The Club

One of the finest examples of bringing the essence of arcade gaming to modern consoles and a game no adrenaline junkie should pass up.

The Club may not satisfy your daily dose of carnage, but what you will find is a challenging shooter that tries something new with a tired genre.

It’s nice to see a shooter with a fresh premise, which changes up the strategy you’ll use to get your best results.

What they have done is filled a gap in the current console market we didn’t even know was there. They have made a video game that is an essential purchase for anybody interested in arcade shooters. It’s outstandingly good fun for the first weekend or so that it will take to peek at what it has to offer, and it’ll be outstandingly good fun for the next couple of years when you dip into it from time to time in order to have a breather from "Gears of War 5" or some other interactive movie.

What might be most impressive about The Club is that despite the many disparate elements that it cherry-picks from genres as diverse as racing, skateboarding, and first-person shooters, the whole never bears the disjointed feel of a Frankenstein creation, instead ebbing and flowing with a satisfying smoothness that's accessible without being overly simplistic, and action-packed without being nerve-deadening.

A hardcore gamer’s type of game. Taking the time to perfect runs is a blast, and unlike most shooters, it can also be used for short gaming sessions. If you enjoy a good challenge and arcade-like games that empower you with bragging rights, you’re going to love this game’s nerve-shattering pressure.

Its strengths lie in that it's simple to a fault, it's direct and honest, it's damn addictive, and it's the perfect foil for starting (or ending) a fun Saturday night on the town - or any night for that matter. What more do you need from an arcade FPS game?

A very original take on shooters. An addictive arcade-style blast for score junkies. [Feb 2008, p.66]

Smooth controls, great combo mechanics, a variety of modes and decent level design all combine to create a game that’s about rhythm and flow. A little more vivacity in enemies, animations, environments and set-pieces would have been great, but at the end of the day The Club nails its concept and its gameplay.

I think this is a really fun, and simple minded game. Nothing like a "Bioshock" in terms of thinking and plot, but more like a 3rd person shooter that's got an arcade feel to it.

If you’re looking for a fun, super fast paced shooter this game is for you, but if you’re looking for something with a little more depth then maybe consider this a rental.

You may love it, you may hate it, but for those with the skill and dedication, it's a shooter like no other. [Feb 2008, p.72]

Bizarre Creations has done something unique here in trying to get you to actually play through the levels of their shooter multiple times and keep having fun doing it.

If you pick up this game looking for a third-person shooter with an engrossing story, just put it back on the shelf. This is for gamers who have that certain twitch in their systems.

It's a one-trick pony, true. Yet does that even matter when the trick is this damn good? Of course it doesn't. Just buckle up, enjoy the ride and hang on for your life. [Feb 2008, p.92]

A refreshingly old-fashioned shooter that is sure to entertain you for a while with its lightning-fast action and pretty visuals. Regrettably the simplicity of the game also makes it a fairly shallow experience that will not hold your interest for a long time. [Feb 2008]

If you can overlook the lack of any narrative cohesion, The Club looks great, controls well, and offers you tons of options for giving your trigger finger a good workout. [Mar 2008, p.90]

If you are looking for a game which offers fast paced combat and you are of the competitive type, then The Club is most certainly well worth a look.

The Club is brilliantly immediate, logical and rewarding in ways that the "PGR" games always were and are, and it does for the third-person shooter what no one else has even bothered trying to do: moving it closer to the 2D shoot-'em-ups of old in a manner that appeals anew.

If you’re after an intense shooter that rewards style, enforces persistence and encourages competition, then The Club is taking members now. You should probably sign up.

The Club takes a somewhat tired and overused genre and genuinely does something new with it. Don’t let the lack of a full-blown story mode put you off giving it a try, even if it is sadly the one thing you’ll miss the most.

Sign us up, we love The Club. With the odd exception, it takes a very good third-person shooter to impress us, and whilst The Club has its issues, the game's original premise and stylish execution makes it well worth checking out. We just don't know who SEGA will line up for the sequel.

An invigorating blast of pure gameplay and an impressive addition to Bizarre Creation's track record. Definitely a fun way to pass the time. [Issue#29, p.80]

This fast-paced arcade shooter has heaps of action and modes for players of any skill. Its visuals look good, with intricate level designs and cool explosions.

It's essential in a time when online leaderboards and frag counters are very much in style.

While The Club is one of Sega's best action games in years, it's marred by a lack of depth and repetitive gameplay. If you can get past some of these shortcomings then you will find that The Club is a worthwhile game that tries to do something different with the third-person shooter genre.

I won’t go as far as announcing this game as a must buy or even close but for anyone looking for a fresh take on a tired out genre, The Club is the perfect medicine.

Anyone with an appreciation for old school arcade games will have a blast with The Club. Just remember to leave your brain with the doorman.

