Developed by Bizarre Creations of Project Gotham Racing fame, and published by Sega in 2008, The Club is an arcade style third-person shooter with little story but plenty of replayability. The Club is the kind of AAA game that doesn’t get made and sold for full price anymore; the era of the Xbox 360 and PS3 was the last bastion for the physical game you rented with friends, staying up late & passing the controller back and forth or trading back to a GameStop for something new. Obviously these genres of game still exist; plenty of co-op or competitive shooters get their moment in the sun in online gaming, but I am nostalgic for the time when bigger game companies would invest in games that weren’t infinite live-service or gigantic open-world narrative stories.

The titular Club is an underground deathmatch held in dilapidated warehouses, prisons and bunkers throughout the world and you play as one of many killers recruited or kidnapped to battle to the death for the rich elite’s sick pleasure. I played through the complete Tournament mode with one character, NYPD detective Renwick. Each map involves different objectives like Run the Gauntlet, Time Attack and you compete for high scores by killing your enemies and keeping your combo alive with headshots, multiple kill explosions, ricochets, trick shots and more. Finishing the end of the tournament with a character unlocks a quick cutscene ending for that character, Twisted Metal-style. I think the game could have used a little bit more flair, such as quips from each character during the gameplay to add some extra personality.

The shooting itself is tight, fast-paced and very fun. I had a great time firing off headshots for a whole afternoon. I do wish the game had a couple extra components like flashier weapons or possibly some power-ups and pick-ups to keep it fresh. I can definitely picture my friends and I enjoying this game for a couple months in middle school as we exhausted the modes and unlocked each ending.

Game Design: 3/5 Vibes & World: 3/5 Fun to Play: 4/5

Bonus Points:

• Twisted Metal-style endings for each character
• Plenty of maps and modes
• Unlockable characters. Bring them back!

Current ranking of all Xbox 360 games:

• #1 – Singularity
• #2 – Kameo: Elements of Power
• #3 – The Club
• #4 – Too Human