Impressions: The Club
Bizarre Creations’ perspective on the action genre made The Club an intriguing inclusion on the release schedules. They lack the genre-experience for this game to be conventionally interesting; it’s a new type of product from a developer known for racing and two-dimensional retro.
Yet between Project Gotham Racing’s time-attack, perfect-run appeal and Geometry Wars’ relentless assaults, there seems to be great potential. This tour of The Club suggests positively about Bizarre’s success in realising that potential.
You play a talented killer inducted into a sick voyeurs’ service: the world’s financial elite pay to see you, the gladiator, murder in the “best” way possible. It’s a third-person rampage; the action genre stripped down to an endearing purity.
The spectators are aloof, but you have your own cheerleaders: score and multiplier. Kill, and keep killing, to live in the Club. Finish an enemy and you receive a few points. Do it again and you’re multiplier grows. If you get a long chain then you can achieve the score target –something strongly familiar, so strongly Bizarre.
Style is at the heart of this secretive Club. As the introduction runs, you are treated to glamorous, chic shots of the “stars”, with the ambiguous Secretary commanding you from his high-class office. In a natural extension, then, stylish behaviour is promoted. Here, that means shooting for the head, breaking open doors, and demonstrating marksmanship with long-distance kills. A booming commentary on your action, with the visual recoil, brings a smile. Such detail can’t bring a deeper experience, though; it can only heighten the fast-paced reward of the game.
It’s impossible to tell now if the game will be a fleeting pleasure. The developer’s greatest games have a veil of simplicity covering a wealth of tactical deviations that lead to a long-term relationship. Here, with this limited scope, such depth of gameplay is only demonstrated as a possibility, rather then an actuality.
Bizarre is playing to their strengths. It’s the same system that requires the player to become hooked into a cycle of self-improvement. By now you should know how this suits you, and you’ll already know if The Club is right for you.
Note: This analysis is based upon the demo version of The Club, as released on Xbox Live, which, while likely having a resemblance, does not fully represent the final product.