The Club was a pleasant surprise. It's a guns blazing light hearted action experience that may not be the best shooter out there but it doesn't have to be.

The Club is one of those rare games where the demo is truly representative of the final product. If you didn't care for the demo, then this club isn't for you.

If you’re looking for a third person shooter with intense, heart-pounding gameplay, The Club is the perfect game for you. On the other hand, if you like to stroll around, taking in environments and having a relaxing time, avoid The Club at all costs.

The Club offers a great experience for all gamers who are looking for non-stop action while giving fans of old-school shooters something to talk about.

For those who love score attack systems and shooting things then membership of The Club is certainly recommended.

This is a great game, and plays as it should. If it weren't for the multiplayer it would be a near perfect score as Bizarre Creations are owed something for going out on a limb with the genre!

The Club is a fresh change from all the serious games out there and brings you back to the good old days where points mean prizes... I mean everything.

It manages to accomplish what it intended: fast paced action, following the same paths in search of the perfect score. But besides its obvious inspiration, this is not a racing game and how many action fans will be willing to repeat the same processes over and over again? [Feb 2008]

The Club is so excellent at capturing the essence of old-school arcade gaming that you might find yourself trying to shove dollar coins into your console.

With so much focus on creating an interactive experience in games today it is always nice to see one that simply focuses on being fun. The Club may not be the most intricate experience you will have on the consoles this year, but it certainly will be one of the most intense.

The Club is a classic example of an excellent rental game. Its brutal, rapid pace will wear you out in a hurry, and just when you think you can’t take much more POOF! It’s over.

The Club is a lot like junk food—it initially tastes good but it won’t leave you satisfied for long.

Those hooked by The Club's importance on the leader board will not be able to put the game down. Sadly, for the rest of the gaming population, there the game is all about replaying the same levels with the limited variety of weapons and characters repeatedly.

You play The Club not because it's a great action game, but because you want to become better at playing The Club. Running and shooting: that is all it is.

It has a core concept that is truly engaging; it just feels as if it needs to be fleshed out a bit more. The single player Tournament mode is an absolute blast that will keep you occupied for a few hours. Unfortunately, the multiplayer features, though varied, are poorly executed.

Underneath the mundane masculinity and grimy gun-toting clichés lies a heavily structured and well-considered score-attack game – one that’s worth excavating for all the short-lived interest it holds. [Feb 2008, p.88]

Bizarre Creations delivers a different kind of shooter that will attract a specific kind of gamer. The boring setting and combo-system don't bring this game to the absolute top, but the addicting gameplay makes up a lot. If they put more effort in a possible sequel, it might become a classic in this new subgenre.

It succumbs to a bewilderingly dull selection of environments. This might sound like a minor criticism, but for a title that otherwise basks in its videogame status – never once seeking to be recognised as an immersive piece of storytelling or sophisticated art – the generic locales seem painfully jarring. [Mar 2008, p.114]

It's the weak multiplayer that keeps us from recommending The Club with full enthusiasm.

The Club provides some old-school single-player thrills, but it fails to live up to its initial promise.

A flawed, but generally enjoyable slice of hardcore gaming. The fast-paced shooting mechanics and old school ideas make for some really intense, exciting, and just plain fun moments, but the squiffy controls and lack of true online score competition prevent The Club from reaching its true potential.

At its core, The Club is all about shooting, running, and then shooting some more. This broad approach to game development is risky considering the saturation of similar titles on the market, but the gameplay is well supplemented by a scoring system that adds value to repeated play and practice.

A fun, if shallow and mindless shooter. For those looking for quick-hit action without worrying about things like story or a sense of purpose, it’s exactly what you’re looking for.

Well, to be truthful, you'll probably tire of The Club long before you'd get sick of some new cool restaurant as the variety on offer here in this game is even more limiting, but we hope you see the point we're trying to awkwardly make.

The Club is one of those games that you are really going to fall in love with, or discard fairly quickly.

I didn't find the hook all that appealing and felt left with a glorified shooting gallery. The idea is sound. There just isn't much to be excited about in the final product.

Although it's always nice to see developers facing challenges and taking their talents across new ground, in Bizarre's case, it's safe to say they're far better off making racers.

While the game is a fast and furious stylized shooter, one of the biggest faults the title has is with how muddy the controls feel.

I can't recommend the weak single-player mode, but the multiplayer left me surprisingly satisfied.

The Club certainly brings nothing innovative to the venerable shooter genre. [Mar 2008, p.83]

Sadly, The Club probably would’ve made a bigger splash had it been released in the early part of this decade, when games like this were all the rage.

You get tiny little cinematic snippets here and there, but it never coheres into anything like an actual story.

The Club's greatest flaw is that it thinks it's a whole lot more revolutionary than it actually is. Despite the game's claims to the contrary, there's nothing new about any of this.