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By Keith B (3rd Apr 2008)

Drawing comparisons between a shooter and a driving game might sound like a stupid thing to do, but I’m going to go one better and compare it to two driving games.

That statement above may sound improbable to you but I joke you not. The Club is a new third-person shoot-em-up by Bizarre creations, the team behind Project Gotham Racing and much more. This new title contains a scoring system that parallels the Project Gotham kudos system (driving game reference #1). But it’s not a Halo clone or a mass multiplayer like Battlefield or Call of Duty 4 either. Oh no, it’s practically entirely based on clocking up the highest score you can and then sitting back and looking at the huge numbers.

A diversion. I don’t know how old you are, reader, but do you remember going to the video arcade with a pocket full of change and sitting there for a couple of hours? Do you remember playing games like Killer Instinct and being amazed when someone would pull off a 200-move combo? Or playing Outrun and wondering just how long it took the guy at the top of the leader board to amass such a high score? Were you capable of completing Mortal Kombat on one credit every time? Well, The Club has managed to somewhat capture the essence of those old school arcade games and put the focus squarely back on amassing scores over anything else. And you know what, it’s not that bad a game at all.

The premise is simple. There exists a group of wealthy people, from world leaders to the captains of industry, who have tired of gambling on Blackjack and horses and want something a little grittier to squander their money on. To this end, eight individuals with desperate and shady pasts have been gathered together and will compete against each other for freedom and money. The aim of the game is to complete a level by sprinting through it and killing any one you come across. The more spectacular the kill, the higher your multiplayer climbs, and the bigger score you accumulate, and the bigger the score, the higher the prestige for your character. If you dawdle between kills your multiplier ‘bleeds’, ticking down until you’re back at the start and must build your multiplier again.

So what you have, essentially, is a race through the level. As you play the map over and over, you learn where the enemies are, where the ‘skullshots’, or targets that keep your multiplier up, are located, and so you can begin to perfect the level. And this is where the driving element comes in. Once you’re familiar with the layout and locations, you know when to make your character sprint to get through a barren area, where to take it slower and hit all the targets to keep your multiplier climbing, and when to keep yourself in the game by tactically hitting skullshots on the level. It has a strange sort of hypnotic effect keeping you giving it just one more go.

And that’s about it. Seriously. Storyline isn’t a big part of the Club at all, which might sound like a worry but, believe me, it’s not.

But the strange thing is – it’s intensely enjoyable after you warm to the idea. Initially the notion of running the same level over and over trying to get a slightly higher score repulsed me. I’m still having counselling over my rage with Stuntman Ignition (driving game reference #2) and this is pretty much the same sort of thing, except you’re trading your motorbike or car for one of eight characters. Stuntman almost made me throw my controller through the television on a staggeringly high number of occasions because of the ruthlessly unforgiving need to hit all your markers, and should you fail in doing so, the attempt at the level ends. What The Club has in similarities it thankfully also has in differences, and this is what makes the game more appealing.

While the aim of the game is to get a high score, it never forces you to stop the level because it thinks you’re too stupid to get it. And if you’re not happy with the racing element and need a break, there are other game modes you can have a crack at, like Siege, where you have to survive as long as you can against wave after wave of enemies.

Occasionally there are some small issues with the game play, like the AI not being the smartest cookies and seemingly happy to run straight towards you while you take aim at their face. But considering you might run past 100 enemies in a level the gentle stupidity is hidden by the wave upon wave of targets.

The visuals are acceptable and the environment authentic, but it doesn't have the level of polish that other shooters have, like Call of Duty 4. But they're never bad enough that you shake your head, just not really incredible.

The other thing that I couldn’t shake off was the vague similarity to Shadowrun, and hence I do harbour fears that the Club may vanish without a trace in a few months. Shadowrun blended with Stuntman Ignition is how I’d describe this, and I worry that it will never reach the heights those other games failed to also reach. While it’s refreshing and occasionally good for a laugh, and certainly a great game to stick on with some mates around, I doubt is has the sort of longevity that many gamers will demand.

There is a good online community playing it and online does open up a whole new world for the player, but much like Project Gotham, it does one thing and does it well. If you’re after that one thing, this is gold. If you’re not, then this won’t appeal. If you’re willing to take the time to look deep into it, there’s a good game hiding in there.