There are many good games and few great games that come out each year.  When you play a game like BioShock or Gears of War you want to get everything you can out of the game.  Often I will play though the campaign a few times just to get my fill on the enjoyment the game gives me.  These kind of games make you want to run home after work and stay up late just to play them. 

With any high there has to be a low and that often comes after you pick up the next game to play.  It seems to never fail that the next game you pick up to play will inevitably disappoint.  This is how the world works.  You can't have a continuous stream of great games to play.  There have to be some stinkers in their to make you really appreciate the great ones.

Unfortunately this let down for me is coming in the form of John Woo's Stranglehold.  Technically this is a solid game with good controls and a decent story told via cut scenes.  Where this game drops the ball is in their over use of shooter stereotypes.  You have the "monster closets", magic rooms where enemies will pill out from for you to mow down.  You have the explosive barrels.  Funny how enemies will just stand next to these so you can shoot the barrel and get a nice explosion.   Then there is the AI of your enemies.  These guys will run right at you and eat the lead from your gun.  I guess they decided to over compensate for the poor AI by just sending wave after wave of these morons.  The cherry on the top is a horrible check point system that is way too sporadic.

Is Stranglehold the worst game I've ever played?  Maybe you think that is what I'm saying but it really isn't.  Stranglehold has a lot of positive attributes as well and can be fun.  The problem is that Stranglehold is coming right after  a great game.  The let down had to happen and by timing their release a couple weeks after Bioshock they made themself that game.  I fully expect a bunch of PS3 gamers to love this game because they will not hold it to this standard since they couldn't play BioShock. 

Is there any way to possibly avoid this situation?  You could just play the games that are highly acclaimed but that could possibly mean you only play three or four games a year.  Why would you punish yourself that way?  Sure the Strangleholds of the world are not Filet Mignon but sometimes you need to eat a rib eye just so you can appreciate the good stuff when you get it.