Stranglehold (Xbox 360)
Companies are always going on about the synergy between movies and video games, but all this really ever seems to mean is lots of dreadful movie tie-ins where all the money has been spent on celebrity voiceovers. Stranglehold is different though, in that it’s essentially a sequel to 1992’s classic movie Hard Boiled, made purely for video games. This time Inspector “Tequila” Yuen is unleashing his unorthodox policing methods on Russian crime bosses in both Hong Kong and Chicago. It stars the likeness of original lead Chow Yun Fat and has been developed with hands-on help from director John Woo - who it turns out does seem to know a thing or two about video games.
Of course video games have been ripping off John Woo for years, particularly his trademark slow motion shots of two-handed pistol action. As a result this initially seems dangerously similar to Max Payne et al., but the graphical power of the next generation consoles and PC ensures that this is a far more dynamic and interactive affair. Not only can you make use of a bullet time effect (call “Tequila time” here) to slow down time around you but almost all of the scenery can be used too, from sliding down banisters guns firing to scooting across the room on top of a waiter’s trolley. The damage done as you go is truly impressive, with tiles shattering off the walls, chandeliers impaling bad guys as they fall and electric wires and water mains unhinging themselves everywhere. Making a mess has never been so much fun.
HARRISON DENT
Customer Review: Great game, poisoned by the storyline.
This Game is fantastic for first time players. Great visuals, a Max Payne like presence all around when you utilize some of the fantastic mouth watering special attacks.
You play as well renowned actor Chow Yun Fat, and the game is intended to be a sequel to the hit movie: “Hard Boiled”. The game achieves this to some extent, as i can see the definate similarities from film to game, however the joy ends when one focuses on the storyline.
The storyline suffers with its lack of depth, and its somewhat incoherent and frustrating jumps between places. The game on a whole is a joy to play, but the average gamer may feel asif the fun has ended a little too early.
Another thing which brings the game off its pedestal is the Frustrating difficulty level, you could find yourself dead within seconds in some areas, or you might not die at all, it all depends on how you play the game, i decided to use the special attacks less throughout the game.
The “barrage” attack can dispense bosses on even the hardest difficulty level which can be frustrating for the die hard shoot-em-up fan, because in my opinion the bosses fall short of the challenge intended. One of the special attacks i enjoyed to utilize frequently was the “Precision Aim”, where the character fires a bullet with pinpoint accuracy from a helpful zoom screen, the enemy which is struck with the bullet then reacts accordingly with where they were struck.
Overall i would recommend this game to people who are looking for action over depth, Stranglehold in its entirety is a diamond in the rough, which has been let down by badly structured storylines and a disappointing ending.
Customer Review: True Woo Style gameplay - challenging but not too difficult - shame about multiplayer though
For those of you who love John Woo films and his artistic style, this game is for you. The game character Tequila is the character from the movie Hard Boiled (played by Chow Yun Fat) - a badass cop who doesn’t mind bending the rules to put bad guys away. As in the movie Hard Boiled, the action scenes are wonderfully played out with a mix of slow motion and manic gun fights or exposions. In this game Stranglehold, this is no exception.
The feature of the game is that you can slow time down for a limited period of time allowing you to aim more precisely and kill more bad guys. You’ll find that you want to dive often where time is automatically slowed down (just like in Hard Boiled!!).
You can also run along banisers, chairs, walls etc which is great fun and I really like being able to jump off a wall, kick it and fire my guns falling backwards and also jumping onto a trolley and killing peole as your coast along (also in Hard Boiled in the Hospital). John Woo’s trademark is the used throughout the game like the use of two pistols, Woo time (slow motion) and close encouter gunfights, and sliding across tables etc. In the extra’s, you can go to a shop with John Woo as the salesman and buy extras after earning them during gameplay.
