# The first rule of 'Fight Club' SHOULD be "don't rent the game" \*shudder\* **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 16, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145 "2004-12-16T14:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/1 "2004-12-16T14:44:41Z")
Excuse me, Vivendi, please step into my office. Would you like a drink? Perhaps a breath mint, or a lozenge? No? Okay, now that you’re comfy…please allow me to ask you :smack: **What in the hell were you thinking?!** You created a game based on the movie Fight Club. The movie was about not selling out, staying true to oneself, and fighting against corporate greed…but you still did it. Okay, fine. Perhaps you had a novel approach to the game, and I was being too hard on you. Instead, the game turns out to be an extremely one-dimensional Tekken-style fighter, featuring characters from the movie. Featuring none of the real voices of any of the primary actors, and none of the flavor of the flick. No special moves. Nothing to differentiate it from the scores of lame fighters on the system. The best thing you have? Oh, yeah, the “broken limb” move. Guess you didn’t realize that Tao Feng did the same thing two years ago, and it sucked, too. And the controls on this thing? Blinded yaks have sharper control. A slightly-milder side-rant will be given to Hollywood Video, who charged me $6.38 to rent this monstrosity for 5 days. :rolleyes: Actually, perhaps that should be a rant on me, for taking a chance on this thing, but I’m willing to split the blame. Please, all those that witness this diatribe: **STAY AWAY FROM THIS GAME**. :mad: It’s perhaps the worst thing ever. And I don’t mean the worst **game** – it’s possibly the worst **thing** , slightly behind war and pestilence, but yet beating out famine and death. Maybe a 2-1/2 on the Four Horsemen scale. Gah. Need to scrub my eyes. Remove my thumbs. Something. **Anything.** **mumblemumblepieceofcraprantrantmumblerant** ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/2 "2004-12-16T15:07:06Z")
I’m guessing you didn’t check any of the reviews before making this purchase/rental? 3.7/10 on Gamespot 4.5/10 on IGN 2/5 Gamespy 3/10 XBN Magazine Overall - 43% based on 18 reviews [www.gamerankings.com](http://www.gamerankings.com) is your friend. Kind of like [rottentomatoes.com](http://rottentomatoes.com), except for movies. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/3 "2004-12-16T15:09:37Z")
> [@TommyTutone](#): > > [www.gamerankings.com](http://www.gamerankings.com) is your friend. Kind of like [rottentomatoes.com](http://rottentomatoes.com), except for movies. Wow. I’m weeping. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/4 "2004-12-16T15:24:51Z")
Yeah, Fight Club, despite its title, isn’t exactly great source material for a video game. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/5 "2004-12-16T15:29:38Z")
> [@TommyTutone](#): > > I’m guessing you didn’t check any of the reviews before making this purchase/rental? > > 3.7/10 on Gamespot > 4.5/10 on IGN > 2/5 Gamespy > 3/10 XBN Magazine > Overall - 43% based on 18 reviews > > [www.gamerankings.com](http://www.gamerankings.com) is your friend. Kind of like [rottentomatoes.com](http://rottentomatoes.com), except for movies. And Rotten Tomatoes has compilations for games as well as movies. Another one is, I believe, called Metacritic. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/6 "2004-12-16T17:22:31Z")
I can’t help but think that the low quality was intentional, as a trap to people who really buy into cross-brand synergies and all that jazz. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/7 "2004-12-16T17:43:12Z")
I was at Game Stop on Tuesday night and looked at this game. I said to my friend, “Ooh ‘Fight Club’, I wonder what you do?” and then I looked at the back and realized it was just a fighting game. :smack: Oh, I caught shit for that from him. Luckily, I didn’t buy it. Even used it didn’t look worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/8 "2004-12-16T17:47:58Z")
I suppose it’d be hard to capture the carefully crafted, condescending irony of Brad Pitt telling you to be true to yourself in videogame form. Oops, sorry. I can’t help it; I consider that movie to be one of the worst I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/9 "2004-12-16T18:06:28Z")
If you want to feel better about your rental of the _Fight Club_ video game, try renting the _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_ game. \ ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/10 "2004-12-16T22:04:32Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Yeah, Fight Club, despite its title, isn’t exactly great source material for a video game. Unless you have a separate, “getting it on with Marla” option. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/11 "2004-12-16T22:19:59Z")
So, it’s the all-singing all-dancing crap of the world? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/12 "2004-12-17T04:03:59Z")
I’ve bought bad games in the past so I am always up for a good bad game rant. Sadly, the game you describe may actually have 10 minutes of entertainment value. If you want to see a really bad game, go to a dollar store and buy _Survivor_. Yes, it’s based on the TV show and it is horrid. At $1, it was overpriced by about, oh, $1. When my wife bought it she was thrilled since she loves _Survivor_. Five minutes into the game she said it was the stupidest game ever made. Many review sites agree. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/13 "2004-12-17T04:19:53Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Yeah, Fight Club, despite its title, isn’t exactly great source material for a video game. I dunno. I was thinking about this the other day while writing a paper for my cinema studies course (title: _Film and Video Games as Kissing Cousins_), and I thought _Fight Club_ had a great video game tie in. Like, first you have to build up your character by winning fights and stuff. And then you have to go on Project Mayhem missions. I thought that would be pretty cool. But then again, I don’t play video games at all. > [@Chastain86](#): > > You created a game based on the movie Fight Club. The movie was about not selling out, staying true to oneself, and fighting against corporate greed…but you still did it. Okay, fine. What about the movie _Fight Club_, which was based on a book? Did you see this same irony when the movie was released by 20th Century Fox? With big-name actors that are sure to sell tickets? In megaplex theaters? And then when the soundtrack and the DVD were released? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/14 "2004-12-17T05:50:31Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > Excuse me, Vivendi, please step into my office. Since it’s in the Pit, and I’ve actually seen this piece of shit [game](http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox/fightclub/), can I get a dig in by mentioning Vivendi is [French?](http://www.vivendiuniversal.com/vu/en/home/index.cfm). They make it so easy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/15 "2004-12-17T05:57:40Z")
> [@AwSnappity](#): > > I dunno. I was thinking about this the other day while writing a paper for my cinema studies course (title: _Film and Video Games as Kissing Cousins_), and I thought _Fight Club_ had a great video game tie in. Like, first you have to build up your character by winning fights and stuff. And then you have to go on Project Mayhem missions. I thought that would be pretty cool. But then again, I don’t play video games at all. Whoops, I should clarify. I meant that this **would** be a decent game. I don’t think the actual game is like this… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-rule-of-fight-club-should-be-dont-rent-the-game-shudder/280145/16 "2004-12-17T06:24:19Z")
> [@AwSnappity](#): > > What about the movie _Fight Club_, which was based on a book? Did you see this same irony when the movie was released by 20th Century Fox? With big-name actors that are sure to sell tickets? In megaplex theaters? And then when the soundtrack and the DVD were released? Ain’t exactly like the book was being handed out by revolutionaries on street corners, either.