Back when I could easily figure out computer gaming I would spend hours on the tycoon games. You know the ones, where you need to balance money, happiness, time, and everything else that goes into the But the years go by and like the mighty RTS some things just don't work as well on the console. Being a mostly console gamer myself now this means I haven't touched one of my old favorites in years. All this means that was quite surprised and delighted to find out Punch Club was more in the vein of the old tycoon games than a traditional fighting game.
Punch club is then a sort of 2D life simulator where you are out to become a champion fighter and avenge your father in the style 80's and 90's actions films. There's plenty of fighting to be had, but you don't control it the way you do in a traditional fighting game. Instead at the beginning of the fight and between each round you choose a number of moves for your fighter to draw from for the fight. These moves are unlocked as you progress and include a variety of kicks, punches, blocks, and modifiers. The other thing that you can control is your fighters 3 attributes. Strength, agility, and stamina. These attributes directly effect most of your moves and they are raised by working out.
Most of the gameplay is spent managing the time of your fighter. Finding a balance between work, fights, working out, and quest lines. You decide how to spend time down to going to the grocery store and I'll be honest. I got really into it. Perhaps my favorite part was the way you work out. Throughout the game there are all of the different kinds of exercise equipment that you'd find in a real gym and each one raises your three attributes a little differently. Added to this is that as you work out on a machine it becomes less productive and you need to wait a bit to get maximum effect from it. To top it off each of your attributes goes down a little at the end of each day. It's actually a lot like working out in real life.
In terms of skills there are 3 styles of fighting each directly related to one of the skills and each with its own special set of moves and play style. Again, I like it since it reflects real life to an extent where a jack of all trades will be at a disadvantage against a master of one.
There is a story to punch club and it's exactly what you'd expect from a game with as many references to classic action flicks so I won't get into it here. Suffice to say it's uncomplicated and provides direction. Side quests pop up all over and give you more to do in the game world and add to the feel of the game while helping you advice your fighter up the ranks.
One of the nice things about playing a game a year late is that sometimes dlc is free. For Punch Club this is the case and though I didn't realize there were add-ones to the game at first, once I knew which missions they were I could see how they fit in with the rest of the tone and style of the game.
What people may not like it the grinding aspect of the game. Although you can set the daily attribute loss off, it can make the game too easy. Also you need food to work and work out but if you have no money, you can't buy food. Finally there are times where you can be lacking in a few skills or having high enough attributes and through repeated injuries and be locked between opponents that are too easy and too hard, killing the pace of the game. These are thankfully minor problems as even lost fights usually give you some skill points so eventually you can get better moves and there are ways around having no food.
The Good:
-too many fun references to count
-simple life simulator is easy to understand and addictive.
The Bad:
-a lot of grinding mixed with occasional periods when you are stuck in a loop of injuries or overmatched fights slow the pacing.
-once you run out of stamina in a fight you are effectively screwed.
Ultimently punch club is the experience of micro-managing the life of a high-functioning boxer. The game appeals to me in the 'tycoon game' sense and the rhythm of balancing work, working out, and personal goals is strangely fun. I really enjoyed it, but fans of more traditional fighting games might not.
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