Similar to Devil May Cry for the PS2, you have Style points and combo points, so the more you kill people with style (e.g. sliding down a banister and killing guys) the more points you gain. Your points are contributed to ‘Tequila Bomb gauge’ that fills up. As you progress along the game you unlock 4 specials. When the first quarter fills, you have the option of a health boost; the second precision aim (allows a zoom in to bad guys for distance shots); the third quarter allows Tequila to fill up with bullets on whatever weapon he is holding and then blast away very, very quickly without diminishing your ammo count; the final quarter filled up allows Tequila to do a special move, spinning on the spot to kill bad guys (which is really cool to watch).
As in Hard Boiled paper cranes make an appearance. You can collect these throughout the game to increase the ‘Tequila Bomb gauge’ immediately to help you get to those special moves quickly.
There is a multiplayer option but so far I don’t think I’ve come across anyone on it yet. Maybe I’ll take a look on the XBOX forums to see who’s interested in some gaming.
All in all a very enjoyable game. The movement for gameplay is easy to get used to and intuitive. The game is not too difficult to play but in places, hard enough to be a challenge. In addition, at any checkpoint, you can play on easy, casual and hard, so if you get stuck, just start the game again and continue the gameplay on an easier level.
If you always wanted to play Tequila and kick some butt, then get this game as you’ll have a blast doing the slow motion, jumping over chairs, kicking tables etc. in true Woo style.
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Video Game Review: NCAA Football 2008
Newsday - With XBOX360 and PlayStation 3, the journey begins in the state playoffs with scouts looking on. Once on campus, choose a major and learn good time management habits: To be a true campus legend, players must balance the stresses of practice, studying
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Gamasutra - Sid Meier To Receive Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award [01.08.08] GDC and Gamasutra organizers have announced that Civilization, Alpha Centauri and Pirates! creator Sid Meier will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s
Gadgets Microsoft Sued Over Halo 3 Crashes
DailyTech - Halo 3 has been a huge success for Microsoft. The game launched in late September for the Xbox 360 and raked in $170 million USD on the first day alone . First week sales for the positively-rated game crossed the $300 million USD threshold . The
Xbox 360 Wireless Bridge
Technical DataNetworking / TypeNetwork adapterTechnical DataNetworking / Form FactorExternalTechnical DataNetworking / Connectivity TechnologyWirelessTechnical DataNetworking / Data Link ProtocolIEEE 802.11gTechnical DataHeader / Product LineMicrosoft Xbox 360 Wireless Networking AdapterTechnical DataHeader / CompatibilityGame consoleTechnical DataHeader / ManufacturerMicrosoftTechnical DataHeader / Packaged Quantity1
List Price: ?59.99
Amazon Price: ?54.98
Customer Review: Err, airport express anyone?
Why is this so expensive? You could buy an Apple Airport Express for the same price, set it up as a wireless bridge and use that as a reciever for your xbox 360. At the same time you could also use it as a wireless print server, AND stream itunes music wirelessly to your hi-fi. Mind you, you have to have an airport extreme base station for bridge mode to work, so I guess for a lot of people this isnt an option. My point stands though, I dont mean to sound like an apple salesman, but you could have three times the functionality for the same price! What a rip-off!
Customer Review: Well worth the money
This item is essential if you have Xbox Live, and is so easy to use as it requires virtually no setting up. All I had to do was choose the network to connect to from the Xbox Dashboard and I was away, playing games online much faster than with the Xbox 360 wired up to the router (which for me required moving the router everytime and therefore waiting for it to restart!). If, with an ethernet cable, you end up waiting for your router to connect to the net as I previously did, this item is a must-have, as it allows the Xbox 360 to be permenatly connected to Xbox Live.
