HK action god John Woo, whose intricate and extended gunfights often play like a sequence from an arcade shooter, is currently collaborating with Midway Games - known to gamers for "Spy Hunter" and "Mortal Kombat" - on a third-person shooter.

 

Entitled "Stranglehold", the game is set in Hong Kong and Chicago and 'stars' Chow Yun-fat, reprising his role as Inspector Tequilla from Woo's Hardboiled, to which this game is a sequel of sorts.

 

 

Woo has worked with the Midway team extensively on the gunplay and action sequences of the game, and as the trailer shows, (available for viewing here: http://media.pc.ign.com/media/813/813588/vids_1.html), the game will carry all Woo's (and Tequilla's) signature moves. As the Midway site says, "Stranglehold will feature the hyperkinetic, choreographed action and freeze framed sequences made famous by John Woo."

 

"Stranglehold" is being designed for next generation consoles Playstation 3 and Xbox360. If finished in time, the game will be a launch title for Playstation 3, and as such, its success or failure will be vital to the sales and success/failure of that console.

 

"Stranglehold" will create a fusion of video games and motion pictures that titles like Rockstar's game of "The Warriors" aren't able to, because in this case a filmmaker is collaborating directly with the game designers. The next closest example was when the makers of the "Final Fantasy VII" video game decided that an anime film would be the best way to make a sequel. They saw no difference between the two mediums. And perhaps in this day and age, "Stranglehold" is the best way to make a sequel to Hardboiled.

 

"Stranglehold" is slated for release later in the year.

 

(hkfilmart March 31, 2006)