When most designers are falling all over themselves to create the next epic adventure with sweeping cinematic cut scenes and complicated storylines, The Club strips the shooter back to basics. Yes the visuals are ramped up to fit the modern HD obsessed era, but the gameplay is strictly arcade-like in approach. At a time where shooters are now the staple diet for gamers and the third person viewpoint catching up as de-rigueur, The Club’s arcade stylings are certainly refreshing.

With that ethos in mind, quite intentionally there isn’t much of a plot. The Club of the title is a clandestine and influential organisation that uses people as sport. Criminals, thrill seekers or just plain tough nuts are press-ganged or invited in and while all have different reasons for being there, their basic goal is the same - survival.

Using this as the basis, for eight levels and in third person, the player takes control of one of six characters (two are unlockable), each with different strength, stamina and overall speed. Regardless of selection there doesn’t actually feel like there’s that much difference between them, partly due to the controls which can feel a little sluggish until you settle in to them. While such things can be a game breaker, here it certainly isn’t to the point where someone couldn’t just pick up and play. Once over the peak of this initial learning curve the player will quickly find that they are able to pull things together in a fluid and speedy manner which helps them tackle the main thrust of the game.

From locations such as a prison, warehouse, cruise liner and even a devastated war zone, stages are divided in to sub levels and different game types. The core mechanic at the centre of each mode is always score, speed and accuracy, requiring the player to shoot their way through a host of heavily armed enemies. Developed by Bizarre Creations, the team responsible for the Project Gotham Racing (PGR) series, in many respects The Club follows the same basic principals in the way it has been set up, substituting four wheels for two legs and machine gun. Underpinning most of this is the game's replacement for PGR’s Kudos system, here called the Combo Meter. This meter increases the more enemies are killed, which in turn multiplies your score. Stop killing and the combo chain quickly starts to bleed out, decreasing and then disappearing altogether if left long enough. Bonuses are also awarded for style including chaining together headshot kills, shooting enemies that are hiding behind objects by penetrating through them, ricocheting bullets off steel panels, or hitting enemies at distance. There are also Skill Shot signs scattered around each level which boost the player’s combo meter. Hitting these will be essential if the player wants to max out the meter.

This means the emphasis is on being quick and skilled enough to keep the momentum going from start to finish, plugging as many enemies as possible whilst dashing around the map and making split second decisions like whether to slow up to take aim for the Skill Shot sign on a far wall or take down a bunch of enemies at close range. Under assault and against the clock it’s a true test of skill to be able to rack up the points and requiring not only fast and steady aiming but familiarity with the map to be able to rack up the extreme scores. This is where The Club’s design manages to strip things back to the core idea of latter day gaming, giving the impression that everything from enemies to weapons and skill shots has been meticulously placed with purpose and reason and scoring possibility in mind. With the inclusion of online leader boards there’s real incentive to keep trying to better your time and score by replay with an immense sense of satisfaction from setting a personal best or just pushing your score a notch up the leader board.

Just as PGR’s races weren’t all centrally focused on Kudos alone, The Club contains the same degree of variation. Some levels require the player to survive being killed for a set period of time whilst staying within the boundary of an area – step outside this for more than five seconds and micro-explosives implanted in the character are detonated, ending the game. The sadistic twist comes from extra ammo and health packs usually being placed just outside the boundary, so as well as trying to contend with the onslaught of enemies, the player has to make very quick trips over the lines and back again. Other levels require you to complete laps of the stage as quickly as possible whilst still racking up points from kills and others still require you to race from point to point to extend the time limit. All these modes mean there’s a little diversity even if the basic run and shoot idea remains the same.

Multiplayer is included for teams of up to eight players. Modes include Death Match and Capture the Flag as well as Hunter mode, a deadly form of hide and seek where the last player to earn a kill is awarded points for as long as they remain alive. Solid enough, the online may act as a pleasant side dish for those who want to take a break from the speed / score runs of the main game but it isn’t anything that hasn’t been seen before and the bulk of the fun firmly rests with pushing against your own limits and the standards set on the leader boards.

This is ultimately where the mileage gained from The Club will vary and may fall short for some. Since the stages can all be completed rather quickly on anything other than the highest difficulty, the appeal will very much depend on how far the player is fixated on score betterment, to hold their interest. For those who love score attack systems and shooting things then membership of The Club is certainly recommended.