XFPS 3.0 SNIPER KEYBOARD & MOUSE ADAPTER FOR XBOX 360
The New XFPS 3.0 Sniper (360 Perfect) with built in new function. The mouse sensitivity can be adjusted via 2 new extra wheels. With 16 levels of sensitivity it has a setting for everyone. Moreover, it is much accurate than the previous versions in the Black and the White plastic casing . The XFPS 360 is an innovative keyboard and mouse adapter for the Xbox 360 which begins an unrivalled First Person Shooter (FPS) experience to the next-generation gaming console. Not only is the XFPS 360 compatible with all standard PS/2 input devices but also modern USB keyboards and mice. But wait, there’s more! The XFPS 360 even makes traditional PS2 Dual Shock 2 controllers compatible on the Xb360, as well as a plethora of peripherals. This exquisite device even manages to bring auto fire functionality to the Xb360, now that tops off what promises to be the must have peripheral for years to come! As already touched upon, the XFPS 360 is compatible with PS2 controllers but also the following wealth of PS2 peripherals : PS2 Light Guns PS2 Racing Wheels PS2 Dancing mats PS2 Guitars
Xbox 360 Console (Includes: Xbox 360, 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, ethernet cable, HD AV cable and headset)
Xbox 360 HD Cable Pro (Component / AV / S-Video / Optical Out)
Connect your console to any HD TV, with Y, PB & PR connections, giving unprecidented picture quality. Along with the component connectors, this Xbox 360TM cable also has stereo phono plugs which can be connected directly next to the component connectors on HD televisions, or even wake up the neighbours and plug the AV into your amp! Or you may prefer to use the option of connecting via S-Video/S-VHS using this cable.
Gears of War (Xbox 360) In a nutshell:
One of the most highly rated games of E3, Gears of War is looking likely to be the Xbox 360’s Christmas blockbuster with the best graphics yet seen on the system and a tactical twist on the usual shoot `em-up gameplay.
The lowdown:
With Halo still at least a year out this is currently the Xbox 360’s premier exclusive shoot `em-up. Using a third person, over the shoulder, view rather than the usual first person viewpoint the game emphasis the importance of cover and tactics rather than just running and gunning. The question of cover becomes particularly important given the impressively destructible environments you fight in, which create a constantly shifting battlefield for you to navigate. As you’d expect the game also contains an extensive suite of multiplayer and co-op modes for play over Xbox Live.
Most exciting moment:
The graphics are stunning, nearly photorealistic, but the greatest guilty pleasure in the game so far is the “chainsaw bayonet” and the OTT spurt of gore it extracts from bad guys.
Since you ask:
Gears of War developers Epic Games are also responsible for the Unreal Engine 3 graphics engine which is used in many other games from Assassin’s Creed to Lost Odyssey.
The bottom line:
Who needs Halo when the Gears of War are turning as smartly as this?
Harrison Dent
Customer Review: If you do not have this game, where have you been for the past year?!?
Just to get one thing straight, this is the account holders’ son writing this review, Kam Ahary (my name).
To start off, I was a ps fan boy. I had the PS1 and the PS2, and they were fantastic, I loved them to bits, I spent hours playing on them, some time getting into trouble from playing them too much (a lot of people can probably relate to this). When I saw anything to do with Xbox I would say some quite rude things about it, lol (which looking back now was childish). But it was the day I bought a regular games magazine, and saw Saints Row and Gears Of War, that got me interested in Xbox. At first I thought, nah ill be fine, ps2 has some life left I don’t need to worry about these games yet, and im sure to get a ps3 with these games on anyway, so no problem.
I think it was a couple of days later I saw some footage or some pictures of Gears Of War, I thought woh, holy moly, this game looks awesome, I have to get this game. I followed that game ever since I saw it, and vowed I would get an Xbox 360 and play that game.
You may think all that above may have been a waste of time to type, but what I am trying to say is that, this is the game that made me buy an Xbox 360. This is what makes you buy a console, for the games, usually a game will pull and suck you in(in SOME of my friends cases(not you Morphueus 24-7), I don’t know why they got a ps3, they can’t give a valid explanation, but anyway that’s beside the point of this review).So I finally got an Xbox shortly after my GCSE’s, and I have hardly ever put this game down, I might play another game like assassins Creed for a while, but will return to Gears Of War, for a couple of hours, because it has to be one of the best games to be released of all time.
I just wanted to get some things off my chest before I began the review. Anyway, if you haven’t fallen asleep by now then here is my review.
