Preview: WET

6:00 PM on 08.21.2009   |   Ben Perlee

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WET (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Artificial Ming and Movement
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
To be released: September 15, 2009

If you were a fan of the over-the-top House of Dead: Overkill, WET is going to make you hot and bothered. It's the new big “thing” in videogames, grindhouse style and effects, and WET takes full advantage of it. It is a game designed to appeal to fans of scratchy spaghetti westerns, kung-fu action flicks with stereotypical Asian mobsters, and crazy car chases set in San Francisco. In between levels, beside buying weapon and character upgrades, you'll be treated to vintage movie adds for such 50's fodder as “Chilly Dillys”, keeping that grindhouse-movie feel flowing. It also helps that the game has a really bad ass soundtrack of raunchy rockabilly and skanky ska.

I'll say it plainly: this soundtrack is really good, and my favorite part of my hands-on with the game. It's filthy hot.

But back to that game. I had zero expectations coming into this game. Sure, I knew hottie Eliza Dushku was going to be voicing the brunette “problem-fixer” (Artificial Mind and Movement's job title for Rubi, not mine). I also knew, thanks to Dyson's E3 preview, that the game played a bit like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Stranglehold, a mix that I didn't know if it was going to hold well.

Truth be told, that's exactly how it plays. There's lot's of slow-mo jumping and climbing, wall-running, sliding, pole-vaulting, sword-slashing fun. That's a lot like POP:SOT, but, to bring the Stranglehold reference in, you get to slow-mo shoot dudes in the face while you do these tricks. Almost every move you do, from ladder sliding, car-hopping, vaulting, etc., when you pull the trigger, it sends you into a slow-mo shootout.

Since Rubi can shoot two pistols, crossbows, shotguns, or Uzis, the game takes control of one gun, and you can focus on shooting with the other. Even the QTE focused car-hopping chases, between folowing prompts, you'll be pumping lead into bad guys with this special dual-weild system. This gameplay mechanic is a lot simpler than it sounds, and other than when you make stupid jumps (which has a habit of happening a little too much) everything is very flashy and cool.

Those damn jumps, however, will be driving people insane. If your timing is slightly off, you'll be dying a lot. It's like Sands of Time without a rewind feature, so that's kind of a drag. Another thing you'll be seeing a lot: Rubi chugging Jack Daniels, throwing the bottle, and shooting it out of the air for a health boost. Cool the first time. Tiresome the tenth.

Visually, I think it might be one of those games that's more fun for the people watching you play, as Rubi looks amazing flipping and sliding, which gameplay focused gamers might miss. She's a badass mofo, and all her tricks are delightful to watch. Even better, when a wet splatter of blood gushes over her face, she enters a short, red-drenched, high-contrast world of death, her "Rage Mode". It's fun, although I'm disappointed it's used only when the designers tell you to, and only for a short time.

Of course, if you read Dyson's preview, you probably picked up all of these details, as WET is not exactly the most difficult game to explain. You shoot dudes while looking flashy, and while you aren't exactly a scantly-clad sex kitten, you sure as hell are a booze-swigging, gun-slinging, sword-slashing, mostly-covered-up-but-wearing-oh-so-tight-clothing-in-just-the-right-places kind of a lady. This is  better. These guys certainly agree.

However, I did get a chance to check out some new levels, such as the London-based level. Instead of running around shooting Asian mobsters, this time you get to kill cockney jerks and cigar-smoking military men, while dodging rolling beer casks in a derelict castle. Puzzles seem to get more complicated at this point in the game, with jumping deaths a little common. Thankfully, the “Rubi vision” can help guide the player, as a quick press of the L-trigger highlights any acrobatic spots with a ruby fire. This is helpful for those increasingly vertical cliff-side and castle levels.

Ultimately, this is the feeling I came away with the game: it's fun, especially if you like games with a little bit more style than substance, which I actually prefer. Coming in at 8-10 hours, you wouldn't expect an epic masterpiece, just a fun escapist game at its most basic. There's not going to be DLC, so hopefully the gameplay is solid across the 10 hours and 15 levels. I'm not going to hold too much against a game that is unabashedly appealing to a low-denominator. Especially when that denominator will get a kick out of hearing Eliza Dushku say the F-word over and over.