REVIEW: The Club

Developer: Bizzare | Publisher: SEGA | Format: PS3

Reviewer: Craig J Gallagher From the makers of Project Gotham Racing comes one of the most stylish, action packed third person shooters in a long time.  

The basic premise is simple, you play as a competitor in an international game where you must either kill or be killed. Up against a number of other competitors you have to score points, by stringing together a number of kills to create big combos in order to rise up the leader board.

Selecting from one of the initial six playable characters (2 more can be unlocked), sets events in motion. Each of the character has different strengths and weaknesses, some are quicker than others while some have a higher tolerance for absorbing bullets. When selecting a character it's important to remember that certain characters are more suited to game types and locations, meaning that one of the most basic of gaming elements is a strategy in its self.

There are five game types on offer in the single player mode. The first is sprint, in which you must get from A to B in one piece, all the time racking up a slew of combos to score big. Siege finds you battling against a horde of enemies, while the other modes include Time Attack, in which you race against the clock, Survivor which is basically Siege mode with a countdown and finally Run the gauntlet where you must reach the exit before your time runs out. Disobey the rules, stray a designated area or fail to finish before the time and you head explodes thanks to an explosive chip implanted in your neck, ala Battle Royale.

The real fun comes when you make the leap into the online realm. You Can play up to 8 players, which is double the capacity of offline multiplayer. Alongside the offline modes there are three additions to the game modes. Theses are Score Match, Kill Match and Hunter/Hunted. There are also team based versions of all the offline modes and one other mode, Team Fox hunt which is by far the most entertaining. In Fox Hunt you have to hunt and kill the opposing teams "fox".

There's nothing to criticise, well barring the lack of a story in the single player mode. Sure it's a small niggling irritation, but the inclusion of a half decent story would have been nice. That said what's here is more than enough to compensate.The Club is to PS3 online gamers what Counter Strike is to PC gamers.

Like crack, The Club is highly addictive and a lot of fun, minus of course that horrible come down.  In a market festering with mediocre shooters The Club is a true gem and an essential purchase.