Inspector Tequila has not only the coolest name
ever, but now it looks like he’s getting his very own action game. The hero of
John Woo’s Hard Boiled will next be seen in Stranglehold, an action game slated
to be released on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 this coming spring. The spiritual
sequel to the aforementioned film, Stranglehold will feature the likeness and
voice of Chow Yun Fat and plenty of action-packed shootouts, slo-mo bullet
shots, and plenty of doves. The game is being made with a ton of help from John
Woo himself, meaning that this could be the best game ever at emulating the Hong
Kong action-film genre. GameZone was recently given the chance to check out the
game’s progress at a press event held by Midway, and the results so far are
pretty fun, and should offer up some slick and stylish shooting.
The preview version that Midway had set up took
place in a new area, the Chicago Historical Museum. The museum was split up
realistically, like you’d figure a museum would look, with a dinosaur exhibit
and several artifact displays. The environments are also completely destructible
due to the game’s Massive D destruction system. Columns will shatter, dinosaur
bone displays will break away to their wire frames, and pretty much anything can
and will be destroyed.
Additionally, the game will allow you to enter
“Tequila Time” as you take on multiple bad guys. No, “Tequila Time” is not happy
hour at a Mexican food restaurant, but rather it’s a term to describe the game’s
bullet time mode. You can perform slo-mo dives or simply dash at your enemies
with “Tequila Time” going, taking out as many as you can.
Getting back to the destructible environments,
they are also very interactive. You can run on handrails, slide down dinosaur
fossils Fred Flintstone style, and swing on a pterodactyl while mowing down your
enemies.
Graphically, the game is very impressive.
Inspector Tequila is very detailed, looking like a dead ringer of Chow Yun Fat,
and making facial expressions considering the crazy on-screen action. Also, the
game moves along at a pretty respectable framerate, even in preview form. The
game’s sound will also benefit from Chow Yun Fat’s voice acting.
Whereas other similar games like Max Payne and
Dead to Rights have tried to emulate the style of John Woo and other Hong-Kong
action films for better or worse, Stranglehold’s involvement with Woo could make
it a cut above the rest.
