Wet: The New Lara Croft?
What would happen if Quentin Tarantino made a video game? What would said video game look and sound like? Well, Artificial Mind and Movement's Wet is the answer. The gaming industry gives Rubi Malone, yet another female character, a chance to prove her worth amongst memorable main characters in the button-mashing TV-screaming universe; but did she succeed or simply end up as a joke like so many before her?
One thing I know you're probably wondering, why name a game Wet? Well everyone, it's actually a term to describe the business that Rubi is in. It refers to one's hands being wet with blood and thus we have the name Wet.
During this high paced, yet highly annoying shoot-em-up game you play as the foul-mouthed acrobatic “problem fixer”, Rubi Malone. You begin this story in the midst of a job that goes horribly wrong and Rubi is bent on getting revenge on whoever tried to set her up. In order to even get near said people behind this though, you go through a couple of tasks that take you from shooting up an opera hall in China to skydiving - whilst killing of course - from a burning plane. It's a pretty straight-forward plot with a fun and original way of getting the player through it.
Speaking of plot, this game doesn't have much of one. The game appears to be nothing but revenge driven with no real motives and reasons behind that. As well there are no real boss battles either. Every time you encounter a major pawn in the story you go through a sort of pre-rendered scene of precise button pushing to get through without dying. If you are anything like me, you will end up playing these scenes again and again.... And again. The game gets pretty tedious as well. You do the same collection of things on every stage that consist of running in, taking moves from The Matrix and shooting every living thing in sight. Anyone can see how that can get extremely boring extremely quickly. The final confrontation of the game is quite disappointing as well. It's a simple ending that most would assume opens up a new part of the story but that it doesn't.
Though the game lacks a good story it is indeed fun and that's what carries the game and forces you to finish. Rubi has a collection of guns you can use akimbo styled, different acrobatic moves to use while shooting, and her sword also adds to the fun. Wet also includes a car chase on the highway that you get to play a few times. This is also one of those pre-rendered moments where you have to pay attention to the prompted buttons in front of you but the scene in the game is overall entertaining and you will look forward to doing them. Another entertaining point was Rubi's rage mode. Every once in a while, a gruesome kill would cover the screen in a red, white and black setup and your enemies would disintegrate after a kill. This mode, as well, is pretty fun but after the first two times it gets rather annoying. The change of colors on the screen can get confusing and you could find yourself running in circles since everything looks the same.
So all in all, the game was okay. Like I said before, this game was fun but I like something with more substance that is a little more story driven. Wet isn't something I would exactly recommend unless all you want to do is stare at a hot girl and listen to Eliza Dushka's voice for a good while. Rubi Malone wasn't exactly a failed attempt to replace Lara Croft but I doubt she will be remembered for the game or as a character for very long. I think I can give this game a nice 6/10. It was fun and different but the storyline was awful and the ending was a huge disappointment.
