In Stranglehold, you play an unstoppable hero - the kind of big screen icon who can walk alone into a room full of bad guys and not only defeat them all without suffering a scratch, but make the whole affair look ridiculously easy. But what happens when eight action heroes walk into a room?

During a recent demo of the John Woo-inspired shoot 'em up, we quizzed our handler about Stranglehold's multiplayer. He confirmed that up to eight players can blast away at each other - and the map's destructible environments - online. Plus, characters besides Chow Yun-Fat's Inspector Tequila will be selectable... random Hong Kong Thug #3, anyone? The developers also plan to make new, downloadable maps available after the game's release in late August.

Most importantly, we were told that all eight players could trigger the game's slow motion at any time. Moreover, they can all perform the story mode's Tequila Bomb maneuvers like Precision Aim (manually control the path of a single bullet), Barrage (unleash a physically impossible torrent of gunfire in the matter of a few seconds) and Spin Attack (kill everything in your surroundings with one ballerina twirl).

We're still scratching our heads, however, over exactly how this slow-motion-for-everyone plan will work. What if two players engage it at the same time? Do they see each other moving at normal speed? If all eight players turn it on, will everything cancel out and play like normal? If your opponent has slow motion and you don't, does he appear to move faster than you? And do you still have any chance of dodging?

Luckily, we'll have our answers soon, as we expect to see Stranglehold's multiplayer in action in early August. Check back for full details and honest impressions. Until then, watch the latest trailer here and see the newest screens here.

July 24, 2007