Stranglehold

**Illmatic** · 07-26-2006, 06:58 AM

Publisher: Midway Games
Developer: Midway Amusement Games
Genre: Third-Person Action Adventure
Number of Players: 1 (up to 8 online)
Release Date: Q1 07
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Some trailers (though not new) can be found here:
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=1739
http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=56934

Some new and old screens:

New
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/ar...5064808100.jpg
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/ar...5064809038.jpg
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/ar...5064810303.jpg
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/ar...2031157214.jpg

Old/the rest
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/749/749071/imgs_1.htmlF

New update from IGN:

Stranglehold: Interactive Cinema

Midway reveals how artists turn a classic action flick into a next-generation blockbuster. New screens included...

The folks behind Stranglehold intend on blurring the line between Hollywood and the games industry. They pretty much made that clear right from the start. And what better way to begin than propose a videogame sequel to Hard Boiled, one of the coolest action flicks in the history of movies? Since the initial announcement, the gaming press has blasted through select, unfinished levels of Stranglehold. To say the game looks good, well, would be a major understatement.

One of the most impressive aspects of the game, the thing that really binds it to its celluloid predecessor, is strictly visual. If a videogame wants to deliver the feel and atmosphere of a seminal action film, then it had better look the part. Midway knows this all too well and enlisted a posse of hardcore artists to give Stranglehold its visceral edge. To get a better picture, IGN spoke with the game's Art Director, Jason Kaehler, who had a lot to say concerning the upcoming action opus.

First, he admitted that making a videogame sequel to a movie presents its own unique challenges. Not only do you need to re-create what the original established, but you need to infuse the package with intuitive interactivity. Kaehler, along with 2D artist Vince Prose, started with a two-step process to define every character in the game. They knew the game had to look realistic, but they soon discovered that taking pictures of people and places wasn't enough to get the results they wanted.

Instead, they sat down and penned bios for everyone. They gave everyone a basic personality and from this they produced a series of rough sketches. These soon wound up in the hands of Keith Beu and Stephan Martiniere, a pair of 3D artists. Together, they sorted through a myriad costume and facial choices for each character and settled on the final look. This process isn't that uncommon, but from here Stranglehold took on a very distinct approach to character design.

As detailed as the final sketches were, they simply didn't provide Martineire and Lopez with enough detail to create full 3D models. To remedy this, developers held large casting calls where hundreds of extras swung by the studios to have their faces photographed. This allowed artists to create a huge library of everything they needed - noses, lips, wrinkles, pores, moles, bruises, beards - no facial feature was turned away. It was then a simple, though somewhat tedious process of mixing and matching different features to score that "perfect" look. The end result looks like reality, only stretched and tweaked a bit.

Next up: environments. That's for a later article, though. Just know that if the team took such care to make people's faces and clothes, they made an equal effort defining and design the many locales in the game. They needed each to feel like gritty, totally interactive jungle gyms, and therefore went to great lengths to make sure each was fun to play. In fact, they tinkered with each environment and made sure it actually worked from a gameplay perspective before going ahead with it. Even if a certain building or location looked great, it was completely scrapped if it didn't provide enough visceral oomph to warrant virtual construction.

So, stay tuned. The next installment will be up before you know it. So don't forget to check back often. And don't forget to head into the media pages to see all-new screens and even more concept art.

Source:IGN

**Bad_Boy** · 07-26-2006, 08:19 AM

very nice, the new screens look pretty dang good.
thanks Vejita.

**warmachine** · 08-03-2006, 02:45 PM

New Screens:

**yoshaw** · 08-03-2006, 08:35 PM

aha, you missed one

The camera angle seems a bit odd for the first two pics warmachine posted. I don't know if I should even call it over the shoulder view. Isn't the left field of the arena or stage going to be blocked by the body of the character? Unless those were cinematic shots taken for marketing purpose.

