The Club

Have you seen the movie Rat Race? Remember how these twelve regular people were gambling in a casino and suddenly they were specially being selected to participate in a race that's worth two million dollars? Their goal was to reach from Las Vegas to New Mexico by whatever means necessary to claim their price, but little did they know they were under the surveillance of the owner of the casino and his group of rich bigshots, betting millions of dollars amongst themselves to see who will reign champion.

The Club follows the same concept as the hilarious movie, but without the comedy. Only blood, violence and guns. In the game, you get to play as eight tough guys all hired by the Club to participate in their game of survival. Whether they accept it or not, the participants will travel all over the world, fighting their way to multiple stages and thugs and do their best to survive in return for their reward. The idea of it all is that these eight contenders must brace themselves into these insane levels, blasting hundreds of bad guys along the way, while a group of bigshot moguls betting on themselves as to whom will be the champ. Though we don't see any of these bidders anywhere in the game, it doesn't really matter anyway because the gameplay is what matters not the storyline, and the Club delivers a lot of action.

There are eight different players to choose, all from different parts of the world with different skills. You have Finn, a gambler who joins the Club in order to pay back his debts to the mob. He's an all around fighter. Dragov is a Russian convict who is rescued by the Club after attempting an escape from prison. He's the toughest of his competitors but slow. Renwick is a former New York detective who got kicked out of the force after repeated attempts to locate the Club and is now on his own. He's well balanced too but more on stamina. Seager is a Canadian sports extremist who volunteered to join the Club just "for kicks". He sacrifices strength for speed and stamina. Next we have Kuro, a Japanese double agent who is the fastest in the Club but slightly weak. Killen is an Australian guy who is forced back to the Club after they threatened to hurt his daughter. He's well balanced but more on strength. Adjo is an African giant who also joins the Club against his will in order to protect his village. He's also the strongest in comparison. Last is Nemo, a psychotic British who has lost his mind and everything but only the urge to kill. He's fast and strong but a bit weak on stamina.

Once you managed to absorb those details, it's time to move on to the gameplay. The game uses action shooter perspective with a mix of combo systems used in Devil May Cry series. It may sound like an odd combination at first but it will turn out to be an addictive concoction. Basically, all you do is pick a character, select your difficulty and fight. The idea of the Club is to go from Point A to Point B and score as many points as possible by shooting hordes of enemies along the way. Each kill rewards you with points and although the points given are completely random, but the more stylish you shoot them or the more best placed shots you make (Like headshots), the more points you will score. But you may wonder how many points do I need to achieve? The answer is as many as possible. Each level has a scoreboard showing the amount of points each of the seven fighters has achieved. Although the scoreboard is also random, meaning that the specific fighter isn't always number one, but the main goal is to beat the current score by accumulating the highest scores yourself.

There are eight stages to play each with six levels to complete. The levels consist of five different game modes which you cannot choose and they are Sprint, Siege, Time Attack, Survivor and Run The Gauntlet. The modes have different style of playing but the objective is the same: score as many points as possible! The Sprint mode is a basic one which lets you find the exit and score as many points as possible in the end. The Siege mode confines you in a small area and you are to survive for the set amount of time. Time Attack lets you run around in laps and you are to do so quickly before time runs out. You must shoot enemies or collect specific items to increase the timer. The Survivor mode is the same as Siege but you are confined to a much bigger place but more enemies to kill. Lastly, the Run The Gauntlet mode is the same as Time Attack but this time you don't have additional time by killing baddies. You really have to make a run for it. The levels will get tough as you progress and you may die constantly. Thankfully, the game is very kind to offer you a number of tries for you to try again and make sure you get it right in the next tries, or else you have to start that particular stage again.

The enemies you face all wield with all sorts of weapons and some may take some strategy to take 'em out, in particularly the bonus enemy. He's a shirtless guy who will not harm you but instead run away in areas you'll have a hard time finding him and shooting him. As useless as he sounds, the shirtless guy is important because he carries the most points out of all the enemies you'll be facing. Speaking of weapons, there are tons of weapons you get to use from pistols to shotguns to machineguns to rocket launchers to grenades. It's really fun experimenting with them as you tackle the bad guys who will also carry the same weapons as you. There are no boss fights in the Club nor you will fight the other members of the Club at some point. All you do in the Club is to eradicate as many enemies as possible, accumulate as many points as possible and hope to achieve your gold bullets.

In terms of presentation, the Club really sounds great and looks great. The sound effects for the guns may sound a bit weak at times but if you're playing it on the PC with headphones like I do, then the sound will amplify much more giving more a lot of satisfaction. The controls are great too regardless of which system you use. The Club may emphasize a lot in its action but there are some story elements in the game. Everytime you complete a stage you'll see an end cutscene and the story differs depending in which character you choose. There isn't much to say about the voice acting because it only occurs in cutscenes but overall it's pretty good. The music is solid too composed and performed by the great Jesper Kyd who fans will recognize him with his other work in the Hitman series.

To summarize it up, the Club is an excellent game and a great addition to your collection. The gameplay may get repetitive later on and there isn't anything else to offer in terms of replay value. Aside from getting achievement points and playing Multiplayer, there's nothing else that encourages you to play it again and again but having said that, you have to give the Club some credit for its originality. The game can be very addictive because of its arcade style of playing and scoring. In truth, I wasn't sure if I should or shouldn't buy this game but I gotta admit, the thing that made me buy this game is its trailer (Which is also the game's intro). I believe the Club has the best trailer ever made in a video game history and I just love the way it builds up and the music fusing with the action, it's just terrific and beautifully executed. I was really hooked when I started playing trying to get the highest score and trying to perform better. Normally I don't play this kind of game but the Club had made an impression on me. I love it and so should you. I'm surprised the game didn't hit big when it came out and majority of the press and the public were giving a "just ok" remark. I think this game's brilliant! It's not like any other games I've ever played. It's a bit challenging but there won't be any frustrating moments. It's all about running, gunning and scoring, and that's cool! I recommend giving this game a try! 
 
 
Score: 
Gameplay:  1.5 Star
Graphics:  1 Star
Sounds:  1.5 Star
Replay Value:  1.5 Star
Overall:  1.5 Star
Total: 4.0/ 5 Stars