The Club

"Bang bang club, AK-47 hour"

The Club is a curious game; it has the gameplay style of an old-school 2D shooter, but in the guise of a third-person 3D run-and-gun game. This is a hybrid that doesn't always succeed, but the game is to be applauded for trying something a bit different.

The presentation of the game hints that it had been originally designed to be a dark, brutal experience similar to Manhunt, but that these elements were curtailed in the final product; here in the UK it has a 15 rating due to violence and strong language, something which could have worked better if it was more full-on. The backstory goes that The Club is an elite organisation which sets up Running Man-style bloodsports in various locations around the world, and the only way to escape is to win the tournaments. What this boils down to is a repetitive series of what can only be described as score-attack shooter levels.

There are 8 characters to choose from, of which six are initially unlocked; the seventh is available upon completing half of the tournaments at any difficulty, and the final character is unlocked when all tournaments have been successfully completed. The characters have different statistics in three areas -- speed, strength and stamina -- but all play so similarly that you might as well just pick the one you most like the look of.

The main game, at least in singleplayer mode, consists of 8 tournaments in different areas, each made up of 6 (or 7) events. These events are split into five types; however, many of these are so similar that there are only really two different kinds. Firstly there's the standard linear level where you follow a set path, killing enemies and shooting targets to achieve a high score. These come in three flavours: Sprint, which is the bog-standard version with no time limit; Run the Gauntlet, as Sprint but with a time limit; and Time Attack, where kills, pickups and targets confer extra time to complete multiple laps of the same path. The other main type of level involves enduring the attacks of numerous enemies over a period of time without moving outside a limited area, and, once again, trying to get the highest score; the two types of event in this style are Siege and Survivor, differing only in that the latter tends to give you more room to maneuver.

In order to gain a high score, it's necessary to shoot enemies (or targets) within a limited amount of time of each other, to gain a multiplier. A timer ticks down the interval left to make another kill, and becomes faster and faster at higher multipliers. Points are awarded, at least in theory, based on the strength of the enemy and the accuracy of the shot; in practice, the points seem rather arbitrary.

All this is well and good in concept, but it's the game's execution that lets it down. Although the levels where a path must be followed are signposted, this is often inadequate and only by trial and error can the correct path be found; it's easy to make a wrong turn and have your combo time out before returning to the route through the level. While this could be said to encourage memorisation and repetition of the levels, it has a negative impact on the first playthrough. Similarly there is little real variety in the guns and it's awkward to switch between them when still trying to get a high combo. Essentially there are pistols (virtually useless except for the Uzi-alike), shotguns, automatic weapons (SMG's and assault rifles, by far the best weapons available), along with a sniper rifle and several heavy weapons which are impractical to use. These weapons feel samey and underpowered, not helped by mediocre sound effects.

The technical side of the game is satisfactory but neither impressive or particularly bad. The graphics are on the good side of average, serving their purpose without being exceptional; enemies are reasonably varied, and the character models have good detail, while on the other hand the environments feel somewhat repetitive and bland in places. The sound effects are mediocre at best, while the music is acceptable but very forgettable.

The game's difficulty is quite variable. There are four settings available, chosen at the start of each tournament, level, or playlist (in the game's other singleplayer modes, Single Event and Gunplay respectively); the fourth and hardest is only unlocked after completing all the tournaments. On the lowest difficulty, the game is ridiculously simple; having never played the game before, I was regularly attaining scores ten times higher than the person in second place on each event. The difficulty ramps up exponentially as the settings increase, making it extremely challenging to place highly in each event; the difference between the lowest level and the next lowest is significant, and likely to put off players who had become confident through success at the lowest setting.

Overall, while the game has some promise, it is ultimately mired in repetitiveness, which isn't helped by the lack of variety in events and the fact that the different locales are only superficially different. As there is no story to speak of, the only real motivation to play the game is to beat the high score, which grows stale rapidly; the suite of multiplayer modes may provide the game with further life, but as yet those have not been tested. With a wider selection (or simply more -- the game can be completed in a handful of hours) of singleplayer events, perhaps including some of the multiplayer modes, or a more fully-featured move set (why is there no cover mechanic when enemies clearly use it?) The Club might be worth buying, but as it stands it's only really worth a rental.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/08

Game Release: The Club (EU, 02/08/08)