Stranglehold Review Roundup
September 10th, 2007 by James Hyde in News
Stranglehold, a co-op between John Woo and Midway, has finally hit the stores. Basically, the game is a straight Max Payne rip-off, only difference is that its based on the popular John Woo film “Hard Boiled“. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad game, as many reviews point out.
GameSpot (70/100) “Stranglehold isn’t the sort of game that’s going to set the shooter genre on fire. It’s a more-than-competent take on an existing formula, and it has enough unique moments and overall challenge to succeed.”
IGN (81/100) “There are a lot of mindless shooters on the market, but none of them immerse you in John Woo’s world. And that’s where Stranglehold stands out. This is the true sequel to Hard Boiled, which means Stranglehold is more about style than substance.”
GameSpy (80/100) “Stranglehold is a must for action lovers and John Woo fans everywhere and while you’ll be done with the game in a reasonably short time, the journey is one full of eye-popping moves and gratuitous, enjoyable carnage.”
1UP (75/100) “While the story and writing are reasonably solid, they’re not nearly riveting enough to outweigh the too-simple, occasionally glitchy nature of the fundamental game.”
Tags: News
September 10th, 2007 at 2:17 am
I like how the character jumps/slides over objects, like tables, instead of running over and tripping or getting stuck on them.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:28 am
see i dont agree yes i can say that the story is a little short but you have to put into evect that every time you replay a level your not going to kill the same person in the same way as yi=ou did the previous time making it enjoyable for ever. i played the demo first level like 22 times and still enjoyed it when i actually bought the game. then i have to say that the levels in the game are so intriget and fun. like the second level on all the islands looks so cool and you have to do some really cool stuff.
September 10th, 2007 at 5:07 am
Evander, ever played Max Payne 2? It’s a couple of years old and pretty much has all the things in Stranglehold, not as many objects and flashy graphics, but it was pretty modern when it came out n 2003.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:46 am
I like the game but think it suffers from being too inaccessible to casual/low skilled gamers. Whereas a game like BioShock was pretty much accessible to everyone no matter what you skill level is in shooters.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:48 am
By the way Max Payne is actually an homage to John Woo films … Hardboiled came out in 92 and I think the Killer came out in 94. So really Stranglehold is not ripping anyone off … it is just “reclaiming” what John Woo started.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:29 am
I’ve seen videos of it and it looks way too Max Payne-ish. But Anuban is probably right, Max Payne was a homeage to Woo, Stranglehold is a homeage to Max Payne’s homeage to Woo
(as the GameSpot video review pointed out)