Everyone knows John Woo for his amazing karate films and slow motion fight sequences, but in transforming this into a ps3 game has he managed to pull it off? Well lets find out.
Controls Unexpectantly pretty simple. The usual R1 to shoot L2 to cover etc layout but then just an R2 button to enter slow motion. Circle to interact with object etc. It's all pretty basic but when it all comes together it works out really well I think.
Graphics The graphics, I'm sorry to say are not worth of being put anywhere near a ps3. When you look at games like "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" or "NBA Live 08", which are aesthetically amazing, this looks like it has been drawn by retarded filipino children at 10p an hour, which I can asure you is not a good thing! Cut scenes are shocking for a next-gen console they could have quite easily been taken straight from a PS2! I'm sorry Mr. Woo but this simply will not doo!! (Do you see what I did there? Classic!) In the actual game things get a bit better, mainly as it's shot from behind so you don't have to see the characters face (who's name by the way is Tequilla, typical Japanese name there...) When zooming in on an enemies face you notice how poor the graphics are when, for example, you shoot someone in the face, as you do, there is no real entry point for the bullet as you would see in other next gen games, there is just a big splatter of blood and then one dead guy, which isn't a bad thing I suppose, but for those of us out there who want the realism to be brought to a game, again this is very poor. I realise I am now sounding like a bit of a psychopath now so I will just move on.....
Gameplay Where to start? The gameplay can be absolutely excellent in places. When using the Tequilla Time, which might I add has been ripped straight from the Matrix game (Slow Motion), and sliding down a banister while shooting ten people in the balls is brilliant. I've certainly never seen anything like it. You can dive off walls in slow motion or do the classic diving from behind a wall while simultaneiously shooting bad guys move. Its great. But then, for example, you are surrounded by people with AK-47s, I didn't find it that fun then. Yeah you can dive forward and shoot them but that gets a bit old after a while, I wish there were more moves you could do really, that would have made the game alot better. You can do a few other moves like sliding accross tables or diving onto a food cart and wheel about the scene shooting but as I said these can get pretty old and in the end you will end up just running around in circles shooting your gun off to kill people. It's just inevitable. A good thing in this game though is that the cooler the kill you perform the higher star rating you get which, in turn, gives you health or upgrades etc. This is a very good idea it has to be said. You can also link kills together as you would do and get those stars rising! Also there is a Tequilla time slow motion shooting move, (It has a real name I just forgot it) which is pretty cool, you slow the game down then zoom into a player and shoot them wherever you want to, you just see how long it is before you shoot someone in the balls, I'm sorry but it just has to be done, it's just so funny!!! There is also a face-off type mode where, obviously, everyone will be facing eachother guns raised. This is all slow motion. The idea is that you have to dodge bullets being shot at you with the left anaolgue stick and aim your gun with the right, this is just brilliant. They have really pulled off a great move here. I could do them all day if I could. I heard a romour somewhere that this game has the most destructive environment ever created in a game, and I can tell you now that this is definately not a lie. You can break literlly everything. Boxes explode when you shoot them as do watermelons which are randomly placed everywhere, which I'm guessing is just so you can shoot them, (nice touch John).
Sound Pretty good. No complaints here, the melons (as discussed above) do make a nice splattering sound as you shoot them. Theres lots of Japanese thrown around which is fine for Japanese people but maybe it should be dubbed in the classic comical Jackie Chan style way to amuse the English.
Conclusion I hate conclusions, I've never really been very good at them. Lets put it like this, John Woo may have been brilliant at making movies but as they say, "Don't quit your day job".
More details
Addictiveness
Not exactly addictive but certainly playable
Value for money
Satisfactory - its a reasonable game
Longevity/Expected Longevity
2 weeks
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adventure videogame for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. A “spiritual sequel” to Woo’s action masterpiece, “Hard Boiled,” Stranglehold redefines the action ...
