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- on Nov, 30 2008
- in Gaming
This past Thanksgiving I took the time and completed John Woo’s Stranglehold, a Midway game from the makers of Psi-Ops, an extremely fun and addictive third person shooter. Like Psi-Ops, Stranglehold takes a few specific gameplay mechanics and exploits them into an experience that’s ultimately satisfying albeit a little bit repetitive. In Psi-Ops, it was throwing objects using psychic powers or using mind control to make someone’s head explode. In Stranglehold, it’s all about using bullet time while sliding up and down railings, firing “precision shots” from hundreds of yards away, and performing cinematic “bullet dodging” that gets old about the third or fourth time you’re forced into doing it.
Aside from the previously mentioned bullet duels, the game as a whole ended up being really fun for me. My favorite part of the game was using a “spin attack” that allowed for a cinematic John Woo moment (doves and all) to play on the screen, it’s really evocative of the John Woo style of action movies, and that – for me, is why I like the game so much.
Sure, it gets awfully repetitive, but for someone like me, who loved Max Payne, and especially loves The Specialists, this game was right up my alley.
