The CLUB

A non-dimensional bulletfest. Worth: $20
based on 360 demo

Run as fast as you can, you won't find much of a point here.

If you really liked Black, you'll like this game. There's no story (those are for wimps!), there's no allies (also for wimps!), and there's no personal motivation (wimps!). You just run around shooting guys.

The game handles very smoothly, it looks great, sounds great, and the camera is well done. But there's only one way to play: full speed ahead. To get the big points you'll need to memorize the level so you can sprint through it, killing every single person as you go. While it makes sense to play a racer for points, it feels weird with a shooter. Racing has always been something I'd do for the sake of racing. Having a shooter be "for the sake of shooting" feels a little... lame. Racers don't need stories, but shooters do. This game seems unfinished, like the developers and artists came up with all the physics and graphics, but they totally forgot to hire writers.

I understand that the developer is trying to mash-up racer game conceits with shooter everything else, but it just doesn't work. The closest example I have of something like this that did work is Carmageddon where you're a psychotically violent (like shooters) guy driving a car (like racers). In The Club you're a psychotically violent guy running a foot race.

Arth had a blast with this game, and I'm sure he would give it a much higher rating because he plays shooters at full speed anyway. If you're like Arth, this game could be worth as much as $40. If you're more like me and like to have _some_ reason for shooting things, it's more like $20.