I was always hoping for a Max Payne 3 I guess this will hold me over until that happens. This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun especially after playing the demo.

The destructible environments is what sold me on the game though. I think the similiarities begin and end with slo-mo.

I'll be buying this on release day. I've played the demo so many times for free that I feel I should just buy it for the entertainment I've gotten out of it so far. I'm a big John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat fan anyway and the multiplayer looks awesome. I do agree it looks and plays like Max Payne but it's like they took all the good of Max and made an even better game.

There are other smaller, less noticeable similarities too. Max Payne was inspired by John Woo movies, so it obviously has the same over the top action and the classic dual wielding pistols, jumping and diving everywhere. The "tequila time" move where the camera spins in slow-motion around the character looks like the slow-mo thing that Max Payne does occasionally when he reloads or kills someone in a spectacular way. Strangehold uses the same "bullet cam" for the sniper rifle that Max Payne used too.

Max Payne would have used the fully destructible environments (a few things were destructible) and the rail surfing/table sliding stuff if it could have, but technology was too limited when Max Payne came out. Max Payne 2 was one of the first games to use Havok physics and ragdoll animations, and it was pretty limited back then. I guess what I am saying is that if Max Payne 3 was released today, it would have looked exactly like Strangehold basically.... not that is a bad thing because I love the John Woo style action.

I think the demo was pretty fun, and I'll definitely rent this one.

One of the coolest things was the ability to not only dive and shoot, but roll on the ground while shooting. I can't think of another game that allows you to do this, something that's in damn near every action movie ever mad.

Diving and shooting a guy in the head, then rolling under a table shooting someone in the kneecaps while his shotgun blasts cause everything on the table to explode is pretty fucking awesome.

When is this coming out, and will it be on PS3.

IGN Review - 8.1

After reading that it's only 6-8 hours and it has very little replay value, I've totally decided that it's worth only a rental or a possible buy down the road when it hits the $20 price point or something like that.

Next week on 360. Not sure when the PS3 version hits.

It's supposed to hit the PS3 in mid-September, but it was supposed to hit the 360 in late-August, so who knows if the PS3 release will hit on time.

The PS3 version also comes in a collector's edition -- it costs $10 more -- that includes an HD copy of the movie Hard Boiled, so be sure to factor that in if you're weighing the two versions against each other.

And to be clear, the movie is on the game disc and can ONLY be played via the game menu. i.e. ONLY in PS3s.

Are the demos different lengths on the different levels? I think that when I played the demo on easy a few weeks ago when it was released, I got to a club scene. I just played it on normal, and I didn't get that far before it ended. I am about to play on hard now, and maybe hardcore later.

I think it was pretty obvious this would be a short game from the get-go. This style of gameplay (walk into room, shoot everything that moves, rinse and repeat til end of game) does not lend well to long play time without getting extremely repetitive. The reviewer even said that at 6 hours, it was getting monotonous by the end.

Well I found this at amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Midway-26930-S...8670074&sr=8-6

Looks like just the game will be available as well for PS3 for $59.99 available on September 17, I don't care about having the CE as I already have the dragon dynasty Hard boiled DVD.

To answer my own question, I guess I was just talking about the cut scene at the end. I must have just hit A and went past it.

Agreed. Seems more like a renter than a purchase. I do like the demo though.

6-8 hours?? That kinda sucks. I was really anticipating this game but I may wait.

I loved the demo but I too am gonna wait for a price drop and then buy it for $30 or so. There's just too many good games that just came out/are coming in the next few months to fit it in. Hopefully the CE PS3 version will be available on the used market down the road. I bet it will. I'd like an HD version of Hard Boiled.

The 1up review is in 7.5 = good

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId...ng#userReviews

FYI, there is a coupon floating around on the CAG forums that discounts the 360 version of Stranglehold another $10 at Circuit City.

That could potentially reduce the price to $37.99 this week, if your cashier doesn't notice the fine print on the coupon.

What is the fine print? I'm thinking about doing this and picking it up.

coupon!

I may pick up a used version of this when the price comes down. I need to finish Bioshock and Halo 3 before I pick this one up.

No copies accepted, not good with any other offer or discount. So they could say they'll take the coupon, but then you gotta deal with the sale price being a discount.

I was on the fence about this, but the more that I play the demo, the more that I want it. At first, I was only shooting the bad guys, but since I've started to concentrate on the glints, the game (and my Tequila Bombs) have really ramped up. I might try to watch Hard Boiled again before starting the game.

I picked it up at lunch using the CC coupon over at CAG. For $39 you can't beat that deal.

I really don't like the controls in the game, but it does undoubtably look cool on screen.