Forget any preconceptions you might have about Bizarre Creations' The Club. It's not the third-person shooter you probably think it is. What it is though, as SEGA likes to put it, is "Gladiators with guns". Or, if you like your comparisons a little more cinematic, it's Fight Club meets The Hostel. Or Running Man meets… well, you get the picture.

Plot-wise, the titular club refers to a secretive, highly exclusive organisation catering specifically to the world's fabulously wealthy, marginally-unhinged elite. Offering the chance to partake in the world's deadliest game - whether by choice or by force - The Club provides both arenas and outlets to satiate bloodlust with an impressive arsenal and plenty of cannon fodder. To this end, The Club appropriates numerous locations around the world, perfect to fierce, uninterrupted gunplay. Bizarre's game features eight of these arenas in total, all in states of abandonment and disrepair - ranging from underground bunkers, factories and war-torn cities to English mansions and ocean liners.

Embroiled in the shady dealing of the The Club, for gameplay purposes at least, are eight unique individuals. Whether it's no-nonsense NYPD cop Renwick, sucked into the organisation's violent endeavours during an investigation, or Siberian hunter Dragonov, each character is fully playable and features their own story arc as the game progresses. While plenty of mystery still surrounds the final line-up, Bizarre is keen to point out the work that's gone into creating fully-rounded protagonists for the game. As with any fighter, characters all sport unique attributes - both skill and personality-wise - the goal being to create individuals deliberately designed to polarise opinion. Let's be honest, if Bizarre manages to make you actively hate one of its leads, blowing their insides out the back of their head is going to be infinitely more satisfying.

In fact, keeping satisfaction levels ramped right up is clearly one of Bizarre's primary objectives with The Club. Taking inspiration from its biggest, best-loved franchise, Project Gotham Racing, Bizarre has taken key elements from that genre and transplanted them straight into the heart of a third-person shooter. As with PGR, the focus isn't just on finishing - it's on finishing well, then going back and doing the whole thing again and better. It's telling that the development team refers to certain enemies as 'corners' - it's all well and good knowing that they're coming up, but the real skill is knowing how to tackle them most efficiently.

You see, integral to The Club's somewhat unique approach is its points and combo system. Progress through levels initially requires reaching a target score by the time you reach the exit - usually though, this is trifling compared to the scores that can be achieved with practice. Points are awarded for a huge variety of offensive approaches. For instance, while headshots might rack up a few points, hit a moving target from behind cover straight out of a forward roll using your last bullet and the rewards are huge. Factor in the combo multiplier, which increases with every enemy kill, provided it's within the time limit, and score-bettering replayability is astronomical.