**warmachine** · 08-03-2006, 08:50 PM

This one is old, so I didn't post it. ^^

I think that this might be the camera angle for a better aim. Some sort of zoom or whatsoever. ^^

***LaLiLuLeLo*** · 08-03-2006, 10:07 PM

Awesome. Gonna get that shit on day one! son!

**yoshaw** · 08-04-2006, 01:54 AM

It's been delayed I guess. Not a launch title anymore. New date is 'First Quarter 2007'. Says IGN

**Illmatic** · 08-04-2006, 02:08 AM

^Crap!

***LaLiLuLeLo*** · 08-04-2006, 05:03 AM

shit after spending over 700 dollars on a ps3 games and a 2nd controller I'm gonna need some time to recuperate.

**Jubal** · 08-04-2006, 05:34 AM

Yeah, got the press release this morning, I guess it's good that they're taking tht time to finish the game right, but I'd have liked a 3rd person shooter for launch.

**yoshaw** · 08-07-2006, 07:38 PM

Some sharp eyed ninty guy made this very interesting comparison between Stranglehold and Red Steel. lol obviously I'm not buying it because the pics were downsized(and cropped!) and not actually telling the real 720p story for Stranglehold.

But interesting anyway

PS: I've noticed that the Red Steel side of the picture is not realtime. Am I correct?

***Luis*** · 08-07-2006, 07:41 PM

I've seen both Stranglehold and Red Steel in motion, and Stranglehold kicks RS's ass despite not being among the most impressive next gen games.

By the way guys, Stranglehold has been delayed until Q1 2007.

**Grovestreet** · 08-08-2006, 06:44 AM

Hmm, That Red steel game...The trailer doesn't seem realtime, I mean on the proper Gameplay videos(Not the trailer) The AI acts more stupid, Look at these.
Trailer - http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...pe=wmv&pl=game
Gameplay - http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...pe=wmv&pl=game
See a difference?

Anyway back on topic, Shame Stranglehold got delayed until 2007, Atleast it will give them more time to make it better etc etc.

**Illmatic** · 08-08-2006, 07:03 AM

Yeah, it is a shame it got pushed back. I was going to pick this up on luanch day

**Illmatic** · 08-24-2006, 11:03 AM

Some new info.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/727/727858p1.html

First of all, we found out that the game is set 18 years after the events of Hard Boiled, which picks up with Inspector Tequila (played by Chow Yun-Fat) fighting two separate triads threatening to pull Hong Kong apart. When his daughter gets kidnapped by one of the gangs, Tequila fights his way across Hong Kong to find her. Eventually, he follows the kidnapping trail to Chicago, where he fights against Russian mafia members and gangsters. Finally, he makes a swift return to Hong Kong, and he attempts to put an end to the triads once and for all.

The designers are also planning on putting in many more features with the game itself, particularly with the concept of critical hit zones. For example, if you manage to shoot a criminal in the eye, he'll actually clutch his bleeding eye socket before he falls down. Other characters will get spun back or knocked down by the impact of your gunfire, but beware, because Tequila will have the same response to damage himself.

Apart from the single player storyline, we also found out that there will be up to 8 players in multiplayer matches (with all the classic multiplayer modes that you know and love).

But, one thing that the developers wanted to particularly stress was that there will be no difference between the PS3, 360 and PC versions of the game. In fact, they're going out of their way to make sure the game is exactly the same regardless of the platform. That sounds fine, considering that Stranglehold seeks to put a new cinematic spin on environmental destruction.

Dumbing down the PS3 version aye?!

**Grovestreet** · 08-24-2006, 08:00 PM

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_3366_en.html
New Stranglehold trailer I think.

**Beenie Man** · 08-24-2006, 10:33 PM

This game does not impress me.

***masteratt*** · 08-24-2006, 10:48 PM

One of the best next-gen games to show itself so far.

**yoshaw** · 08-24-2006, 11:59 PM

Ah too late. I just saw this trailer at Playsyde. Freaking awesome! Looks twice as gorgeous than the E3 trailer. Gameplay seems like a good run n gun shooter. Framerate has improved a lot.