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On paper it seems like a great idea, a shooter with the ideals of a racer. At least that’s what Bizarre Creations sold the idea as. In a way, it is. In a racing game you need to know the ‘road’ in order to get the best ‘lap’, be aware of every corner, every chicane and the way the car handles. In The Club you need to know the level and where all the people you have to shoot are, where they pop out from or how they move. What this means is that you need to play the same level again and again to get the best score. And that’s the game.
Ok, it may have different modes for each level (5 of them), but they all amount to shooting loads of generic bad guys and getting to the end of the level. The ‘reward’ for your blasting through stupid AI people who just happen to get in the way of your bullets is a name on the high score table. Think of it, then, as more of an old school shooter like Operation Wolf. In this respect it’s pretty playable and the online mode does give it that extra kick of longevity, but there’s a reason why games have become more involved, gamers want it that way. They want motives, storylines and interesting graphics along with their action, The Club doesn’t really provide any of these.
It’s not exactly a bad game. It’s just not anything that will really hold your attention for long. The bland graphics and partial story don’t really do anything to liven it up, either. You could quite easily have 10 minutes on this and not touch it for a week, though, which is something in its favour, but the high score outcome means that the game expects you to put the work in, burning the layout of the level in your mind.
No doubt The Club will one day be sitting in a bargain bin somewhere in a game shop. If it is, it’s worth maybe parting with a tenner or possibly even fifteen of your hard earned pieces of silver, but as a full price game it just can’t cut it against the modern day shooters.
6/10
On paper it seems like a great idea, a shooter with the ideals of a racer. At least that’s what Bizarre Creations sold the idea as. In a way, it is. In a racing game you need to know the ‘road’ in order to get the best ‘lap’, be aware of every corner, every chicane and the way the car handles. In The Club you need to know the level and where all the people you have to shoot are, where they pop out from or how they move. What this means is that you need to play the same level again and again to get the best score. And that’s the game.
Ok, it may have different modes for each level (5 of them), but they all amount to shooting loads of generic bad guys and getting to the end of the level. The ‘reward’ for your blasting through stupid AI people who just happen to get in the way of your bullets is a name on the high score table. Think of it, then, as more of an old school shooter like Operation Wolf. In this respect it’s pretty playable and the online mode does give it that extra kick of longevity, but there’s a reason why games have become more involved, gamers want it that way. They want motives, storylines and interesting graphics along with their action, The Club doesn’t really provide any of these.
It’s not exactly a bad game. It’s just not anything that will really hold your attention for long. The bland graphics and partial story don’t really do anything to liven it up, either. You could quite easily have 10 minutes on this and not touch it for a week, though, which is something in its favour, but the high score outcome means that the game expects you to put the work in, burning the layout of the level in your mind.
No doubt The Club will one day be sitting in a bargain bin somewhere in a game shop. If it is, it’s worth maybe parting with a tenner or possibly even fifteen of your hard earned pieces of silver, but as a full price game it just can’t cut it against the modern day shooters.
6/10
I've been looking at The Club as a sort-of Crackdown-esque filler game, but if it's likely to become bargain bin material I may give it a miss till the magic £20 mark.
Certainly not worth picking up at full price. I was lucky enough to get it for £20 during one of GAMEs buy-it-with-something-else deals. Maybe at £20 it's probably just about worth it. It's too shallow and arcadey to be worth more.