John Woo Presents Stranglehold

[DarkSavior]

Aye I agree about Level 2 (for me it was tiny section though the boat bit) but everything else I thought was great.

I finished it on hard tonight and it must have taken about 12-14 hours total on that level (first play thru) at the end I really felt Id been thru the ringer as I had to use everything just to stay alive. Im keeping it for good after finishing it as I find it a complete and utter fun packed experience. Yes its nowt new and it has some daft bugs (Ive now come across some more the golden infinite sticking gun on one life was one and a dead body blocking my next level section) and I got frustrated that when Id built max tequila time up and died on hard I got it stripped away from me on the next checkpoint but I can forgive these niggles as for me the whole experience just outways a bit more polish needed.

Online Ive found unplayable with a couple of tests tonight though (I didnt buy it for that anyway), I dont know if it was because it was USA games or what but the latency was horrific, I couldnt pick weapons up due to it or use bullet time once so became a instant switch off!

Wow, said exactly what I thought about this game - level 2 bad, rest of game brilliant, last level on hard a test in getting absolutely everything right, online is diabolically bad laggy, disconnections, etc.

The checkpoints in this game were so right it makes me sad about games like bioshock having save anywhere mechanics. (sorry for topic derail

[Jebus]

Just finished level 3 and to be honest this has become a horrendous chore. SO irritating. Some enemies take 1 headshot, some take 2. The level was like 4 rooms, it traps you in them for 20 minutes a time with enemies just spawning over and over in each room! Spawning out of side doors, but the doors shut and you can't access them? Ooooh doors that open ONLY to allow enemy respawn...NEXT GEN POWAAARRRRR!!!

As for the boss at the end of level 3, he can go **** himself to death. Precisions aim headshots x 5 = not dead. Ok yeah, he's a boss but **** sake, headshots don't seem to do anything more than body shots.

This is on normal and it's unbelievably frustrating.

I almost always find myself wishing Tequila could hold more ammo as well, especially for the shotgun.

I started level 4 and straight away there's about 10 guys shooting at you and it's so chaotic that even in "Tequila" time you can't do much about it, you have to take damage.

I honestly don't know if I can brave this game any more, I want to finish it but I don't know if I can put up with it's flaws.

Oh yeah and protect the band? Protect them my arse, I can't even see who is shooting them let alone protect them, cos no, they wouldn't run away at all would they, what a load of old wank!!

Is it much easier on casual because I'm thinking of going onto casual when I restart just to get through it.

[watusi]

Arrived this morning, halfway through level two and terminal boredom has set in. Tempted to persevere to see if it gets better but mainly tempted to flog it and prepare myself for Skate instead.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Levels 2 + 3 are terrible. Level 4 starts off alot better though, i hope those were the last of them. The restaurant casino levels were so difficult is because they are overloaded with stuff that gets in the way, i couldn't even see some of the baddies most of the time. Whats the point in staying behind cover against a wall if you cant see the guys outflanking you. Let alone aim at them if they are off to the side of your gun aim a bit. Very irritating.

[Mephistopheles]

I just played through level two and thought it was excellent. Tons and tons and tons of explosions which meant tons and tons and tons of destruction. All in a pretty tropical environment. Brilliant.

[Revolution6000]

Got it on the PC yesterday, was a hefty 12.6GB install, but I love it. I'm sure everything I could say about it already has been, it's just loads of fun and controlling with a mouse makes it a little easy to be honest. Hopefully they'll release some sort of SDK so people can mod it. Seems like a very well done port aswell, runs pretty much locked at 60FPS for me at 1680x1050, though it seems online is locked at 35FPS, and unfortunately no one seems to be playing it at all. Got some screens of it here: http://ikuu.net/images/screens/

[Goemon]

Got this yesterday and have been playing it pretty solidly since - I really like it.

The Tea House was a bit of a chore...This was the only time I really felt the respawning enemies. I think this is to do with the fact that in other levels you're always moving forwards (or at least the levels I've played so far) and the tea house was floor after floor and as such wave after wave of enemies.

Every other level I've really enjoyed. There's been some really cool bits...

All in all not perfect but definitely great fun...It has the 'coolness' that certain games have - like when you're riding a kart in Slo mo shooting a sign above some goons head! Definitely worth ?20 from the Gamestation website!

[sailor-fuku]

Just a quickie...Is this out for ps3 ( Any region ) yet... I fancy a bit of this, especially as the film hard-boiled is apparently included...Taped it off channel 4 years ago - and never got round to picking it up on dvd..

[jimmbob]

PS3 version is out end of October in everywhere I believe.

I also have a question.

Does anyone have any tips for the [expletive deleted] protect the band part. Because if I fail at it one more time, it won't just be the scenery that gets destroyed.
If I move away from the band will the bad guys come towards me, or will they just go to kill the dumbass crooners? They keep getting caught in the crossfire you see.

[Jebus]

I don't think they are attempting to kill the band at all, I got the impression they just got caught in the crossfire.

I found it more luck than anything else, sorry, that doesn't help.

[jimmbob]

Cheers, I originally tried to stay near the band, but I may try just getting further away from them now, perhaps behind one of the bars. I HATE protect/escort missions, so bloody cheap.

[Mardigan8]

I think a better question is WTF are the band still doing strumming away while you and the goons shoot seven shades of **** out of each other, no band is THAT cool.

Yeah, I think its all about them getting caught in the cross fire as anyone who shows up with a gun just wants to shoot poor wee Chow.

[Yoshimax]

I liked level 2 as well - I mean it was big and all but you can't really call it repetitive as that applies to the game as a whole

[jimmbob]

Lv 2 was goodish, I just wish there had been a checkpoint after each tanker that you have to blow up. I could get 3 easily, could I get the fabled forth? Could I buggery!

[ExtremePabs]

Played the first level of this last night and its much better than I expected. although you do seem to find yourself launching over tables etc even when you weren't planning to do so. Graphics seem ok so far too. Anyone know if you can change the sensitivity of the aiming??