Stranglehold is the video game sequel to Hard-Boiled, a 1992 action film directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-Fat. Stranglehold offers both a single player campaign mode, as well as a competitive multiplayer online mode. Similar to bullet-time features in other games, Stranglehold introduces Tequila Time, which in addition to slowing the gameplay down, allows the player to choose targets and attack them in a cinematically appealing style.

After the kidnapping of a police officer, Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat's character) volunteers to meet the kidnappers at a market in Kowloon. The meeting erupts into a gun battle, which in typical John Woo fashion, leads to more gun battles. Tequila ends up chasing down both the Triads and the Russian Mob looking for answers.