The Club mixes the best elements from action shooters with arcade accessibility, the pace of racing games and a story structure based on fighting games.  Players will choose from a selection of characters to fight in a shadowy underground blood-sport controlled by faceless, obscenely wealthy and influential elite - The Club.  Each character has their own reason for risking their life to ‘beat’ The Club.  Some are driven by greed, some are driven by a higher purpose, and some are driven by pure insane bloodlust.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

DRAGOV (The Beast):

Heavily-tattooed, mountainously-built, a Siberian hunter, a trapper and a bandit, Dragov is unarguably the most wanted criminal in Russian history.  Originally, it took three platoons of Spetsnaz Special Forces to capture him, but they couldn’t keep him captive for long and he broke free, slaughtering his way out of Russia’s most secretive and brutal gulag prison, fleeing on foot across hundreds of miles of frozen tundra wilderness.

Military helicopters were sent in hot pursuit, snipers aboard given strict orders to shoot to kill.  But someone somewhere had heard of Dragov’s brutal and daring escape and decided he would be worth a lot more alive than dead.  A swift phone call was made directly to the powers that be at the Kremlin and almost immediately the helicopter snipers were ordered not to kill Dragov, but to bring him in alive.

  Swapping their bullets for tranquiliser darts, they tracked Dragov down and fired shot after shot into the fugitive figure.  Finally, with a terrifying bellow of rage, Dragov collapsed and spiralled into unconsciousness.  Upon awaking he would discover that he had become the newest recruit to The Club, with freedom promised for surviving the deadly contest.

The Club mixes the best elements from action shooters with arcade accessibility, the pace of racing games and a story structure based on fighting games.  Players will choose from a selection of characters to fight in a shadowy underground blood-sport controlled by faceless, obscenely wealthy and influential elite - The Club.  Each character has their own reason for risking their life to ‘beat’ The Club.  Some are driven by greed, some are driven by a higher purpose, and some are driven by pure insane bloodlust.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

RENWICK
A tough, no nonsense, NYPD Detective of more than 30 years standing and one of the most decorated cops on the force.  Renwick first picked up rumours of The Club - some kind of freak-circuit, underground snuff show entertainment - from his contacts in the New York underworld.  Intrigued and sickened by what he was hearing, he tried to investigate further, but found all his official lines of inquiry blocked by NYPD bureaucratic intransigence.  The harder he pushed the more resistance he encountered.  The Club must have powerful allies within the Mayor’s office or the NYPD, because not only was Renwick taken off the case, but, when he tried to go to the press with his suspicions, convincing but trumped-up allegations of bribe-taking were suddenly brought against him.

Forced to resign to avoid a scandal and possible criminal charges, Renwick continued his investigation unofficially, using his own time and money to try and break the veil of secrecy surrounding The Club.  He must have got closer than he knew, or finally irritated The Club enough to make them do something about him, because what he thought was a new lead turned out to be an ambush, with The Club enforcers waiting for him.  The Club’s money men were obviously unimpressed with Renwick’s persistence.

As its new star attraction, Renwick’s own survival instincts will carry him through the tournament, with him hating himself every time he has to pull the trigger, but there’s a greater motivation driving him on.  If he gets to the end, then he might get a shot at bringing some justice to the sick freaks behind The Club. 

The Club mixes the best elements from action shooters with instant accessibility and is the most innovative shooter seen on the next generation of consoles and PCs.  Featuring the relentless pace and attention to detail of racing games, with a story structure based on fighting games, players will choose from eight gladiatorial misfit characters to fight in a shadowy underground blood-sport known simply as The Club.   Controlled by faceless, obscenely wealthy and an influential elite, each character has their own reason for risking their life to ‘beat’ The Club.  Some are driven by greed, some are adrenaline junkies, and some are driven by pure insane bloodlust.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

KURO
Kuro can best be described as the Ferrari F50gt of The Club.  Nimble on his feet and quick with his aim, he will be the choice of skilled and well-practiced players.  Kuro’s intriguing reasons for participating in The Club generously scatter enough crumbs to entice players in to complete his story.

