I got my non-grubby hands on the 360 version of 'Stranglehold', the John Woo produced game featuring Chow Yun-Fat as Inspector Tequila. Sounds weird to describe a game like a movie, but I guess it’s coming to that.

Let me start off by saying that I am totally disappointed that I shelled out an extra 10 bucks for the “limited edition.” For my additional dough, I got a making-of DVD and a different cover. C’mon! These collectible game versions really need to need to live up to their price point!

If you’ve downloaded the demo from Xbox Live, you basically have the entire first level, minus a big final gun fight and a boss battle. AND, if you’ve downloaded the demo, you know the game is crazy fantastic.

‘Stranglehold’ reminds me a little of ‘Gears of War,’ with it’s third-person play mechanics and insane shooting action. But, this game features environmental destruction like I’ve never seen before. You can destroy almost everything... and many times it’s required to kill off the baddies. It’s so cool to shoot an air conditioner off the side of building in order to take out an unsuspecting enemy.

The graphics are great... even though the characters look a little strange (kind-of muddied, living-dead zombie-like); but the settings are spectacular. And those explosions... awesome!

My favorite parts of the game have been the Matrix-Max Payne-John Woo-like “Tequila-Time” feature and the super-power “Tequila-Bombs.” “Tequila Time” slows down the action so that you can aim a little better. “Tequila-Bombs” are power-ups that you earn along the way and give Inspector Tequila special powers. Being able to precisely aim at the bad guys’ specific body parts gets to be quite comical.

I’m only a few levels in, but so far I’ve loved every second of ‘Stranglehold.’ I can’t believed it’s keeping me from the ‘Call of Duty 4’ beta. But it is.