Stranglehold: The Gritty, Gun-Blazing Legacy That Deserves Another Shot

Cinematic action games became very popular in the middle of the 2000s, thanks to games like Max Payne and Resident Evil 4. At that time, Midway Games took a chance on something very big. Stranglehold was the result. It was a spiritual follow-up to Hard Boiled, one of the most famous action movies ever made in Hong Kong.

The famous action director John Woo oversaw the making of Stranglehold. It wasn't just a licensed game with a celebrity endorsement. Chow Yun-Fat, who played the persistent Inspector Tequila Yuen again, made a brave attempt to bring the style and intensity of Woo's "bullet ballet" into the world of video games.

From the moment it was announced, people had high hopes for Stranglehold. It was a continuation of a classic cult movie that defined the style of stylized action movies. It also promised to combine movie and gameplay in a way that few games had before. With Woo in charge of the story and action, it wasn't just a brand extension; it was meant to be the best video game adaptation of the "gun-fu" genre he created.

Stranglehold did a lot of good things, too. It lets players slow down time during firefights, slide down railings while holding two pistols at once, and shoot explosives in the environment to kill enemies in style. Thanks to Unreal Engine 3 and Havok physics, the environments could be destroyed.

This added a tactile and explosive element to the combat, making every level feel like the end of an action movie. At a time when most games had backgrounds that didn't move and animation that was stiff, Stranglehold felt alive. You did more than just shoot enemies; you jumped across tables, flipped over banisters, and turned restaurants into battlegrounds.

But for all the good things Stranglehold did, it was also clear that Midway wanted to make it do more than it could. While the action mechanics were great, the story and structure were not very good. The plot, which was about Chinese and Russian crime groups taking Tequila's ex-wife and daughter hostage, was fine but not very deep.

Even though it was made by a well-known director, the story never had the emotional or thematic depth of Hard Boiled. And after the acrobatics were no longer exciting, they were quickly boring again. It became boring to play because the levels, enemies, and pace were all too similar. It should have been an exciting, fast-paced ride from beginning to end.

Then, there were issues with the technology. Even though the graphics were impressive at the time, the game didn't work well on all platforms. The PC version had bugs and controls that were hard to use, and the console versions had frame rate drops during intense scenes.

The game's gritty tone didn't go well with the points-based scoring system that was meant to encourage stylish kills. It didn't feel like a high-stakes drama; instead, it often went into arcade territory, which took away from the grounded intensity that came from the movie it was based on.

One of the best chances it missed was the chance to play with other people. The online modes didn't add anything new or different to the single-player experience; they felt like they were just tacked on. Woo's cinematic language, which is based on framing, editing, and precise choreography, didn't work in a multiplayer setting. Stranglehold lost sight of what made it special as it tried to keep up with the trend of online shooters.

Still, many players remember Stranglehold fondly for its style and ambition, even though it had some problems. It did something that not many action games at the time could do: it proudly used movie-style effects and violence to tell a story visually. It wasn't enough to just win a shootout; it was how you won that mattered.

As you shot through a chandelier and glass and fell on your enemies, were you sliding down a food cart? Were you using the "Tequila Bomb" move to slow-motionally disarm a room full of bad guys? These moments, while sometimes janky, were memorable.

What's frustrating is how close Stranglehold came to being something truly great. Several news sources and leaked design documents say that Midway planned to make it into a full franchise. Before Midway's bankruptcy in 2009, work on a follow-up movie, possibly called Gun Runner, was already well underway. The studio closed, the IP was shelved, and Tequila Yuen's story ended not with a bang but a whimper. It was a classic case of big ideas undermined by poor execution and bad timing.

But that's exactly why we need a new version now.

In a gaming landscape that has evolved dramatically since 2007, the technology now exists to fully realize what Stranglehold was trying to do. Modern physics engines can make environmental destruction more dynamic and realistic. Gunfights can become less predictable and more intense with better AI. Most importantly, storytelling in games has come a long way.

A modern remake could give Tequila Yuen the character development and emotional weight that was missing from the original. It could deliver a gripping story on par with today's best narrative-driven games while still letting players dive through windows and shoot dual pistols in glorious slow motion.

There's also the cultural timing. The rise of interest in Asian cinema, thanks to films like The Raid, John Wick 4, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, has rekindled Western audiences' appreciation for the style and substance of Hong Kong action. In that context, a re-release or remake of Stranglehold wouldn't feel like a dated throwback.

More than anything else, it would feel like a tribute to a genre that is once again getting a lot of attention for being in the spotlight. Publishers like Capcom and Square Enix have shown that remakes are popular enough to not just reskin the originals but rebuild them from the ground up. Resident Evil 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and even niche titles like Live A Live have shown that with the right approach, even cult classics can find mainstream success.

Imagine Stranglehold rebuilt with modern motion capture, tight third-person controls, reactive destructible environments, and a fully reimagined story co-written by Woo or someone who understands his visual language. It would be an explosive, emotional, action-packed ride unlike anything else on the market.

Then there's the matter of Chow Yun-Fat. While the actor has largely stepped back from Hollywood in recent years, his return to voice (or even mo-cap) Inspector Tequila would add tremendous weight to a remake.

There's precedent for this—Keanu Reeves' portrayal of Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 showed how big-name actors can elevate video game storytelling when used properly. With the right script and direction, Tequila Yuen could become a character that resonates with today's players, not just a relic of gaming's experimental mid-2000s era.

There's also an argument to be made for a remaster rather than a full remake. The original Stranglehold still has charm, and with cleaned-up visuals, better controls, and bug fixes, it could serve as a nostalgic blast for players who remember the original.

But truthfully, the better option is to aim higher—to give the game a second chance to be everything it was meant to be. That means reworking the story, expanding the environments, ditching the arcade-like score system, and letting the player experience a full John Woo production in modern form.

In many ways, Stranglehold was too early for its own good. Its ambition outpaced its resources, and it suffered the fate of many mid-2000s games that dared to do something different. But just because it fell short doesn't mean it should be forgotten.

On the contrary, it's exactly the kind of game that deserves a modern remake—because the original already laid the groundwork. The heart was there. The style was there. All it needs now is the technology and creative backing to bring it to life the way it was meant to be played.

So, as publishers dig deeper into their vaults looking for the next great remake, Stranglehold should be at the top of that list. A reimagined return to Tequila's explosive world would not only honor one of the most distinctive voices in action cinema—it would also finally complete the story that fans have been waiting for over 15 years to finish.

Also, check our other articles on remakes below:

 

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• Bloodborne 2: The Next Gothic Masterpiece Waiting To Be Reborn