When most people think Bizarre Creations, they think “racing”. That makes complete sense due to the fact that BC is responsible for one of the most dominant racing franchises in the last decade – PGR (MSR). But what people forget is that the formerly independent developer has strayed away from the race track quite a bit. Geometry Wars and Boom Boom Rocket were not racing games, but both gave gamers a frantic paced gaming experience full of fun. The Club attempts to put another notch on BC’s genre belt by adding Action/Shooter to the team’s resume. And as usual, the guys with the jack-o-lantern for a logo deliver.
The Club has a pretty basic story used to tie everything together and help give the characters some meaning and purpose. But you can tell that Bizarre kind of tacked on the stories for each character. And that makes sense since this game really feels like an old-school arcade title at times. And we all know arcade stories were never that deep because the developer’s didn’t think gamers would care. Because of this, you get a little bit of detail about each character and why they are in The Club, but you won’t ever find out their life stories. This is a perfect example of “keep it simple stupid”, and it works. All you need to know is that wealthy businessmen are bored and have funded The Club for their amusement. Oddly enough, these businessmen were able to find perfect representations of stereotypes to participate in action. So while the characters are cut from the cheesy stereotypes we all know from Hollywood, it works. Because just like the gameplay, the characters themselves seem “arcadey”.
The action takes place in eight distinct locations which range from a Euro estate to an entire section of Venice. You’ll get a little back story on each location to flesh out the game and area. Let me tell you, these environments are beautiful. I say this because arcade style games (pick up-n-plays) rarely have the level of detail used in the locations that The Club does. So this was definitely a nice surprise, but something most would expect from a studio like Bizarre Creations. The down side to the environments is that they feel small and cramped, which could very well be a side effect of the arcade gameplay. It’s also likely attributed to the fact that The Club is designed for online play. You’ll realize this from the moment you start playing. The size of the stages is a small shortcoming since it all works well together. That can actually be said for everything in this game. The game really did come together well.
The game is played from a third-person point of view, which as you may have guessed, works well. The simple gameplay of run and gun (that’s really all it is) puts a heavy focus on how many people you can kill in row. By continuing your killing spree, you continue to up your bonus multiplier. Come on, you knew Bizarre would have to put something like this in. They love challenging multipliers. Think of it as murder Kudos. The longer the chain of kills, the higher the multiplier. This is all going on while you have one goal in mind; survive. You do this depending on the round’s goal. You’ll either just have to survive the round until the timer runs out, or (the more exciting way) get to the end of the level before the bomb inside your body explodes. Now there’s some incentive to haul ass.
Graphically the game is nice. It’s not superb, but it’s nice. The levels look great when you’re moving through them. The only issues in the graphics department are if you take a moment to stand still and look around. It’s at this point that you’ll begin to notice a flaw here and there in the lack of detail. But this is severe nit picking because you won’t be standing around and looking at the levels long or else you’ll have your head blown off. This isn’t Call of Duty. You won’t be sitting there and scanning the stage. This is a “action shooter”. Explosions look great, but aren’t exactly pushing the 360 hardware to the brink of anything special. When it’s all said and done, The Club may not win any awards for being a jaw-dropper, but no one can say it’s ugly.
The sounds in the game are alright. I’ve never been on an abandoned cruise liner while getting shot at by a Jamaican, Russian, and spoiled rich kid, so… for all I know it’s super accurate. The voices, including the English announcer, all do a good job of pulling you in. And that’s all any gamer asks. Most people playing this game have no idea what a real SMG sounds like, so the sound effects work. The music on the other hand is top-notch. Composer Richard Jacques obviously spent some time looking at each level to capture the feel of it and put it to music. Surprisingly, this makes the music the shining star of the game, but doesn’t eclipse the rest of The Club.
When looking at this title, it’s a hard one to judge. Is it for everyone? Definitely not. There will be those who are turned off instantly by a game that at first glance seems pretty shallow. It’s almost reminiscent of another Sega shooter from the past – Outtrigger. Dreamcast owners will remember this as a fast-paced arcade shooter that came off as shallow to those who just played it a little. With small levels, the game turned out to be pretty deep if you took the time to master it. The Club is very similar in many regards. Good looks, small levels, built for multiplayer, and easy to pick up; these all describe The Club. The best description is “easy to learn, hard to master”. This game isn’t for everyone, but everyone should at least try it. Some will love it, some will hate. This reviewer loved it. The thing to remember is that this game is designed for multiplayer.
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