Stranglehold - Midway Games - PS3 - ETA March 2007
If you've never heard of John Woo then know this: he invented modern action movies with a film called Hard Boiled, staring Chow Yun Fat. No Woo? No Reservoir Dogs, no Matrix and no bullet time (Woo also directed Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2). Which is why this, his debut game, could be the first "must have" third-person shooter when PS3 launches. Featuring a perfectly-scanned Chow, reprising his role as gun-loving cop Inspector Tequila, it's one of the most gleefully destructive adventures we've ever seen. Everything can be destroyed and we mean everything. Plates, windows, chairs, glasses - every level has been built around the ability to obliterate any object you can see.
There's also an incredible range of acrobatic moves. Everything from using dinner trolleys as skateboards, to running up banisters and making slow-mo dives through windows. All while drilling criminals. The ultimate skill comes from linking these moves together to create Tony Hawk's-like sequences of balletic, ballistic carnage.
GamesRadar thinks:
The gymnastics, combo kills and devastation prevent this from being just another action adventure. If Woo's talent for cinematic thrills transfers to gaming then this could be outstanding.