Graphics:
The Graphics are obviously a bit old now, but on release they were the best seen, and to be honest they are still outstanding. There is SOME (not many) texture popping issues on this game, but I have heard this is to do with how much stuff you have on your hard drive. When you are just strolling around levels or playing online, they are fantastic, but when you take the time or purposely look for what the graphics are like, then at close up, they are a bit clay like or in other words rubbish. Do not be put off by this though, because like I said the graphics are awesome, and anyway if you are looking really closely at the graphics, there is something wrong with you.
Graphics=8/10
Story:
Gears Of War has a bit of a weird story, but that doesn’t simply mean that the game isn’t any good, because it is. I won’t tell you much of the story, because I don’t want to ruin the game for anyone that hasn’t played it yet. Here is the basic plot outline for the game. Gears of War has you playing as Marcus Fenix a disgraced soldier that went to jail for disobeying a general or something. Marcus fenix is broken out of jail as it seems his skills are needed. You fight the Locust Horde who have, come to planet Sera (home of the humans in this game) to take over, since you laid waste to theirs apparently (if I remember correctly). From there the story takes flight, taking you through 5 “acts” each with about 5 levels in each chapter. The last thing I will say about the story is that the game has a cliff hangar, which most likely means they will make a sequel.
Story=8/10
Gameplay:
The gameplay in my opinion is totally new, I have never played something that has had this cover, or pop and shoot system as Cliffy B (lead designer) calls it. Games before Gears Of War were just simple hiding behind an object or wall, etc, but gears redefines cover. You use the A button to take cover behind any object, etc. You also use the A button as a roll, and run button. It may sound like too many actions to 1 button, but it really isn’t.
Gameplay=8/10
Multiplayer (co-op):
Gears Of War has Co-op play on (Xbox live) and offline (splitscreen). You may think this is just another silly add on, but this feature adds another level of excitement or whatever you want to call it to the game. Simply playing with a friend over Xbox live, or with a friend splitscreen is so much fun. Co-op play adds some lastivity (hope that’s a word) to the game.
Multiplayer=8/10
Online play:
The Online play on Gears Of War is simply brilliant. It will have you coming back weeks or, in my case and many others, months after its release. Me and my friends have such a laugh with this game. Taking heads off with a sniper, taking people down and then dancing around them (You know what I mean Morphueus 24-7,lol). There is definitely plenty of fun to be had with the online play. The online play consists of about 4 game modes in which 4 of you go against 4 others.
Online play=9/10
How long it will last:
If you play the campaign on insane difficulty (the hardest difficulty) then the campaign will last you roughly 10 hours, but the online play, and replay of campaign will definitely last you a long time.
Weapons:
The weapons are pretty standard to be perfectly honest except from the boomshot (rpg), and the torque bow (crossbow gun which fires exploding arrow). You get your pistol, grenades, shotguns, snipers, rifles, and the LANCER (which is a rifle/machine gun, but has a chainsaw on the bottom). Trust me chainsawing people never gets old, and is so worth charging at a locust for.
The AI (enemies, and team-mates):
The AI in Gears Of War is relatively good. They take cover and are good at shooting you, or the enemy. Your Team-mates are not exactly bad at helping out, but they aren’t great. The enemies are quite clever, as they will charge at you, take cover an stuff, but sometimes (this is rarely) will stand still or run away or do stupid stuff. You just shoot them though and get on with the game.
OVERALL SCORE=8.2
Well I hope this review has helped you to buy the game if u haven’t already. Thank you for reading.
Customer Review: Reminds me of Halo combat evolved…
… Leaves you wanting more. But just like Halo sets new standards. A worth while buy for anyone, unless you really don’t like any degree of gore. I recomend this game to anyone… better get this game now so that you won’t miss out on the inevitable success of the gears of war brand that is to arrise in years to come, with GOW2 only a year or two away (fingers-crossed)
Xbox 360 - Video Games - Wal-Mart
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List Price: ?14.50 
Halo 3, the final video game in the Halo trilogy, is an upcoming first-person shooter by Bungie Studios for the Xbox 360. An official announcement on the developer’s website states that Halo 3 will end the current story arc of the Halo trilogy.
Price: ?34.99 
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