Upon visiting EB Games, I was informed that Stranglehold isn't released until August 28th. Disappointed, I went home and saw that a demo was available starting the next day on Xbox Live! I waited a couple of hours for the demo to download and in the mean time watched the basis for the game, Hardboiled. The film stars Chow Yun Fat as Inspector Yuen "Tequila", a bad-ass cop who fires two guns and never reloads.
Hard Boiled has to be one of the most action-filled, violent movies I have witnessed in a long time. The film opens with an action scene in a tea house filled with innocent people. Tequila and a few other cops crash a shady deal going on and mayhem ensues. The baddies open fire on everyone, hoping to hit the cops, and Tequila and company have to dodge bullets, protect as many innocents as they can, and try to apprehend the main baddies behind the deal. the scene ends with hundreds dead, but I won't spoil the rest.
In my personal opinion the best scene in the movie is towards the end where two characters (no spoilers here!) fight through wave after wave of anonymous bad guys while blasting off shots from their guns with seemingly bottomless magazines. The men discuss the nature of friendly fire and how it effects policemen mentally. The scene is a two minute and forty second continuous shot using one hand held camera. It was truly amazing cinematography.
Hard Boiled featured some of the most exciting action sequences I have ever seen. Not only did the quality of the action scenes awe me, the quantity of the gripping battles kept me reeling as well. I read on Wikipedia that the film's final death count was as high as 307. (it was voted the movie with the 3rd highest on-screen body count ever). I have yet to count the bodies for myself as I watch again, but it is sure I will watch again if only to see the brutal skirmishes again.
I read somewhere that Hardboiled is a "cult film" and if that is so, I am glad to be part of the cult. I loved the movie the whole way through, from the sarcastic jokes (upon saying he will live in a Jazz Club, Tequila is told he will get lots of Sax), to the glamorized police life, to the over-the-top violence. Hard Boiled has been added to my list of favorite films and is a definite must-see for anyone who enjoys Tarentino and doesn't mind some subtitles.
After watching the masterpiece of cinema, I played the Stranglehold demo. It was a very entertaining couple of minutes that displayed some of the movie's strongest points in an interactive media.
Playing as Tequila, you dive through the air, perform impossible feats of agility, and take down hundreds of un-named bad guys with relative ease. The Hero wields his trademarked a kimbo Beretta 92 pistols and performs familiar, ballet-like dives and rolls all while dodging bullets.
One of my favorite aspects of play that I saw in the demo was the unique cover and mobility system implemented. Upon running into a table or counter Tequila slides across it or along it's surface instead of taking cover behind it. You can still dive behind cover in a intuitive system, but the game makes it easier to keep moving in the true Tequila fashion. Add to this system, bullets whizzing around and a liberal splash of slow motion and you get some interesting Gun-fu.
The game boasts the "most destructible environments in any video game" After playing the demo and watching a few videos, I don't doubt that claim at all. Upon entering a crowded market, Tequila is barraged with bullets. Running through he environment, the boxes and tables of the crumble under the bullets. Whenever a bullet collided with any solid object, be it anything from a neon sign to a stone pillar, the object in question was demolished by the gun fire.
Destructible environments with slow motion diving, coupled with context-sensitive actions make this a game definitely worth buying. The demo showcased these very exciting elements of play that guarantee my purchase of the game. More reviews of the game will follow once I actually purchase it, on August 28th.
Enjoy some Stranglehold game play footage with creator commentary :)
Live long and prosper _\\//
~Mike
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