Bizarre Creations is famous for two games: Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars, both of which have the power to induce headaches with fast-paced gameplay. When Bizarre Creations announced Blur, we didn’t really know what to think or the game, because it sounded like an extension or sequel to Project Gotham Racing 4, but it looks like Blur will focus more on street racing than circuit racing.

Good for Bizarre for not straying from the formula. The PGR series is really fun, and I have a feeling they could strike another hit with Blur. The trailer doesn’t show much (if any, really) gameplay, but it definitely leaves a lot to be desired- literally. I want to know more about this game, but until Bizarre and Activision open up, all we have is the trailer and some screen shots you can see after the jump.

As if you didn’t have enough games backtracked to carry you into the New Year, today, at an event hosted by Massive Inc., Activision announced a shitload of new games, though they’re mostly sequels to old titles. Hit the jump for the full details.

As expected, Activision announced yet another game for the Guitar Hero franchise. Whoo. If you haven’t been keeping track, that’s the 9th announced Guitar Hero game from Activision. I mean, jeez, Harmonix only made three in the two years they had the series, and as of Q1 2010 (that’s two and a half years in Activision’s hands) the game will have twelve sequels & spin-offs. The franchise is going to die faster than [some 80's rap star]’s career. Thank you, I’ll be here all night.

Surprisngly, Activision also announced a new Tony Hawk game — one that won’t use the controller and will probably use the rumored skateboard peripheral, along with a new Call of Duty game planned as a sequel to Modern Warfare. The last of Activision’s announcements included a new Bond game, probably based off of the 23rd Bond film in 2010, and an original racing game from Bizarre Creations, which they’ve described as ‘Mario Kart meets Forza.” If it allows me to shoot a blue shell from a Maserati, I’m all for it.

Source: MTV Multiplayer

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.