To members of The Club, Kuro is a notorious international assassin and terrorist. Thought of as the modern day Carlos the Jackal, he was captured by The Club, using their extensive contacts in the criminal underworld and global law enforcement organisations.  If it hadn’t been The Club it was only a matter of time before an international law enforcement agency caught up with Kuro. Nonetheless, Kuro is now in the game of his life with The Club offering him a chance of freedom; survive the gauntlet put in front of him, and they’ll set him up with a new face and identity anywhere in the world.  A tempting offer given the power, money and influence The Club holds around the world.

However, Kuro isn’t strictly who The Club thinks he is he’s actually a deep cover operative for the very same international law enforcement organisations that are supposed to be hunting him.  The real Kuro was secretly killed in a shoot-out with Interpol agents over a year ago.  There are those within the organisations hunting him who have known about The Club, but have been powerless to do anything about it.  Kuro’s death provided them with the perfect opportunity they were looking for.Working in the deepest secrecy - they knew there were those in their own ranks in the pay of The Club - their best operative was given a dead man’s face and identity and sent out into the field for The Club to take.  Now the bait’s been taken, and the operative’s orders are to do whatever it takes to make it to the end of the tournament. The longer he stays alive, the more time they’ve got to track the source of the tournament’s heavily-encrypted live broadcasts, trace the movements of the large sums being wagered and identify the bank accounts involved etc.  If their man performs as hoped, they could wrap up The Club for good.

Or so they think.

Bizarre have just released their latest site update, which includes yet more interesting stuff about The Club.

The lads also go into some more detail about a brand-spanking new update to their site and all the additional information they’ve released for The Club. So, if you want to know more about what’s happening in the bizarre world of, er, Bizarre, then head on over.

A new 360 screen was also released with the studio update, just to show you how good the game is looking now on the platform. As you can see, The Club continues to hot up and we must say we’ve all now had a little go on it. It really is a HELL of a lot of fun. Bring it.

Entering game-music composer Richard Jacques’ home studio is akin to entering a space station that happens to have its own sound track. The amount of buttons, knobs, sliders and any number of other complicated looking equipment that adorns the studio is quite mind-boggling.

I had been invited to join Richard in his studio to witness him putting the final touches to the soundtrack for The Club. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, not only to get away from my desk but also to meet a living SEGA legend.

Richard slides around on his exec chair with the ease of a man who not only knows what he is doing, but is also very good at doing it. I am thankful for this as I have no idea what is going on.

The first track to go under scrutiny is one of the most complicated. Layers of bass, beats and percussion come together to create a heart stopping track. The game itself is hooked up to the sound system and Matthias, Bizarre Creations sound engineer, plays through a level with the music in full swing. The synergy between the level and the music is plain to see.

The track is intense and relentless. I can best describe it as the love child of the Blade and  Matrix trilogy sound tracks. The fact that all three of us are sitting here rhythmically nodding our heads in appreciation of the beat tells me it wouldn’t be out of place in a top London club.

Richard and Matthias listen intently, like they’re trying to hear a pin drop during the rush hour at Victoria Station. The skills involved in achieving this are quite impressive to watch. Listening for every sound in the mix and tweaking them to within an inch of their lives.

I like my music as much as the next man, but this attention to the fluidity and detail of a track is both impressive and slightly intimidating. It truly does give you a new level of appreciation for the work that goes into a game sound track.

Once all the slight changes had been meticulously recorded, Rich hits the play button (I know this button at least) and it all makes sense. My opinion now is that all games should be played through studio speakers, by law. The sound is amazing and the layers in the music you can hear simply can’t be picked up by simple TV speakers. 5.1 surround sound? Yes please!

I spent most of the morning in the studio. All I can say is I didn’t want to go back to the office one little bit. I now want to sit in that studio all day mixing and remixing until I have created the perfect track. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some beats to break.