Stranglehold demo

Yeah, this demo has been around a little while now - I wasn't going to bother with it, but then I did, mostly just for something to write about on here. Well, it's a hell of a lot of fun. Basically the game's most appealing aspect is the ability to use background objects and scenery to pull off cinematic special attacks, for example riding a bucket down a handrail while shooting gas canisters. It sounds pretty cheesy, and is, but its extremely gratifying as well. Then there's the precision aim move - I lold. Enemies in the distance can be targeted and shot in the throat, as the camera zooms in to let you watch as they crumple to the ground. I can see the thrill getting old, but once accessed in the demo I pretty much did this move again and again and again. And of course there's the morphable environments, which are a lot of fun tearing through, the unquestionable highlight being the watermelons that explode as you slide into them. The enemies are also capable of altering the architecture, often blasting through wooden fences to attack from the rear, which is a nice touch that adds to the realism. But as I'm sure you can gather, this game isn't really about realism, instead striving for entertaining and overblown arcade action that combines elements that worked in other shooters (the slowdown mode blatantly pinched from FEAR) with some neat touches of its own. It looks great in gameplay and in cut-scenes, but I did notice that it can get a little choppy when you start diving around a lot. Still, if the final game sustains the innovation and fun of this demo it may well be worthy of a purchase this winter.