Fight Club E3 2004 Hands-On

Though we got quite a few details beforehand on VU Games' upcoming fighting game based on David Fincher's Chuck Palahniuk film adaptation Fight Club at VU's pre-E3 press event, we didn't actually get to play the game--until now. Fight Club is fully playable at VU Games' booth, and we took the opportunity to get to the nitty-gritty of how this fighter works.

The E3 demo is essentially the same demo we saw previously, featuring only Jack the narrator and Tyler Durden fighting outside and inside Lou's Bar. Previously, we reported that the fighting controls would essentially be assigned to each arm and leg of your fighter--this is partially correct. While each limb is assigned, each main control pad button also represents a specific type of move, including strong punch, jab, weak kick, and strong kick. Fight Club isn't really based on crazy special moves or wacky characters, so the fighting is pretty basic. Simply tapping any of the attack buttons produces a single hit, and by pressing attacks in set orders, you'll perform unique combination attacks.

Grabs and throws are performed by pressing two buttons together, and when it comes time for one of the game's bone-breaking special moves, an icon will appear underneath the nearly depleted life meter of your opponent. By performing a grapple move at this point, you'll go into a bit of a cutscene where your fighter will simply annihilate one of your opponent's limbs. The only one that seemed to be working correctly at the booth was a straight punch to the underside of an opponent's elbow, snapping it into a 90-degree angle that an arm shouldn't be able to make--at least, not comfortably. There were more of these that we saw a couple of weeks back, such as a UFC-style armlock that produces a similar style of bone breakage to the one seen today, so there should be a nice variety of bone-snapping moves for your morbid enjoyment.

In terms of defensive movement, most of your defensive moves are actually related to the game's player control stick. Tapping the control stick in various directions will cause your character to bob and weave pretty realistically, and by pressing the right and left trigger buttons, you can perform dodge and block moves. The defensive portion of the game is actually quite important, since leaving yourself unblocked leaves you open to a lot of lengthy combos, and your recovery time isn't always as quick as you might like. Additionally, fighters move pretty methodically when moving around the fight arena, so you can't just flee if you're getting pummeled.

Though Fight Club isn't the most complex fighter we've ever seen, it seems to provide some nicely realistic fighting in the same vein as the film. If the game's reported story mode and online play turn out well, this game could prove to be a very welcome surprise. We'll have more on Fight Club as it becomes available.