Some movies should just stay movies. Take Fight Club for example. David Fincher’s 1999 film needed a fighting game adaptation about as badly as Citizen Kane needs a first-person-shooter.

Playing Fight Club is about as much fun as being repeatedly punched in the kidney by a professional wrestler, and about twice as painful. The game’s story mode follows a lone street fighter as he works his way up the ladder in Fight Club. Not only does it completely disregard the anti-materialism theme of the movie, but it also lacks character development, intelligence and any real point.

This kind of desecration would be a little more forgivable if the gameplay wasn’t as terrible as it is. The fighting engine lacks any real imagination, and the game’s three fighting styles all feel like variations on the same moves. Most of the game’s single player modes are singular in their focus, and will quickly bore players.

The multi-player modes do nothing to help. You and your friends are more likely to have fun beating each other with game controllers than attempting to delve into either the game’s versus or online modes.

The gameplay is just the tip of the iceberg. This game is terrible on so many other levels. The graphics are plastic-looking, the sound effects are barely audible, the music is repetitive, the cut scenes are abysmal—the list just goes on.

Do yourself a favor and find something healthier to do than play Fight Club. Beat your head into a brick wall, super glue your eyelids shut, or staple your face to an oven. Anything is better for you than playing this game.

Grade: F