Product Description

The Club, created by critically acclaimed developer Bizarre Creations, is a new breed of third-person shooter, combining fast-paced run and gun gameplay, destructive environments, and lethal weapons. You will fight to survive in a shadowy underground blood-sport controlled by a faceless, obscenely wealthy and influential elite who place their bets on who will survive as the blood-bath ensues before them. Take control of up to eight uniquely trained killers motivated by greed, driven by pure insane bloodlust, and hell bent on earning respect on a global level.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3174 in Video Games
• Brand: Sega Of America, Inc.
• Model: 68016
• Released on: 2008-02-20
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .25" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .20 pounds

Features

• Rise Through the Ranks of The Club. As one of eight fighters, blast your way through five single player game modes including: Sprint, Time Attack, Survivor, Siege, and Run the Gauntlet.
• Earn Respect Online. Shoot your way to the top of the leader boards in over nine cut-throat multiplayer modes. You will face-off with 15 real-time opponents online or battle with your friends offline in 4-player split-screen action modes.
• "The Club is Global. Battle in eight unique real-world locations from around the globe, including war-torn cities, abandoned factories, steel mills and many more.
• "Extreme Gun Battles in Hazardous Environments. A motion blur camera system intensifies the adrenaline rush in both open range and close quarter firefights. Destroy and manipulate objects in the environment to your advantage.
• "Build up the highest score. A unique score-based accumulation system creates even more competition among players; the faster, more efficient and accurate that you are, the more points you will earn to unlock weapons, characters and maps.

Customer Reviews

Want a mindless, fun diversion? Join "The Club"
Last year's bumper crop of shooters, such as "BioShock", "Halo 3" and "Call of Duty 4", were notable for coupling bone-jarring realism with finely crafted epic stories. "The Club" promises something a little different.

There's no saving humanity, no detailed world to explore, no need to bone up on military strategy or tactics. Instead, "The Club" boils down simply to this: how many people can you shoot, and how fast can you do it?

Sure, the game is thinly wrapped in a pulpy "Running Man"-style story casting you as one of eight characters, such as an extreme-sports thrill-seeker or a burly Russian hunter, drawn into an underground blood sport for the amusement of rich fans.

That's an excuse, if one was needed, for blasting your way through a variety of mostly industrial settings or fending off waves of attackers as you try to stay alive for a set period of time.

The twist in "The Club" is that you rack up points for each kill, and by stringing kills close together, you earn bonuses that multiply your points. Extra points are awarded for stylish moves like head shots, or breaking through a door and taking out opponents on the other side.

The graphics are decent but not spectacular given where we are in the Xbox 360's lifespan. Sound production is bordering on great, with the various weapons producing a variety of satisfyingly realistic blasts.

The best design element of the game is perhaps the control scheme, which is intuitive and simple, and is notable for the wonderful inclusion of a "quick spin" button that whirls you around 180 degrees in an instant. That's a useful trick when you are beset by foes on all sides, and hopefully will be something that makes its way into other games.

There are eight levels, eight characters with different attributes to choose from, a nice array of weapons, and good variety of game modes. I am guessing it will take an average player an hour to finish each level, though experienced players can probably whip through them in half that.

That's okay, though, because there's plenty of replay value as you'll want to rerun a level to see if you can beat your last score, or that of your buddy's. A "gunplay" mode lets you design your own challenges and play through them with friends. An online competitive mode should also provide extra play value, though I haven't tried that out yet.

The game was developed by UK-based Bizarre Creations, which lifted the core game element from its well-regarded "Project Gotham Racing" driving series that rewards stylish moves like power slides, drafting and catching air. Criterion Games did something similar with 2005's "Black", which wallowed in gun-enabled destruction the same way its popular "Burnout" racing series did with spectacular car crashes.

"Black" didn't revolutionize the genre but got generally positive reviews, a precedent that looks to be repeated for "The Club". It may not be in the same league as recent acclaimed shooters, but the fast-paced action and wide selection of solo and multiplayer challenges makes up for the shallow story.

Mindless, arcade fun while it lasts
Sega's The Club feels like an old-school, arcade shooter with a next-gen gloss, and it certainly is by any stretch of the imagination. You run and race through a closed course, taking down as many enemies as you can in the process in some trigger happy, flashy ways. Once you pop in The Club, you'll be hooked by its run and gun style of play, that proves to be insanely fun at first. However, you'll find that it doesn't take you too long to get through the game, and while there are five total modes of play in The Club, many of them are very similar to each other. No matter what mode of play you are in, you have the same objective: obliterate everything in sight. The only real replay value that The Club offers is if you want to beat your own score, which will be enough reason for some gamers to go back through the game, but others will play it and be done with it. Still though, The Club looks and sounds good enough, and provides some great fun for a while, but once you finish it, which won't take too long or be too difficult, there isn't really anything left. All in all, The Club is definitely worth a look for those craving an old school, run and gun action game, but there isn't enough here to hold your interest for long.

Brilliant!
Superb Arcade Shooter!

Fans of Sega unite, and support them. We need more arcade games.

I have had a blast with this game. I cannot recommend it enough. I like shooters, but have difficulty aiming... HOWEVER, The Club makes you feel like a wizard at aiming..... REALLY FUN!

Plus, don't forget about Gamerscore Achievements. They are present as well.

GO SEGA!

Ps fans need to unite and support SEGA. They are a treasure, and deserve our support and devotion.