"Great Shot!"

Our December-published preview for The Club made one thing clear: this was a game unlike any other shooter out there. And after a visit to Sega HQ to play The Club, a lengthy chat with two of Bizarre Creations' best, and time with the final version, it's clear that The Club is a highly original, heads-down, adrenaline-pumping Project Gotham Racing-style take on the third-person blaster.

It's also a bit Marmite, with gamers divided on The Club. A lot don't appear to 'get' The Club – its linear, high-score-based,time-attacking, run-and-gun nature – while some others simply seem put off by the idea of a shooter which doesn't feature an epic story, massive missions, vehicle combat or diverse gameplay challenges a la CoD or Halo. Their loss.

Compared to said shooters, The Club is much more focused on a single type of gameplay; namely, legging it around, killing as many identikit bad guys as accurately and consistently as you can in order to get the best time and/or score.

That's not to say The Club is one-dimensional, however. It's actually a lot like Bizarre's other big title, PGR. Where 'Gotham gave gamers varied vehicles, tight controls, kudos bonuses and courses set in fenced-off city streets, The Club presents eight characters, each with their own backstories and gameplay pros and cons, diverse firepower, and eight painstakingly detailed levels chopped up into over a handful of routes ideal for The Club's five different modes.

The Club's modes are deviously addicting. Whether you're sprinting to the exit in a race against the clock or gunning down foes with precision, running laps, picking up timer bonuses and picking off foes, defending a base area from waves of gun-toting bad guys or simply darting to avoid bullets in a spot of human target practice, there's enough different five-minute blasts in The Club to keep you coming back many times over.

A competitive crowd puller

Whatever the mode, the central conceit behind The Club boils down to the idea that running and gunning in specially designed levels with next-gen graphical bells and whistles is going to be a crowd puller – especially when you make it highly competitive.

Thus, the main incentive to play The Club lies not in narrative, nor in cinematic set pieces, but in repeated play; memorising levels, learning enemy, ammo, weapon and health placement, and chaining together kill after stylish kill by rolling, quick-turning and no-scoping your way to high-scoring combos with the maximum number of consecutive headshots and bonus target hits with the least shots spent.

Getting an amazing score in The Club is akin to racing that one perfect PGR lap where every powerslide, corner and overtaking manoeuvre falls magically into place. In that sense, The Club is really trigger-finger zen gaming for the FPS-fanatical twin-stick generation.

This makes The Club incredible fun with a group of mates. Indeed, The Club is the perfect post-pub pass-the-pad game. But taking it online offers a literal world of longevity as you scour the 600 leaderboards, or team up with friends to indulge in multiplayer adopting the singleplayer mode's core principles; emphasising skill and score over kills and raw deathmatch ability.

Add this to the Beat 'Em Up style attributes of its character roster – some insanely quick and puny, others huge and slow, but able to withstand more punishment – and you've a third-person shooter which plays a little like Gears of War, minus the cover system,and with more options to specialise in the way you want to approach the objective-based team modes.

The Club has its drawbacks. The backgrounds,while detailed, are a bit bland on the colour palette – all browns and greys; its gameplay can get a bit repetitive, it's oft frustrating as you go through the difficulties; and with no story to speak of it will appeal more to completists and hardcore shooter fans than casual players – but for those into that sort of thing The Club will be the HD revival of the score-attacking retro shooter they didn't even know they were missing.

GAME's Verdict

• A highly original, brilliantly designed hybrid of shooters, racers and Beat 'Em Ups in one addictive high-score based blaster that's unlike anything else you'll have played.
• Over 600 online leaderboards create a compelling reason to fine-tune your skills and return time and time again.
• Online modes, style-based scoring and a balanced character roster make The Club an inventive multiplayer offering.

• No story or mission structure; you'll be gunning for high scores here, meaning The Club won't appeal to some players.
• A little repetitive, sometimes frustrating.
• Blandly coloured backgrounds and samey art direction.

Review by: Mark 'Clubland' Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 22.02.08