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You know what’s strange? For some reason, I would get the game WET confused with the movie Wanted – that “curve the bullet” nonsense. I’m not entirely sure why and at some point, I think there was another piece of media, I don’t remember if it was a game or movie, that I would get jumbled up with those two in my head. Anyway, I eventually saw Wanted and remember thinking it was okay and I recently decided to give WET a shot. It’s one of those games I remember seeing or hearing about during its heyday but didn’t really pay any attention to it. Developed by Artificial Mind & Movement and published by Bethesda Softworks, WET was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September, 2009. For this review, I played the PlayStation 3 version mainly because the Xbox 360 copies I found were more expensive. WET is a third-person shooter featuring a protagonist that can perform different types of acrobatic moves and enter bullet time or slow mo and before jumping into it, I figured it would be similar to games like Max Payne and Stranglehold.
The title WET in this case is referring to the euphemism “wet work”. The story follows Rubi, a mercenary who is hired by a powerful man to find his son in Hong Kong and she soon learns not everyone is who they claim to be and things get bloody. WET aims for a grindhouse aesthetic with over-the-top violence and an overall style that seems to be influenced by the work of film director Quentin Tarantino. While the plot and characters here are nowhere near the level of those from the legendary director’s work, they make for a decent action tale. I do feel Rubi is a solid and badass protagonist and the voice cast does include some notable talent including Eliza Dushku, Malcolm McDowell, and Alan Cumming.
WET is pretty solid in terms of gameplay. It just doesn’t bring a lot of new ideas to the table. Almost everything it does has been done before. But I am happy to say that everything it does it does well. Rubi can run, jump, slide, and wall run. When she performs acrobatic moves and shoots at the same time, the slow-mo effect is triggered automatically. During slow-mo, she will dual wield her guns and can aim at two targets simultaneously. There are no limits to slow-mo or any kind of cooldown period. You simply perform the move and fire your guns to trigger it and you can do this at any time. In fact, it’s the most efficient way to deal with threats. Rubi carries a sword that can be used for close encounters and at the start of the story, she only has pistols. But as the story progresses, more weapons are unlocked including shotguns, submachine guns, and crossbows.
WET does come with multiple game modes and difficulty levels. I would recommend playing through the story first since it introduces you to the mechanics and beating it does unlock a sub-mode for the Challenge mode called Points Count which is basically a score attack mode. Beating the story also unlocks the Golden Bullet difficulty where enemies die from one bullet but Rubi takes significantly more damage. WET is a game with a scoring system. You earn points or what the game calls style points for kills. You earn more points for acrobatic kills and you can chain moves together for even more points. The idea is to earn points and increase your score multiplier for high scores. In the story mode, you’re encouraged to earn as many points as possible and they act as a form of currency that can be spent on new abilities and weapon upgrades.
The best thing about the game is how good the action feels. Running and jumping around, sliding, running along walls, sliding down ladders, and swinging from things all while shooting foes in slow-mo and chaining moves together all feels pretty great. Pulling off a series of moves as you eliminate enemies not only looks cool and stylish but also feels satisfying. Furthermore, the gunplay is good. Weapons have good audiovisual feedback, enemies bleed when shot, and even using the sword feels awesome. Rubi can perform different attacks and slash and slice enemies to death. It’s all good fun, violent, and looks stylish. Enemies are made up of your typical thugs and goons and tougher foes are introduced as you progress. They carry guns, some rush you with melee weapons, and there are some boss encounters. Unfortunately, the game’s ending is disappointing mainly because it’s basically a boss battle (if you want to call it that) made up entirely of quick time events.
Outside of the combat which I’m happy to say makes up most of the story, everything else feels kind of average. Much of the time you go from one skirmish to another, with some set pieces to break things up here and there, but there are points where you have to make your way to certain locations by jumping, swinging, shimmying along ledges, and evading certain dangers. These sequences are not that fun or exciting. Basically, any time the action slows down, the enjoyment also slows down. But, thankfully, it’s not frequent. Many chapters feature Arenas, what the game refers to as Arena Combat. These are areas where enemies keep spawning until you disable all the spawn doors. You’re given plenty of room to maneuver and can find score multiplier pickups. Your health will regenerate and the speed at which it does depends on your multiplier. I found these to be a lot of fun because they’re great opportunities for scoring big points and really showcase the strengths of the gameplay.
WET does feature some cool set pieces and turret sequences to mix things up. There’s a couple of set pieces that have you jumping from one vehicle to another as they speed down a highway, all while exchanging gunfire with enemies. There’s another where Rubi falls from a plane and must engage enemies and evade obstacles on the way down. At certain points in the story, Rubi will get covered in blood and enter what I’m calling rage mode and must face a large number of enemies. During these sequences, the presentation switches to a style of red, white, and black visuals. Much like the arenas, these prove to be a lot of fun. In fact, some of these sequences are set in arenas. Unfortunately, some set pieces and encounters include quick time events, the worst offender being the final encounter. That’s probably my biggest gripe with the gameplay. Thankfully, most are not too obnoxious.
The environments are mostly linear and open up more for firefights and arenas. You’ll travel to locations in Hong Kong and London and the incentives to explore include collectibles like Monkey Toys, point pickups, and ammo. Considering the environments are mostly linear, it’s not hard to figure out where to go or how to proceed and you can press a button to enter what the game calls Rubi Vision. All this does is highlight things Rubi can grab onto. You’ll also come across drink crates every so often and Rubi can take a swig from these to replenish health.
WET certainly isn’t the greatest looking game of its time but I feel the presentation does a good job conveying the grindhouse aesthetic. The environments are detailed and the animations and visual effects look good but I can’t say there’s anything too remarkable about the visual presentation. The action is backed by a lot of rock and punk tunes, many of which play when the bullets start flying and I feel the songs do fit the game’s style well. On the technical side, the game did appear to hang during loading at one point. After a few minutes, I just assumed it was stuck and restarted the game. That was the only issue I encountered or noticed.
I had a really good time with WET. It’s just unfortunate it doesn’t offer more. The action is great but I can’t really say anything about it feels original, even for the time this released. It’s a good game with nothing to elevate it beyond that. It comes with few drawbacks and I don’t think any of them should push players away. The quick time events suck but they’re not so prevalent or obnoxious that they hinder the experience. When you’re not doing the cool shit like jumping and sliding around and running on walls while firing guns in slow-mo, there’s nothing really remarkable or interesting on offer. Even the action, as good and fun as it is, has been done before. I feel like WET makes a good foundation or start for a franchise and from what I understand, a sequel was in the works but got canceled. It’s a shame because I would have loved to see the ideas and mechanics here get fleshed out more.
I do recommend WET. It’s a good action game and third-person shooter. There’s not much more I can say about it other than that because it doesn’t do anything remarkable. It just does what it does very well. It’s a competent and well made game in the genre but there’s nothing very original about it. The plot is okay at best, the gameplay is fun, and it does offer some good incentives to return. Definitely check it out.