WET is a game that is inspired from the old grindhouse movies and the directing style of Quentin Tarantino. Players will play the role of Rubi Malone, a mercenary and hit-woman that enjoys ripping the gore apart of her enemies. The game is about using acrobatic moves with a blend of guns and sword play to take out helpless enemies.

The strengths of the game lie in its presentation. Despite its inspirations, the game feels novel and is a genuine entry in the genre of crazy gore and violence. The game has a praise worhty list of 1970s music that not only suits the game, but also inspires the player to indulge themselves in the gore-filled action. The dialogue, for the most part fits in quite well with the craziness. The voice acting however is a hit and miss. When it misses, it sounds like the voice actors phoned in their performance. The worst of which is one of Rubi’s dieing moans that sounds like a lazy “I can’t believe I am making death moans for video games.”

Slow Mo, here we go again

For a game that rewards players on the style of their kills and diversifying their methods, the game feels repetitive rather quickly. Shooting while Rubi does her acrobatics slows down time and allows players to slowly pick out their opponents. Unfortunately the number of acrobatic moves is limited and will be used many times over through out the game. It does not help that Slow Mo has been done a lot already. That being said, it should be pointed out that the mecahnics for slow-mo are done quite well in the game. When jumping or sliding, players can turn Rubi around 360 degrees with ease. 

As players progress they can unlock additional acrobatic moves. The game is short and can be finished in around 6 hours. By the time I had unlocked all the acrobatic moves, I was nearing the game’s competition. It would have been better had the moves been unlocked from the get go.

Another major problem with the game is that its animation is stiff. This means that her moves don’t adjust according to the environment. For example if you slide into a wall, Rubi will stay in the motion of sliding at the wall for a few seconds. The designers had a good idea by blending acrobatics, platforming and gunplay. For this blend to be successful it was imperative that the momentum kept going and did not stop. Unfortunately the stiff animation means that there is a small margin of error in jumps. To make tight jumps, you will be forced to run straight at the object before making the jump. There were times where I had done everything perfectly, yet failed to get to the other side and led to Rubi’s death. Needless to say it was quite frustrating.

Death due to platforming will be the main reason for dieing. This is because taking out enemies hardly presents a challenge. Add this to the feeling of repetition, and it will feel as if you are just going through the motions to finish the game. It does not help that the game is highly linear.

Thinking in the right direction

There are a wide variety of scenarios that attempt to keep the game fresh. In some chapters, the world turns completely red. The enemies become easier to kill and the objective is to gather as many consecutive kills as the player can. These scenarios add to the overall gore of the game and are a welcome change.

Other missions will have Rubi free falling from the sky or riding on top of cars gunning down the enemy. When free falling, Rubi will have to dodge the debris. It is hard to judge the path of the debris and will lead to numerous deaths before the chapter ends. As for the car chases, Rubi is limited to moving around until the QTEs come up. But the worst part of those chapters is that Rubi is limited to only shooting the body parts of the enemy and can not damage the vehicles. This is an ironic limitation for a game that prides itself on being over the top. Having a wide variety of mission types was a great idea, its unfortunate that they did not come out too well. 

Players have the option of turning off film scratches. Although film scratches add to the 1970s feel, it is recommended to turn it off. With film scratches on, it’s harder to appreciate the shadows and lighting effects of the game. That being said, the overall graphics of the game are below average.

Final Word: At the end of the day Slow Mo has been done already so the developers needed to do something different to truly stand out. The developers had great ideas for the game but they were not able to implement them well. The game is short, unpolished and feels fairly repetitive. For people that want to get their dose of grindhouse action would be better off to rent the old classics or wait till this hits the bargain bin. That being said, the simplicity and over the top action will be greatly loved by people that don't play games too often. 

Developer: A2M

Publisher: Bethesda 

Platform: Xbox 360 & PS3