There are many things about
John Woo Presents Stranglehold that gives it the right to have "John Woo Presents" in front of it, and it's not just because Woo helped to direct the cameras or it's a sequel to one of his movies. It's the style of the gameplay, and it is the specific mechanics that make you feel like you are playing as Inspector Tequila.
The first mechanic that needs to be brought up is Style Points. These are stars you are given by performing some very Woo-like maneuvers while in combat. These are things like running up railings while popping gangsters in the head or shooting signs so they fall on a group of bad guys. There are tons of other classic moves like jumping on carts and shooting while it slides across the room, or sliding down a counter and popping guys in the knees. Then there is always the classic jump while firing both guns trick (something you will find yourself doing a lot, possibly inadvertently, in this game). You can also earn Style Points by activating Tequila Time (think Bullet Time) and getting rid of a bunch of baddies quickly.
Style Points build up your Tequila Bomb Gauge. Tequila Bombs are four abilities that you unlock throughout the game. These are: Health Boosts, Precision Aim, Barrage Attack and Spin Attack. Health Boost, as you expect, recovers some of your lost life. Precision Aim lets you zoom in on the opponent in your sights and fire exactly where you want to. You will get treated to a nice, long, slow-motion shot as your bullet goes flying through the air and causes major damage to your enemy. Barrage Attack is great if you can't quite get to the enemy because they are behind a lot of cover. You will unleash tons of ammo on the world and destroy almost all of the barriers (and most likely enemies) around you. Then there is the Spin Attack. Any Woo fan will recognize this one. In slow motion (of course), Tequila loads up his guns, doves go flying and he spins around killing everybody in the area.
There are times in the game where Tequila will run into a room and find himself surrounded by several enemies, all pointing guns at you, and you pointing a gun at one or two of them; you are now in a Standoff. These scripted events feel a lot like the Precision Aim Tequila Bombs, and the same strategies you use when activating that ability should be used here. Anyway, here is a rundown of what a Standoff is. You start off by facing one guy. You use one stick to move Tequila around so he doesn't get hit by their bullets, while the other stick is used to set your sights. After a bit of time, the camera will shift to another person in the Standoff and so on, until you've had time to attempt to take out each of the opponents. Any that you didn't fell in the Standoff will have to be dealt with when you are given full control of your character.
Finally, the ammo in the game is of special note. It took a friend of mine to point it out, but you never actually run out of ammo in this game (because they never do in a Woo film, right?). If you use up all the ammo in your last weapon, then you are miraculously given your original dual-pistols with full ammo. This was nice, especially since there isn't any hand-to-hand combat in this game, and you rarely get close enough to enemies to use it anyway. This was just one more detail that had a very Woo feel to it.
Unfortunately, the biggest flaw that comes with Stranglehold is its sheer repetitiveness (well, that and its lack of a regular jump button, not a dive/Tequila Time button). It's hard to believe, but there were quite a few points when I was getting a bit bored with the game and I just turned it off because I didn't feel like going on. I would always pick it back up, but it's not like I left the game because it got me to hyped up (like BioShock) or I just wouldn't be able to make it past a certain area, it was just because I didn't see a reason to continue when I got to a save point. This was a rather sad realization, but it's true.
Stranglehold starts off fun. Letting you dive around the screen acting out your favorite action-movie scenes is a great premise for a game, but because of its quickness to get redundant, it doesn't last that well in the long haul. This game is definitely worth playing. It's a rental at least. I would recommend buying it if you are a big fan of this type of game and you don't mind the fact that you will be doing the same thing at the end of the game that you will when you first pick up the controller.
