I've got Max Payne on the brain lately. The latest creation of Max Payne developer Remedy, Alan Wake, has me excited to play just based on a few high-res screenshots and Remedy's track record.  But that game looks to get a bit more psychological than Midway's John Woo Presents Stranglehold, a balls-to-wall, action tour-de-force, which combines a modified Unreal 3 engine and integrated Havok physics to create one of the most detailed action games I've ever seen.

Chow Yun-Fat has contributes his likeness (and presumably his voice) to the "spiritual sequel" to Hard Boiled, which sees his Inspector Tequila battling crime lords/bosses in Chicago and Hong Kong and struggling to "balance his duty to uphold the law [and] doing what it takes to save his family." Which translates to leave no enemy breathing.

If you were trying to explain the kind of action of Stranglehold, it might be accurate to say it's like "Max Payne combined with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Spider-Man." The gunplay is a bit more advanced than Max Payne, Tequila can

take cover behind pillars and walls, but Bullet Time is in full force (this time around called, "Tequila Time", which just sounds more fun) and the range of weapons appear to be similar.

But Max Payne never slid down a banister on his feet, planted off a wall and dove off, landing on a table  which promptly collapsed.  Or grabbed a chandelier and swung across a dinning room while blasting

shotgun-toting enemies.  Or spraying death in a wide arc while lying on his back on a moving trolley.  If that weren't enough, Inspector Tequila also has a super move which kills pretty much everyone in a cinematic tornado of gun fire.  It's a bit insane, but man does it ever look like fun and it does open a wide assortment of approaches to any given situation.

John Woo hasn't just attached his name to the project; he seems to be quite involved; according to the official fact sheet that is.  But his involvement seems to bear out upon closer scrutiny because the in-game cuts are just too well framed and cut together to be done by a game designer. (Sorry guys, you're game makers not film makers.)

The detail going on in the background of Stranglehold is amazing!  Words don't really do it justice.  Little things like wall tiles shattering or chunks of masonry being blow off... it's poetry in motion for action fans.

John Woo Presents Stranglehold is scheduled to ship for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2007.

- Omni

(October 16, 2006)