued to the spot and surrounded by Triads. The action switches to a slow-mo camera as it pans around each enemy in turn, with each triad taking a shot at you. You then have to attempt to dodge their bullets by moving left and right while attempting to get an accurate head shot of your attacker. It's a neat addition, which looks great and breaks up the action well enough, but after a few levels you'll soon know what to expect.
Finally, after weaving your way through more baddies, you'll eventually meet the end of level boss, who may be carrying the likes of a rocket launcher over their shoulder and will have a larger health bar making them tougher to kill.