Oh no! It appears as though there is a generic thug standing before you, armed and wanting to deplete your life bar until you are forced to restart! What do you do? The logical decision in most video games would be to shoot the thug first. It’s the classic video game decision, the classic shooter decision, the classic spaghetti western decision. Within the game of “Wet,” released for X-BOX 360 and Playstation 3 consoles, that is a poor decision.
The reason for this lies in the mechanics of the game. It doesn’t just want you to do over the top acrobatics as you kill bad guys, it practically forces you to. You will not likely succeed without jumping through the air unnecessarily just to shoot the one guy in front of you. The reason for this is because if you merely choose to stand and shoot, Rubi, the lead character of Wet, will only shoot one gun. However, if you choose to run past the bad guy, slide on your knees like a rock star and aim backwards she shoots two guns and faster. And it’s in slow motion, and as we all know, all things in slow motion are cool.
The entire game is designed so that Rubi can constantly be shooting people, albeit not while running or walking. She shoots people while jumping, sliding, running along walls and jumping off of walls. She shoots people while sliding down a ladder, upside down, her thighs squeezing the rails. All, of course, in slow motion.
She also has a sword. Now then, in theory you can walk up to the bad guy in the scenario and cut him up. The problem with this theory is that Rubi’s sword does less damage that way. The best way to use your sword is to run past the guy, slide, and then tap the sword attack, making her lunge back up to do the exact same attack she would have done on foot. It’s a strange setup that recalls Strangehold’s desire to make you run up stair rails in order to shoot guys.
Outside of the strange gameplay setup there are the visuals of the game, strained and faded and constantly flickering. The design of the visuals was to mimic the old Grind House film, much like what Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarintino did in their set of films, “Death Proof” and “Planet Terror.” It’s a style that the game does well, complete with film burnouts and cheesy commercials for in theater refreshments. Above the visuals there’s the soundtrack, consisting of a large selection of various indie punk bands, constantly setting a hectic mood for Rubi’s spree of violence.
The story line is action packed, though four to five hours after you begin it will be over. You will have hacked and slashed and blasted your way through hundreds of generic goons only to defeat a final boss by pressing buttons in time. You will have jumped out of an exploding plane, without a parachute, for a book. And you will be stuck with an ending that resolves half the story.