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GamePro Q&A: John Woo's Stranglehold
- August 15, 2006 22:53 PM PST
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John Woo's Stranglehold is one of the hottest next-gen games on the horizon. . . which is part of the reason why its recent delay to 2007 stung so much. To help bide the time, we had an exclusive sit-down with the head honcho behind Stranglehold: Project Director Brian Eddy.
On the challenges of creating a John Woo Game
There have been a lot of challenges but the team, the same team that did Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, has already shown that they know how to create really fun non-linear sandbox action gameplay. In fact we believe that Stranglehold will set the standard for 3rd-person action games on next-gen platforms. With John Woo there to help and guide us in matching his cinematic style and vision in game, we are very confident that both the game's cinematic sequences and the way gameplay looks and feel will live up or surpass people's expectations for a John Woo game.
Stranglehold picks up the story of Inspector Tequila, from the cult Woo flick Hard Boiled
On integrating Woo's visual style into gameplay
John Woo's distinctive cinematic style is a huge part of Stranglehold, from Mexican Stand-off, to Tequila simply tossing his weapons aside when they run out of ammo so that he can pull out more to acrobatic interactions with the environment that triggers slow motion or "Tequila Time" and give players an edge over enemies. And of course there are the famous white doves that appear at various times throughout the game, including during a "Tequila Bomb," which is like a smart bomb that takes out all the enemies surrounding you and that players earn by building up points from doing cool cinematic kills. We've put a lot of focus on taking John Woo's style and actually making it a part of the gameplay.
On working with Woo
John Woo has been amazing to work with! He has contributed a lot of animation and cinema direction, and has been extremely involved in the writing of the story. We are trying to recreate his cinematic vision in the game, so we regularly meet with him to review the latest version of Stranglehold and get his feedback, which is always very insightful.
Even when it comes to areas that he is not very involved in, like gameplay design, he still often has a comment that adds to that aspect of the game, like how an animation could be done that would make a special move in the game more dramatic and impactful. It's really a pleasure and an honor to work with such an influential action film director.
On Inspector Tequila's ammo management
There will be some ammo management in Stranglehold, but we plan to keep it simple so that the player will be able to enjoy using the ammo rather than having to spend a lot of effort tracking it. Reloads will happen quickly and automatically, and during some of the more dramatic reloads from the movies that are in the game, like when Tequila tosses his guns aside to pull out new ones, action will pause for an instant so that fans can enjoy the authentic signature Tequila moment.
Strangehold teams up Hollywood veteran John Woo with the season Midway development team behind Psy-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
