As much as reviewers
regularly decry the lack of ingenuity in modern gaming (and
particularly within the shooter genre), every now and then it's nice to
have our words smacked firmly into place, and that's clearly the chief
goal of Bizarre Creations latest PS3 title, The Club. Following on from
a stellar track record of racing and arcade releases, you'd be forgiven
for thinking that the British studio's first attempt at an action game
could have gone horribly wrong; fortunately for us, that couldn't be
further from reality, and The Club has positioned itself as one of the
most uniquely refreshing takes on the genre in recent memory.
If
the widely available PS3 demo didn't spell out the formula clearly
enough (and that has been a somewhat valid criticism), perhaps the
following gameplay recipe might shed a little light. In order to make
The Club, you need to take one part Gears of War, add in a dash of
Street Fighter, blend with a good dose of Geometry Wars, and sprinkle
liberally with PGR. Bake for around 2-3 minutes per batch, and it'll
all come together surprisingly well.
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Character design is fairly standard
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The environments are a mixture of urban decay
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As a plotline, the titular 'Club' exists as a sort of deadly
millionaires playground. The worlds best gunfighters have been invited
to navigate their way through several urban arenas filled with cannon
fodder foes, in the hopes of making it out alive and traversing the
obstacles with as much finesse and skill as possible. This is a game in
which score multipliers grow with every headshot, and killing isn't
simply a means to an end, it's all about the speed and the manner of
death in which you deal.
At the outset of the single-player
campaign, players are asked to choose from one of six available
characters (out of a total of eight including unlocks), each with their
own strengths and weaknesses across categories such as speed, strength
and stamina. The structural similarities to the fighting game genre are
clearly evident; each protagonist has a very short introductory video,
and a suitably cheesy ending following on from victory across the eight
short tournaments. As if to prove a point, the in-game announcer even
shouts 'Fight!' at the beginning of each level, following a brief
charicature close-up of your chosen warrior.
Initially, events
are split into eight different tournaments, stretched across the same
number of themed environments. Each tournament consists of six
different events, with every one taking a matter of 2-3 minutes to
complete. The key aspect here is replayability, and the entire design
of the game is based around rewarding multiple playthroughs, tailoring
tactics to suit each different fighter. Again, exactly like a modern or
traditional fighter.
The basic action however (somewhat
bizarrely), could best be described as a third-person humanoid racing
game, with a control scheme that mimics Gears of War right down to the
sprint button. Every level represents a linear course, with enemies
popping up singularly or in groups, and in the same location on every
playthrough. A single enemy kill scores a set amount of points
depending on the range and body part aimed for, and also refreshes a
short, ever-decreasing 'kill bar' represented on the HUD. If you fail
to reach the next enemy before this runs down, the kill bar begins to
'bleed out', knocking points off your score multiplier as it drops. The
action then, turns into a frantic dash between groups of enemies, with
top scores coming from long-range kills, headshots, and other explosive
combinations.
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Weaponry is varied and fun to use
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Venice is rendered unusually subdued and colourless
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Each tournament usually contains a number of other events beside
the basic sprint however, with each one proving to be just as addictive
in practice. Siege mode is probably the most innovative here, with the
player asked to stand inside a fairly small chalk square for a set
period of time, facing off against waves of enemies coming from every
direction. Other modes include timed sprints to the exit gate, and
another in which the player is asked to complete laps around particular
sections, stretching the racing theme to its logical limit. It's
testament to the design team that all of these modes are suitably fun
to play, with every one of them playing up to the adrenalin-charged
action in a slightly different manner than the last, each enjoyable in
its own right.
Once the tournaments have been completed, each
individual event becomes available for freeplay on any of the four main
skill levels. This, conversely, is where the meat of the game lies. The
urge to replay each section and increase scores is the real draw here,
as you'll undoubtedly notice quicker paths through the environment with
each run-through, or a different place to hang back and snipe from a
distance. Competing with your own top score (and those of the online
community), quickly becomes excruciatingly addictive, and racking up a
string of four or five headshots then dashing to the next corner
becomes as satisfying as any score-based game I can think of.
Multiplayer
options are taken care of with full spit-screen and online play, and
bizarre's technical expertise and previous experience has led to a
robust and seemingly lag-free environment to play in. The standard and
basic deathmatch and team modes are all included, along with the
ability to play the siege mode online, with one team constantly
assaulting the other until a single frantic player is left alive.
Whilst the multiplayer component suffers from being a little slow-paced
compared to other shooters, and isn't likely to oust the genre
favourites any time soon, it is certainly well developed and a good
diversion for a few hours.
So, what of the problems then? Well,
as so often in cases like this, the art direction is certainly hit and
miss at best. Each of the characters generally falls into a broad
stereotype, and most are instantly forgettable (with a couple of
exceptions). The environments themselves are nicely modelled, with some
good destructible scenery and level design, but again nothing
particularly stands out as exceptional. Colours are bland and awash
with grey and faded hues, and you just get the feeling that we've seen
these environments before, and in some circumstances presented much
better by other games.
Also, whilst the shooting mechanics are
undoubtedly well developed at a distance, up close the combat tends to
fall apart fairly quickly, with the sole melee attack difficult to use
and unsatisfying in terms of connection. Compounding that, shooting
enemies or skill targets from point-blank range frequently fails to
register, and whilst this isn't a game-breaking flaw (it's rare to be
that close as it is), it certainly annoys to a noticeable level from
time to time.
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Explosions are plentiful and satisfying
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Enemy kills are clearly marked with a point and multiplayer total
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The biggest barrier to entry however lies
squarely with the design ethos. In making a purely competitive shooter,
Bizarre has undoubtedly alienated a large portion of the potential
audience, and those that don't enjoy score attack games will have seen
everything they need to see within the first two minutes of play. Of
course that isn't an inherent criticism of the game itself, as to
dilute the premise and structure would be to strip away the core of
everything that's right here. The Club is the very definition of a
Marmite game for that reason alone, and I would strongly recommend
spending time with the demo version before contemplating a purchase.
Overall
though, the fact that a large portion of the shooter audience will be
turned off by the core design doesn't alter the fact that Bizarre has
undoubtedly accomplished every goal set in the original remit. The Club
is an adrenaline-fuelled, addictive theme park ride with an all-day
free pass. The very best qualities of several genres have been put to
innovative and well implemented use here, and whilst I cant recommend
it to everybody, if you enjoy shooting games and get caught up in the
'just one more try' mentality of Geometry Wars and the like, it's
undoubtedly worth a look.
Top game moment: Racking up a huge multiplier with consecutive headshots, then dashing to the next encounter.
