Shoot first and ask questions later--that's the philosophy behind The Club and its unabashedly violent gunplay. At its most basic, the game tasks you with running through levels, guns blazing with a mind for racking up as many kills as possible. Forget taking cover or ducking to avoid enemy gunfire, just load up and ammo and start shooting. Score a head shot or follow up a somersault with a spot-on kill or some other tricky kill and you earn more points. String consecutive kills together to increase your combo multiplier; however, fail to get another kill before the timer runs out and the multiplier bleeds out, quickly counting back down to nothing. Naturally you want to keep your combo as high as possible, which means you need to mount an impressive kill count. Helping along the way are hidden destructible signs called skull shots that refresh your combo, effectively giving you a couple extra seconds to find that next kill.
All of this comes together for a straightforward run-and-gun gameplay that's deceptively simple, yet packed with variety and challenge. The focus lies completely on executing enemies in the most stylish of ways. You never have to concern yourself with cover and you don't even need to really to worry about finding guns and ammunition. Any weapons you come across automatically get chucked into your inventory. The Club does away with so many now-common gameplay mechanics like cover and weapons management with the express intent of cultivating an arcade feel – and it's a wicked bit of fun.
Eight playable characters, each differing in speed, stamina, and strength, will be available in the final game. Each character also possesses a unique history and motivation for participating in the Club's deadly game. Take former NYPD officer Renwick, for example, who maintains a balance between speed and strength. Like most of his competitors, his ultimate goal is to win the tournament in order to disband it permanently. Renwick differs significantly from Nemo, a slow-moving powerhouse hoping to dominate the tournament out of a sick fascination with pain and death. Some of the other figures include a strung out gambler, extreme sports thrill-seeker, vodka-drinking Siberian giant, and speedy Asian assassin.
While all eight can hold their own in the tournament, you'll find each best suited to particular events. The main single player tournament mode features eight environments--a steel mill, the canals of Venice, prison cells, an ocean liner, a deserted warehouse, a manor house, a nuclear bunker, and random war zone. Each location is comprised of around seven levels which are tied to a specific event. Tackling a sprint level in the prison cells, for instance, showcases a totally different area than the time attack level in the same location. The Club promises more than enough variety across a total of 49 levels divided among the game's eight locales.
We noted four events, although there will be more in the game: Sprint, Time Attack, Run the Gauntlet, and Siege. Sprints charge you with running through the stage as quickly as possible, while at the same time meeting a baseline score. Time Attack also emphasizes speed and demands you achieve a high score, but instead of a linear course you fight through a circular level for three laps. Speedy characters like Kuro the Assassin and Finn the Gambler are perfect for these events. Beefier dudes, such as the hulking Dragov and African Adjo, have an easier go in Run the Gauntlet and Siege modes. Instead of speed, these events tax stamina as you aim for high scores and survive an onslaught of enemy attacks. Run the Gauntlet shares much with Sprint mode, although here you're given checkpoints that you must pass in order to continue. Miss a checkpoint and you lose the event.
Siege mode cordons off a small area that you must stay within as enemies flood in from all directions. Step outside the cones and explosive implanted in your character detonate, losing you the round. Obviously, the best strategy for survival involves killing enemies as quickly and efficiently as possible while remaining in the designated area. The game allows you to select from three difficulty levels--casual, reckless, and insane, with real mode unlock after completing insane--and at the higher designations Siege becomes one hell of a challenge. We watched Assistant Producer Omar Woodley run through a bullet-ridden villa in Venice on insane, successfully beating the event only after a few valiant attempts.
The Club's run-and-gun gameplay makes perfect sense for multiplayer, which supports both split-screen and online matches. A maximum of four players can compete in local games and up to eight online. A majority of the modes utilize teams, although a few like deathmatch leave everyone to their own devices. Of all the available modes, a couple of them stand out as particularly creative. Hunter, Hunted plays out like a deadly game of tag where one player is tagged as the prey. Points are awarded for every second the prey evades being hunted; however, staying alive is tough work when you've got an entire squad of opponents hunting you down. Whoever manages to kill the prey then takes on that role and the game continues until time runs out. Another mode, Team Skull Shot, splits players into two teams as they scurry to find hidden skull shots before their rivals. You certainly can search out skull shots in an effort to beat the other team, although a good strategy is to simply pop some of them off to prevent them from finding their skull shots.
