Midway had a nice host of games at E3 this year and in the following days I will speak to you about 3 of those titles.


Developer: Midway    Publisher: Midway
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Genre: Third Person Action Adventure
Release: Winter    Rating: Pending

John Woo Presents Stranglehold is a third person action game in the vein of Max Payne set in the world of John Woo's famous film Hard Boiled.  Though to call it a game in the vein of Max Payne is a bit of an oxymoron since games of its ilk are all based on Woo's cinematic style anyway.  This is a true next gen continuation of that brilliant movie starring Chow Yun-Fat.  You as well as Fat reprise the role of Inspector Tequila in an all new story directed by Woo himself.  The game promises insane cinematic gunplay directed by Woo and starring A list Hollywood voice talent.


From what I was shown of this game it looks like a much slicker version of Max Payne.  The stunt laden dual fisted gunplay is really focused to an easily controlled art in this game.  No more just running into a room, doing a few jumps and rolls, kill everyone and move on. Here you can dive backwards sliding across a tabletop, land on a food cart rolling and firing till you hit a staircase and flip backwards off and slide down the banister killing as you go.  The best part is that it is all intuitive and context sensitive meaning you don't have to be Chow Yun-Fat to be Chow Yun-Fat. 


The Unreal 3 engine makes for a vibrant and highly detailed world while a combination of Havok and Rock n' Roll physics help you tear it down.  Make your mark and then carve it into the walls with near fully destructible environments.  Tables and chairs splinter and shatter under hails of bullets, tiles crack and fracture, and pillars themselves tear apart and crumble as if you were in the lobby scene from The Matrix.  One scene during our presentation featured a boss fight with a man wielding a rocket launcher with each shot fired blasting out chunks of the environment and shattering scenery.  When I asked exactly how detailed the environmental damage would be the presenter merely pointed at a string of Christmas lights and said, "Watch this" and preceded to shoot individual glass bulbs right off the line.

Just like Max Payne (I keep mentioning Max Payne, but this is merely because it is a simple point of reference for all us gamers.) bullet time is also present, but here it is aptly named Tequila Time.  For those of you not familiar with the concept the world slows down around you, the soundscape becomes distant and muted and you become an unrivaled killing machine.  You retain the ability to aim in real time while all your enemies are stuck in slow motion.  The proper usage of Tequila Time makes well executed stunts and kills all the more exhilarating.  Along with Tequila Time you also have a bar that builds as you rack up bodies and when it fills you can hit a button to pull off amazing room clearing gun ballets.


The game is set for a winter release and seems to be on track to deliver a gameplay experience tantamount to a well directed and choreographed John Woo flick.  Get your doves and bullet casings ready because come the holiday season Tequila is back.

Trailer 1
Trailer 2

Way to upload the pictures last night.  You can resize the logo if you want.