Stranglehold

By Sam Leitch

Stranglehold should be an interesting game indeed. Remember just how awesome diving through doors in slow-mo was? Or how cool the fighting in the original Matrix game was (pity about the rest of the game)? Well that should all look like a cakewalk after playing Stranglehold.

John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat will need no introductions for fans of kung-fu flicks and Stranglehold is actually a continuation of the Hong Kong hit ‘Hardboiled’. As such, the game has John Woo on board as a director and Chow Yun-Fat playing the main character, Inspector Tequila.

The whole idea of Stranglehold is to capture the essence of a proper kung-fu flick in a game. What this essentially boils down to is heaps of interaction with the environment and slow-mo shenanigans. All of this is promised to flow well, with the player effortlessly swinging off chandeliers, sliding on railings and of course being involved in lots and lots of gunplay.

One aspect that really perks the interest levels in Stranglehold however is that it’s going to be playable online! What’s the big deal you ask? Have you ever tried to figure out a way to make a multiplayer game with slow-mo work? I did once, and it fried my brain. Midway have stated that one of their interview questions for the Stranglehold team members was how to use slow-motion in a multiplayer game. All of us here at NZGamer are very keen to see exactly what they came up with.

To say that Stranglehold looks a blast is an understatement. It really does have huge potential. If it delivers the goods, we should have some gaming stories to rival those we told to mates after playing a Grand Theft Auto game for the very first time.

NZGamer.com - Stranglehold Facebook