Stranglehold is John Woo's first foray into videogames. Whether Woo was intimately involved in guiding Stranglehold or more of a watchful father, his influence can be felt in every frame. Midway has managed to capture the essence of a Woo film -- in some ways more than Woo has over the past decade. You get everything a fan could ask for: excessive gunplay, heavily stylized cinematic moments, melodrama, slow-motion dives, dual-fisted pistols, and, of course, doves aplenty. Some have called Woo's films a beautiful ballet of violence. Stranglehold is less ballet and more a mosh pit of bullets. Either way, lots of people die and little in the environment is left standing once the smoke clears.
A blood-soaked love letter to 1990s Hong Kong action cinema, GYNHO this week takes a look at John Woo's Stranglehold, and goes through the reasons why the game would ultimately fail to be a major draw.
I have this game on the PS3 collector's edition including the movie. Big fan of John Woo's gun fu and Chow Yun Fat. Too bad the PS3 version didn't have trophy support. Was hoping for a sequel, but they cancelled it and Midway went defunct.
I heard of this game and played the hell out of it. Should use a better headline.
I remember downloading the demo thinking it would suck but man oh man was i wrong! Bought the game about a week later (had trouble finding it in stores).
There is so much of a story that could be told in a movie that audiences never get the complete tale. Sometimes the creative minds uses video games as a way to continue the story that started in a the movies. This list looks at five games that succeeded in continuing a story that started in a movie.
Not all movie games are bad and some do a great job of continuing an iconic story. In a rare example, The Thing video game did a better job of adding to an iconic work of horror than the crappy prequel that no one wanted.
I actually enjoyed the first Amazing Spider-man game more than I thought I would.
I know it's not a continuation, but the Bourne game on consoles wasn't that bad. The thing is though, Matt Damon didn't want his model to be used in the game.
Ian Fisher writes: What gamers may not know is that Sleeping Dogs isn’t actually the first game to take us to Hong Kong and show us how brutal gangsters on the other side of the pacific can be. Many years ago the video game industry received a game which not only sought to achieve the same Hong Kong action film vibe but actually had the godfather if not a key legendary figure from that industry lend his services. I’m of course talking about Midway’s ill-fated and slightly entertaining action romp Stranglehold.
Stranglehold was awesome. I have the special edition and I still play it from time to time. John Woo ftw.
"What gamers may not know is that Sleeping Dogs isn’t actually the first game to take us to Hong Kong and show us how brutal gangsters on the other side of the pacific can be."
What a horrible, horrible lead-in to an article. Stranglehold came out less than 5 years before Sleeping Dogs, and it's nowhere near close to the first game to try and do HK.
Is this an indication of a goldfish-like attention span, or a more of an earmark of a young gamer who doesn't think that video game history exists prior to the Xbox?
Very Piss poor article..... I really did enjoy Stranglehold though, got the collector edition as well for the Hardboiled movie, online was pretty cool too, wished more people played still. Actually wish that with alot of games...
John woo should make more videogames... I know someone will be inclined to say he didn't actually make stranglehold so please don't take my statement literally...you know what i meant.
Stranglehold had awful level design for the most part and its a very fun game in some parts but it was just about shooting stuff it lacked variety.
Sleeping Dogs feels like a true hong kong action movie with kung-fu, foot chases, car chases and slow-mo shooting.
Rise to Honor for the PS2 should come to the PS Store i miss that game as well.
After playing the demo on both consoles. I had it in mind to buy the movie bundle. Seems ok but I'm not so sure with the November rush right around the corner.
Oh wait it's the ps3 version...
It's not worth it.
Stranglehold isn't a bad game but wasn't great either.
My main issue was there was too much shooting and not enough exploring / walking around. Some of the chapters had a nice balance of shooting and exploring while others just involved the entering a room and shooting as fast as you can and repeat.
Failed to mention if there where any differences between the two??