(John Woo's) Stranglehold demo on Xbox 360 Marketplace

[J.E. Sawyer]

If you like blowing things up and shooting people in the crotch, download the free demo for Stranglehold on the Xbox 360 Marketplace. Things like "Tequila Time" and "Precise Aim" have already been done in a bunch of other games, but it's still a lot of fun. It really captures the Hard Boiled feeling very well.

[Meshugger]

Looks like the asian version of Max Payne

 

No matter, i just got to work. And they don't like people bringing their consoles with them, or playing a game with them. They tend to frown upon that kind of stuff.

[Zoma]

Max Payne = Inspiration from the movie "Hard Boiled"

 

Stranglehold = Sequel of the movie "Hard Boiled"

 

So in a way, I can't really say that Stranglehold is a Max Payne wanna be when Max Payne is a Hard Boiled wanna be.

[theslug]

You wouldn't begin to understand how much I enjoy shooting guys in the nuts. But from what I've seen the game looks pretty cool. Most likely won't buy it but destructible environment, bullet time and just unloading clips like crazy into people is awesome.

[Hell Kitty]

I finished the demo mere seconds ago. It was fun, but I can't see myself playing through the full game.

 

As for crotch shooting, I preferred aiming for the face.

[Pop]

Can't go wrong with Chow Yun Fat.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Is the Alien RPG gonna have crotch shooting?

[Llyranor]

Is the demo good? I'm rather lazy/reluctant to download the whole 1.3gig unless it actually is.

[Schazzwozzer]

The big question on my mind is, does it feel like the MOST EXPENSIVE GAME EVER CREATED? Like, if it were an article of clothing, would it be a money hat?

[Zoma]

I'm not sure if it has beaten the price tag of "Duke Nukem Forever" or "Too human".

[chris the jedi killer]

seems like its gonna be a hell of a game

[Llyranor]

I got into the demo with no expectations, and ended up pleasantly impressed. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about the gameplay, but interaction with the environment is very cool. Sliding across tables is more fun than it should be allowed to be. Not having to worry too much about your number of bullets is also pretty nice.

 

Unlocking hard mode after finishing on normal was a nice touch. This diff level actually turns out challenging - I haven't finished it yet, but I've already died more than a couple of times.

 

I'll probably pick up the game eventually, most likely once it hits bargain bin.

[Pop]

Definitely a renter.

 

I'm hoping they have more than 4 Tequila bomb "powers". Even though the ones they exhibited were pretty entertaining, they'd get old after awhile.

 

Also, UE3 is ass-ugly.

[Musopticon?]

It's ugly, it plays like Max Payne without the badass story, but precision aim is godly...oh so godly.

[Zoma]

If the story is anything like its prequel, "Hard Boiled", its awesome in its own way.

 

Watch the movie "Hard Boiled" available in youtube, you might be able to appreciate the game more.

 

I watched the trailers for the game and I'm really confused why everyone says the graphic isn't good. It certainly looks impressive to me!

Edited August 11, 2007 by Zoma

[Llyranor]

There's something about the textures that looks a bit off. Otherwise, it's fine.

[Musopticon?]

I don't think it's the textures, rather the lighting and especially in the faces of people that is off. It's like everything is overlighted, burned. It doesn't bother that much in the marker streets of Hong Kong undes the neon glow, but I'd guess that the jungles might be an entirely different beast.

[Pop]

Part of it is the burned textures, part of it is the doll-like characters. I liked, say, the KOTOR engine for character rendering better than this one. For one, UE3 characters have immobile shoulders, which makes their gait odd. Not that UE3 was ever known for its well-rendered characters.

 

It's definitely set a new standard for environmental destructibility, though. The parts in the demo where you can shoot propane tanks into TVs which fly out and brain people, or shoot out a ledge full of crates onto a gang, are glorious.

[Morgoth]

Part of it is the burned textures, part of it is the doll-like characters. I liked, say, the KOTOR engine for character rendering better than this one. For one, UE3 characters have immobile shoulders, which makes their gait odd. Not that UE3 was ever known for its well-rendered characters.

It's because they worked with a broken UE3... (read the Silicon Knights case).

 

And no PC demo available yet.

[J.E. Sawyer]

It's because they worked with a broken UE3... (read the Silicon Knights case).

Broken except for the fact that the game is fully functional and is coming out long after Gears.

 

The textures look strange because their lighting model and focus are different. Gears has virtually no environmental reactivity. Stranglehold is filled with destructible objects. It's not surprising that the textures and lighting look so different.

[samm]

Nice, they have a good explanation for the slightly odd look of their game now Could you explain to a non-dev, why destructibility and 'fitting' textures and lighting can't be combined? Would that be too perfect to be true?

[Zoma]

Probably memory issues. Also I'm not sure if Gears has 15 enemies in one screen at a time.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Textures have to fit into memory, and having tons of destructible objects means tons of unique textures. You also have to do things like texture the insides of things like concrete posts and the rebar supports as they get blasted to pieces. As things in the environment get destroyed, lighting is affected -- or logically should be affected. Entire fruit stands, fountains, piles of crates, televisions, and blocks full of street signs can be blasted apart in a single environment. The lighting either has to be fairly washed out or fully dynamic to avoid strange looking situations.

[Hurlshort]

Fun, but not my cup of tea. I played the Eternal Sonata demo too, and I think I might pick that up.

[Krookie]

I think I'm gonna get this when it comes out. Multiplayer looks fun.