It's hard to remember sometimes, but the action in games like Max Payne (as well as the bullet time in The Matrix) are direct homages to John Woo's early movies.

Movies like Hard Boiled are what started the whole concept of tough guys with dual Berettas who can dive through the air backwards while taking out half a platoon of villains. Characters that seem flat or unnecessary suddenly become interesting and special effects that seem like simple next-gen window dressing gain added meaning. Taken with the movie as well, you see a continuation of one of the greatest stories to come out of the Hong Kong action genre from the early 90s, as well as a continuation of the style and cinematography of the movie. Taken on its own, Stranglehold is 'just' another shooter with a story of revenge and the ability to blow the hell out of pretty much everything in the environment. While only the Collector's Edition of Stranglehold includes an HD copy of Hardboiled, this is one of those unusual bonuses that actually makes the game itself better. Midway has used the time to tighten up the performance of Stranglehold on the PS3 to a very solid framerate as well as add on one of the coolest video game bonuses of all time - a high-def re-mastering of Hard Boiled, the fantastic John Woo Hong Kong shoot-em-up that serves as the primary inspiration to the game itself. And while it is frustrating to have such a long delay between releases, it's not all bad for once.

Though Midway's Stranglehold has been out on the Xbox 360 and PC for quite some time, due to the well publicized problems with adapting the Unreal Engine to the PlayStation 3, our version has only just come out.

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