Though shallow, The Club is an old-school shooter which is sure to please many fans of the genre.
The lack of a story is disappointing but this third-person-shooter certainly makes up for it with totally fresh gameplay. Again, it's nothing innovative by any means but it's just flat out fun. There are eight characters in the game to choose from, all very distinct from each other. There are the strong types (strength) who can deal heavy damage, the durables (stamina) who can take a beating, and the speedsters (speed) who can sprint across the map with ease, and of course a few guys in between. The shooting mechanic in the game is simple but also surprisingly fun. It has a pretty good feel despite the fact that the game lacks a cover system. This is your classic shoot 'em up arcade style game.
I've only played around on a few games in the multiplayer but it is pretty darn good. The maps are generally small but I'm guessing that was sort of the intention as even with only a handful of people there is nonstop action. There are no 'perks' in The Club, rather, it is your traditional pick-up-and-play game. You start your character out with a pistol and find different weapons around the map or kill someone and take theirs. It would've been nice if there was something like a leveling system since the game clearly was built around the multiplayer much like Shadowrun.
The graphics are nothing great but it definitely looks next-gen. There are no fancy shadow or bloom effect but the game itself looks decent and the character models are done quite nice; you can tell that each of the 8 characters in the game all have a distinct and interesting personality and background. For its run-and-gun style gameplay, the frame rate has been able to hold up pretty well. The rare performance hiccups seem to come during the survival mode where waves of enemies come at you. The level designs, again, are quite small and considering the campaign of the game only has a handful of levels, it can feel quite monotonous.
The Club is a game that won't break any barriers; it is a game that knows what it is and, for the most part, does its job well. Once you hop in the game you will probably have a pretty good time, especially if you have some people to play with as the game's strength clearly lies in its multiplayer. The killing is fun, the pacing is excellent, and the ability to play split-screen with up to four different people on the same console is a great feature. The Club, however, is quite a shallow game. It seems like something you would have a blast with for perhaps a week or two and then never touch again. Thus, it's probably worth checking out but only as a rental first. If you're a fan of classic arcade style run-and-gun gameplay with a good deal of emphasis on multiplayer, The Club is definitely worth checking out.