After the great success, both with critics and with the public, of "Seven", Director David Fincher turned to this film. It has often been said that this movie was one he'd wanted to make for a long time and upon viewing you can really see his belief in both characters and the story- overall an excellently directed movie.
Although several people argued that "Seven" was gory, in my opinion it wasn't, for example, there is a total lack of blood in the Lust scene, something which I particularly admired- the fact that a director could make a chilling and shocking movie without resorting to piling tons of blood onto the screen. Fincher continues this streak in "The Game" by drawing the tension and shocks of the film by using psychological terror.
Unfortunately, the movie could not parallel the success of "seven" upon its release and also received mixed critical reviews, however since then it has become somewhat of a cult movie with far more success on DVD than in the box office.
Perhaps most notable about the film is the fact that (apparently) Fincher himself often seems to direct his actors in a detached way, the way one might move around chess pieces in a game. Whether this is 100% true or not his direction, the acting and just about everything else is superb.