Starring Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat as Inspector Tequila and helmed by HK legend John Woo, Stranglehold isn't just an interactive homage to 1992 silver-screen classic Hard-Boiled. It's what the creators call a "spiritual sequel" or virtual successor, in which you assume the role of a karate-kicking, twin pistol-packing badass capable of single-handedly obliterating armies of thugs. Fighting the seediest scumbags Hong Kong and Chicago can muster, you'll travel from museums to back alleys, rooftops and docks, raining down death using a new feature called Massive D (short for destruction). Firefights spring to cinematic life as a result of the ability to rend environments to shreds by peeling paint from walls, toppling bridges or crashing roofs. Whether hurtling chest-first on rolling carts or sliding down handrails, unloading machineguns or dual-fisted revolvers all the way, you can only marvel at the carnage that unfolds. (Watch carefully, and you'll actually see support pillars fill with bullet holes, structurally degrade and/or explode in spectacular fashion.) Slow motion special attacks that let you soar through the air, spin in place while unleashing a metal rainstorm or track bullets' flight into enemies' torsos merely reinforce the game's charm.

There's little here you haven't seen before in competitors like Max Payne or Dead to Rights. But the creators take the standard run & gun formula, amp everything up to 11 and deliver the sort of intense thrills you'd expect from a blockbuster action flick. No shock here; inspiration obviously comes straight from Hollywood, with the game also the first digital diversion to include a film (Hard-Boiled) as a bonus on its PS3 Collector's Edition's Blu-ray disc.