Wet Review

Released in 2006, Grindhouse, was a throwback to the 70s movies done by two master directors, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Both filmmakers not only showcased movie elements that inspired them to make movies, but they also added their own spin to the movie to make it truly their own. Who would have thought that they had sparked a new style among game developers thus the creation of games such as House of the Dead Overkill and the new game from Bethesda, Wet.

In Wet, you control Rubi. A sexy, hot blooded, cursing, whiskey drinking, harmonica playing, gun-totting, sword wielding assassin who will take whatever job for the right price. As most assassins that work this way, there is one job that was too good to pass up but the ramifications of the job are far worse than ever expected. Luckily, Rubi is enough of a badass that she can shoot or cut her way out of any situation.

Comparing one game to another has become a new gripe amongst online critics insisting that games should not be compared to other games anymore, but screw it, that's how I view things so piss off if you don't like it. Fact is, Wet plays like a lot of games including Max Payne, Uncharted, and Ninja Gaiden to name a few. Not only that, but its style is influenced by movies by the genius duo of Rodriguez and Tarantino including Desperado, Kill Bill, and of course, Grindhouse.

The game works that Rubi winds her way through an area killing enemies left and right in the most acrobatic way. In the past, I have despised this style of gameplay where a new area gets filled with new enemies forcing you to kill them off, but the beauty of the game is that there are various way to kill the enemies in hopes that you kill them in most stylish way possible. As many games have done since Max Payne, Rubi has a bullet time ability but not done in just one way. Using the jump button, you can leap in a direction and once you begin shooting, time with slow down allowing for more precision shooting. That's the most common way to blow the baddies away, but definitely not the best. Other funs ways include running up against the wall in a ninja fashion, a slide on the floor, or running up the enemy's body to follow it up with a backflip while shooting the guy in the face. AND SHE HAS A GODDAMN SWORD TO BOOT! Granted, the sword is far less flashy still it's gratifying and gets the job done fairly quickly.

Now I do despise the method of going to a new area, killing the guys, and then going into the next area but luckily, Wet changes it up. First off, those areas you go to have some maneuvering that will require the climbing up some walls, jumping gaps and from ledge to ledge. This aspect is not a strength of the game as it feels nowhere near as polished at the gun fighting, but it works to break up the action. Secondly, there are times when enemies come from spawn points that have to be blocked off requiring a lot of killing to go along with maneuvering to certain areas. Finally, Rubi will go into a literal blood rage where the screen changes into a red backdrop, and enemies become a generic, faceless enemies that are sent in droves for the sake of being slaughtered in large numbers.

As fun as the game is to play, the presentation has its up and downs. If you look at the graphics for Wet, you'll notice the major influence of Grindhouse with the combination of the grainy movie quality that comes up every so often and the vintage movie theater commercials. While great to get you into the whole experience, but it doesn't look that incredible looking. Not that the game looks bad just that it's not on the upper tier in graphics although in Wet's case, it's about style.

Those familiar with Grindhouse and movies by Tarantino and Rodriguez, the music will be a great audio experience. Don't expect any well know artist on the soundtrack but holy crap, it sounds just perfect. Combining a bit of metal, rockabilly, rock, and so many variations of that classic sounding rock music that sounds abrasive but fits so well. Eliza Dushku, Alan Cummings and Malcom McDowell voice the major characters of the game. There's not much to praise nor criticism being that they fare well in their roles rather than excel or trashing them.

With the variable replay elements in a non-online game such as hidden monkeys (it's sort of the game's mascot), level performance, and score, you have a reason to replay the game, but not a good reason. Taking a good 8-10 hours, Wet provides an action-packed experience in a stylish package, but simply not the most satisfying bang for your buck. If a sequel is made that has refined gameplay elements and a more compelling reason to replay the game, then you'd have a phenomenal game.

- O.G.

article id: 717 | poster: OG