Sterling has been raving about Stranglehold for months now, but our most recent time spent with the multiplayer side of the game leaves us a little cold. It's not that there is anything especially wrong with the game, because it plays just fine, but with the tremendous wealth of multiplayer options on every platform, is there any room for Stranglehold?
Simmer Down Now
The major feature that separates Stranglehold from other multiplayer shooters is Tequila Time, which sinks the entire game into a tar pit of sludgy slo-mo. It's a magnificent tool in the single-player game, but in the multiplayer arena its uses are limited. Part of the reason for this is that Tequila Time slows the flow globally, which means that even though you may have initiated the Tequila Time, you might end up suffering from its effects just as badly as everyone else.
The main benefit of you engaging Tequila Time is that you know what's going on, and this advantage shouldn't be scoffed at. Quite frequently, knowing that the slowdown was about to happen proved to make the difference between unloading dual-SMGs into some poor sap's face and taking a rocket in the sternum. Even though you are moving just as slowly as everyone else, it's a foregone conclusion that you should only trigger Tequila Time when you have a decent shot lined up beforehand (or as close as you can get to having one lined up).
A Fizzy Shot
Unfortunately, Tequila Time is where Stranglehold's innovations seem to sputter to a halt. Though the more acrobatic features have been highly touted, the complicated animation required to get your character to dive into the air, spin around and level a shotgun at your opponent simply doesn't translate very well to the fast-paced multiplayer. Of course, we must hasten to add that we were playing pre-release code, so there is the possibility that the animation could be cleaned up before the game launches next week. As it stands, however, we spent a lot of time watching other Inspector Tequilas flop around like fish out of water due to the frequency of their diving onto the floor (conceivably because it's the easiest move to do and requires no glowing rails nearby).
All things considered, we wrapped up our limited play time with Stranglehold decidedly unenthused. It's not that there is anything devastatingly wrong with it, but there also isn't a lot that we could say was outstanding about it either. In a month where Halo 3 looms just around the corner and Warhawk is already carpet-bombing PS3 owners into blissful oblivion, it's tough to get excited about a game that is clearly focused on the single-player experience and only seems to include multiplayer as a concession to the bloodthirsty online gaming crowd. Perhaps this impression will change after downing a few Tequila Slammers like our favorite hard-boiled inspector...
