Review: The Club (XBOX360)
"Come Fearless. Come Strong. Come Packing."
Even the back of the box tells us that this game is trying too hard to be something its not - a third-person shooter with profundity. The Club, Sega's latest foray into attempted gaming relevancy, is a title that has some potential. It could be a fast-paced, run and gun arcade-style extravaganza. Instead, it's a frustrating, self-absorbed traipse of a time-trial through a world that shouldn't exist, not even in a game programmer's imagination.
The Club is an "underground" blood sport organization where "mob bosses, dotcom billionaires, and rock stars... all rub shoulders" all over the world. That's all fine and good. Problem is, the settings are in cities like Venice - where presumably, "The Club" would have to pay off the throngs of tourists to steer clear of the entire urban district where they shoot each other all afternoon. Suspension of disbelief... suspension.
Okay, now we reach the fun bit: gameplay. You take your pick of 8 token players. I chose the token Jet Li-esque Asian Guy, and I'm off to the races. Literally. 3 of the 5 game modes throw you to the stop-watch wolves before you know how to control your character properly.
Therein lies the real issue I have with The Club. This game, supposedly, rewards me for being fast and efficient and with quick-kill combos you can rack up a huge amount of points. But the level designs are so cramped and dark (especially on the ship) that you'll rack up two blazing head shots only to have your Kill Bar run out unceremoniously while you dork around in a hallway wondering where the hell you're supposed to go next.
Thankfully, the other 2 games modes ("Siege" and "Survivor") border on fun. You simply fight off endless waves of enemies for a set amount of time or you are limited to certain areas where you won't explode in 5 seconds (it's more fun than it sounds like, believe me).
These modes open an opportunity to collect "Skullshots" - the game's marginally enjoyable collection quest - which are a lot like finding cog tags in Gears of War, except that you have to shoot them. It takes a sharp eye, but you can find two types of skull emblems in random, sometimes hidden, parts of each level to shoot for bonus points or just the pride of having found them all.
All things in summation, The Club leaves you feeling it could be something more. If it skipped the contrived premise and gave you a more thorough introduction to the controls, it could be like a free-wheeling version of Time Crisis or maybe a more confined Crackdown. But as it is, it's just another annoying third-person shooter on a system (no offense to the 360) maddeningly fraught with bad shooting games.
Score: 2/5. Skip it. Unless you absolutely need another shooter that isn't Halo.
What say you?!