WET

Posted June 8, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

A good title brings forth curiosity and claims attention. WET is such a title that knows how to attract attention, but mostly for men. The game is indeed all about a hot a sweaty babe who leaves you sitting in your chair with your mouth open thanks to her over-the-top acrobacy. WET profiles itself quite nicely as pulp fiction, comparable with the Grindhouse project from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.

The black-haired killer chick is Rubi Malone and she’s not afraid to take out the garbage. If someone has issues they call her and you know how late it is. Of course she doesn’t use words to solve problems but bullets and acrobacy get the job done just as easily. In short, a girl with a high level of testosterone and a southern temper.

The storyline in WET is quite thin and all but original but luckily it’s not so important. The focus is in the action and the way you get rid of bad guys. WET is nothing more than a playable Kill Bill movie, with a sniff of Grindhouse and Max Payne’s bullet time. Especially the latter plays a large role in this game as you probably won’t experience a fight without using it. Armed with two hand guns and a samurai sword you’ll be killing opponents one by one. By jumping, sliding over the floor, walking on walls, sliding off ladders or slinging on a pole Rubi can activate bullet time while shooting and aim at two opponents at the same time.

Contrary to the story, the health system is original and refreshing. By defeating enemies you get a multiplier and the higher it gets, the faster Rubi heals. If you’re doing well you won’t run into trouble, but once things start to go wrong, things really turn for the worse. It’s a nice way to keep the tension and speed in the game.

The most fun parts are in arenas where an endless supply of hostiles are unleashed onto you. As long as you haven’t destroyed all spawn points fresh meat will be coming at you, which can make for nice combos and a decent multiplier. Many of Rubi’s manouvres are only available after they’ve been unlocked so in the beginning you won’t have a sword and shooting won’t be possible with certain actions.

Graphically WET isn’t groundbreaking but definitely special. The game looks very rough and edgy and personally I really don’t like the grindhouse effect. Characters are very basic and the surroundings also lack inspiration. The enemies all look identical and the game suffers from tearing, clipping and pop-ups. The soundtrack is quite ok and fits with the setting.

WET is an “almost” title. The game has too many shortcomings to take on the big boys and due to a too short single player the replay value is extremely low. The story is thin as a hair and the special graphical style didn’t really manage to blow me off my feet. Rubi’s acrobatic moves look impressive but after a while the wow-effect disappears. Gamers that love Grindhouse and Tarantino may see something in this title but for the majority this will be a major disappointment. Test the demo before buying.

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