Someone fetch me a Tequila...
There are four special moves in the game, which can be used frequently providing you accumulate these style points (by diving around a lot and basically killing the enemy in as many different ways as possible). Tequila Bombs are visually the most entertaining aspect of Stranglehold and each have their own distinct tactical advantage.The first one you unlock is a basic health increase, but after that they get much more exciting. Precision aim allows you to slow-down time, so that you can zoom in on your enemy and pick an exact spot to shoot at. Location based damage makes this a great deal of fun, because you can aim where you like on the body and are treated to the reaction you’d expect if you were to shoot someone in that particular body part (Shoot him in the balls! Shoot him in the balls!).
The next skill is Barrage, where you have a short period of invincibility and therefore time to wreak havoc on your enemies. But, my favourite, and I’m sure it will be yours, is the spin attack. You enter a slow motion cut-scene and your character automatically spins around (360 degrees) shooting every enemy who is in that particular location. This is particular useful when you’ve become overwhelmed with the amount of baddies on screen and the great thing about it is, no matter where you are, the cut-scene is always different. It's an extremely impressive technical achievement and at any given opportunity I've used this skill more than any other in the game. Furthermore, each skill is mapped to a position on the d-pad, so they’re easy and intuitive to activate.
Click for larger imageStranglehold does have some great moments and it is fun seeing just how far you can destroy the environments. Considering it's a fairly short game, approximately 8 hours, it still has its repetitive moments. The game however is an excellent showcase of the power of the Massive D engine, with superb physics and a truly impressive destructible environment.
The multiplayer isn't really worth raving about, with limited game modes and lots of people irritatingly running straight for the best weapons and diving and darting around the small maps with such speed that it's hard to get a decent shot in. The only real replay value comes from changing the difficulty levels in the single player or perhaps jumping back into one of the chapters to pick up an achievement you missed.
Come the end of the year, Stranglehold won’t win any awards, but it is an entertaining and enjoyable shooter that will appeal to those who like their action hard and fast.
Pros
Destructible and interactive environment
Excellent special moves
Max Payne style bullet time
Cons
Camera angles can be frustrating
A bit repetitive
Over too quickly
Multiplayer sucks
Stranglehold isn’t perfect, but killing and smashing everything in sight is a fine way to spend a day or two
HEXUS Awards
StrangleHold – Xbox 360
