PC Critic Reviews

The controls for the PC translate quite well from the console, you can tell from the menu it’s a port and not a natively developed game.

Plays like a John Woo movie. Although ”tequila time” is nothing new, it is still a great effect. Gameplay is solid and everything runs smoothly. Action tends to get a bit repetitive towards the end, however. [Oct 2007]

There are plenty of "Oh my God" moments and just enough challenge to sustain anyone's interest from start to finish.

John Woo created an uncomplicated and varied action game with a lots and lots of gunfights, a thin but nicely told story about revenge with continuous and beautifully staged action - and doves.

The single-player campaign is a bit short, and the online multiplayer community seems almost non-existent, but with its intense shoot-outs, amazingly destructible environments and excellent voice acting, the game is worthy of much more attention than it has received.

If the imaginative approach of the Hong Kong levels could have reached Chicago. I'd be hoarse from cheering. As it is, I'm smiling with nostalgia for those days of four hours ago. [Oct 2007, p.80]

Sure, Stranglehold isn't a perfect game - in fact, in many areas it's a bit duff. But even if the stupidity and brevity gets you down, I guarantee you won't have played a better representation of such utter, needless carnage. [Nov 2007, p.68]

What this game is about is mayhem, destruction and style, all of which it has in bag loads. It doesn’t have the most original gameplay, nor is it the most sophisticated game of this type, but it is essentially an officially licensed John Woo game, doing what a lot of wannabe John Woo games have been doing for a few years now.

Despite its flaws however, regarding the story and multiplayer, the people at Midway have translated Woo’s films rather well on the PC. The game is exactly what we would’ve expected from such a migration and will not disappoint those who only wanted to shoot the bad guys from Hong Kong.

If only Stranglehold wasn't quite so formulaic, quite so tamed, and quite so short, this shot of Tequila would go down a whole lot smoother. [Dec 2007, p.72]

If you are a fan of third-person action or Jon Woo, this game will deliver a fun and exciting ride. If you are into deep stories and complex characters with story plot twists, avoid this and anything else Jon Woo for that matter.

In a world with Bioshock and Mass Effect, this game doesn't hold up. If you are looking for depth, look elsewhere. Still, if you want to have fun, this game does offer it, even if it does seem very familiar.

For as long as it lasts, Stranglehold delivers a satisfying, if somewhat derivative action game experience.

If you're looking for a quick action fix, and don't mind a shallow story or weak multiplayer, there's several hours of outstanding entertainment here.

And for the eight hours or so you'll spend playing through the story, it's reasonably entertaining. But with such unreliable environmental exploits, the game devolves into little more than a stylish, mindless, unusually destructive shooter.