Joystiq got the chance for some hands-on time with Midway's Stranglehold. Just the mention of Max Payne has made this one I'll be looking out for later this year.

This 360 game is from the same team that did Psi-Ops: Mindgate Conspiracy, an awesome Xbox title that was on everybody's "best game that no one played" list. After commiserating with the staff over the inexplicable disappointing sales of that game, I picked up the controller to try out its "spiritual" next-gen sequel. Stranglehold plays like Max Payne with, better graphics, more style and more ridiculously cool slow-mo moves. Midway's pitch focused on the destructable environment, which allowed me to blow up everything from wall tiles to frozen pigs. Combined with an array of Woo-ish bullet-time maneuvers, the level I saw did a good job of recreating the vibe from the tea house shoot-out scene in Hard-boiled.