WET is a seamless integration of intense gunplay, death-defying acrobatics and exciting swordplay. The game tells the story of Rubi, an acrobatic gun-for-hire. When she agrees to help a wealthy man find and bring back his wayward son, all hell breaks loose and the tables are turned, as the man who hired her isn’t who he appeared to be. Now Rubi’s on the run, needing to find the man who left her for dead and leaving a massive body count in her wake. Innovative 3rd person shooter gameplay: With her trusty twin custom made Colt Pythons, Rubi gracefully engages in amazing, cinematic high-body count gunplay against diverse and challenging enemies. Along with her guns, Rubi has an arsenal of death-defying acrobatic moves. Her incredible agility allows her to climb on ledges, slide under obstacles, swing on poles and run along walls. Rubi’s sword is an instrument for deadly close-quarter proximity attacks. Rubi will unleash a flurry of multi-staged stylized attack sequences.


Gameplay

WET is certainly one of the most entertaining 3rd person shooter we have seen in a while. Mixed with some samurai sword play and acrobatic wall running similar to what we have seen in the past with Prince of Persia is very easy to say that WET borrows plenty of gameplay ideas from a few games. This is not bad at all because it works for the most part.

What does not work is a few of the annoying quick time events which last much too long. Such as when you are running and have to run off of walls and slide under things for a very long time with no auto save to help you out when you die. This is not good especially with a 10 second reload time. There is also one level where Rubi is falling out of a plane and must dodge wreckage to get to a parachute before she dies. This is also a bad area because you must do it perfectly and from what I could see it only can be done one way, so if you mess up you are screwed and watching the damn loading screen again.

The rest of the game works well from the sword fights, gun play and acrobatics in many different levels ranging from the desert, London and Hong Kong. Each area has its own look and you will find yourself in many situations from the standard slow motion gun play to just using your sword to finish off a room full of bad guys.

Rubi has five weapons at her disposal. Her trusty pistols which never run out of ammo, shotguns which are excellent at close range, machine guns for taking down mini-bosses quickly, mini-crossbows with explosive tipped bolts, Rambo would be proud and of course her Samurai Sword. All of Rubi’s weapons, except for her sword and pistols can run out of ammunition but you will find plenty of ammunition in destructible boxes throughout the levels.


Graphics

The Grindhouse movies were certainly going to influence popular media in some way and while WET was not the first video game to use the Grindhouse theme in its graphics it certainly has taken it to new heights visually.

Each of the characters and even the nameless henchmen you will shoot and slice your way through all have a good look to them. But Rubi certainly has the best look with a Samurai Western Gunslinger Cowgirl thing going for her that is completely sexy on many levels, or it could be just that she is voiced by Eliza Dushku. I am not sure but she is certainly one of the better looking and animated video game heroines in a long while.

The Grindhouse grainy filter works in every scene from the general gameplay to the drive in theater commercials. You are completely immersed in the experience. This can be a bit annoying at times for some people if they are crisp and clear die hard graphic gamers but then again these are probably the same people who turned off all the filters in BioWare’s Mass Effect.

Rubi has a special Rage Mode where she shoots a bad guy in the face and gets blood in her eyes sending her into this rage where everything is black and red. This is a great mode where Rubi just walks through dozens of enemies with her guns and sword racking up the kill count. The only problem with rage mode is when it is over too soon or the one time it lasts too long. But it works and if there is a sequel to WET I hope this feature returns to the game.


Audio

There is very little not to love in Wet audio wise. Eliza Dushku brings Rubi to life as another of her memorable characters. But Eliza also has a strong voice cast to support her in the story from start to finish including Malcolm McDowell and Alan Cumming. The soundtrack is also very strong with an amazing set of bands playing some memorable and catchy music which completely fits with the games look and feel. Plus to top it off the great sound effects which are sharp and clean in Dolby 5.1, this is a great sounding game.


Value

For a single player only game the actual replay value is in the unlockable modes and of course searching for the monkeys and maxing out Rubi’s weapons. While you can get by in the game by just jumping and shooting once you learn the best ways to use the acrobatic shooting and sword play you will be coming back to this game for a while, even if there are a few annoying points.


Bottom Line

I am sure the “Grindhouse” graphics and audio will annoy some people to death, those brave enough to see the games beauty behind the rough graphic filters, rock-a-billy music and blood n’ guts gameplay will find much entertainment in this game. Certainly one of the few new gaming franchises that are a true must buy this summer. Rubi and WET totally rock.