Stranglehold

Let’s venture to the other extreme, with 2007’s Stranglehold. Again, preceding the Wick movies by a full seven years, this was a game celebrating what must surely be one of the Wick franchises biggest inspirations: the films of John Woo.

A sort-of-sequel to Woo’s 1992 film, Hard Boiled, it even stars the same actor in the lead role, Chow Yun-fat. It continues the story of a cop—Tequila Yuen—caught up in the Triad crime syndicates of Hong Kong, who flings himself around the streets, balconies and rooftops of the city while murdering people in “Tequila Time.” Which, yes, is just bullet time.

However, separating it from the Max Payne franchise, Stranglehold goes to extra lengths to celebrate your violence with its star system. The game judges your style as you go about your slaughter, awarding you more stars for involving the environment in your assault, and for how balletically you go about the whole bonkers nonsense.

It’s oddly forgotten, these days, given it was actually a bunch of fun in its first half. (The game rather loses its way when action transfers from Hong Kong to Chicago.) To play on console you’ll need to find a PS3 or Xbox 360 disc in your favorite thrift store, but for PC you can still pick it up via GOG