WET Review

With the exception of an ill-conceived adaptation of Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino's movies don't typically offer the material for an easy video game adaptation.  It's difficult to imagine Pulp Fiction's razor sharp dialogue translating faithfully, let alone even Jackie Brown.  Out of any you'd have to say Kill Bill offered the easiest route: plenty of sensational violence, boss styled assassinations, and enough style to match the gallons of blood spurted across the screen.  Despite this nothing ever materialised, although it seems this fact wasn't lost on A2M.

WET is unashamed in drawing influence from Tarantino's Kill Bill.  Starring a female assassin armed with a samurai blade and double pistols, Rubi Malone finds herself caught up in an implausible plot of betrayal and double crosses.  If any further proof of Tarantino's influence was needed, WET also features a nurse clad in a latex uniform, a botched deal involving a suitcase and its preposterous payload, and plenty of 'Crazy 88' styled arena challenges.

Fundamentally a third-person shooter, WET offers 360 degrees of combat that's not entirely unlike Midway's Stranglehold and Max Payne before that.  The setup behind WET isn't without its strengths although there's little that's particularly remarkable.  The premise is that armed with two guns Rubi will pull of acrobatic manoeuvres by jumping into the air, wall running or sliding along on her knees.  The touch of genius stems from the score multiplier, which lends a sense of urgency and fluidity to the proceedings.  During an acrobatic manoeuvre, Rubi will auto-lock onto one opponent allowing you to manually aim at somebody else; thus gaining a double-hit bonus and ranking the multiplier up even further.  The trick being to keep the kill count up before the score multiplier runs down, which in turn allows Rubi's health to regenerate at a higher rate.

WET isn't a game packed full of depth or intrigue.  Everything is there at the surface with little that becomes noticed under further scrutiny; it's an unabashed one trick wonder that just about manages to come off.  This largely stems from the aforementioned control setup and Rubi herself; watching her slide on her knees away from the bad guys while shooting behind her is remarkably memorable and entertaining.  The emphasis on score and constant movement keeps the game from degenerating into the mindless plodding action that characterises most third-person shooters.

Each of the 12 stages follows a rigid and largely predictable format.  Progress through each level is a test of Rubi's ability to run across walls and leap over chasms, interspersed with arena sequences that pose the challenge of destroying a certain number of re-spawn points against legions of gun wielding opponents.  Typically each stage then ends with a boss battle and occasionally offers a Rage sequence, where a powered up Rubi has to maintain the largest killing chain possible.  Such sequences are instantly recognisable from the Kill Bill warning klaxon and a vivid red/black visual style.  With the exception of a lengthy car chase along the highway, the QTE sections on the whole are largely disappointing.  Rarely offering a challenge beyond pressing two buttons without any sense of urgency, the chance to heighten the action with some dramatic camera work is also largely left untapped.  It's also worth mentioning that WET features one of the most insanely frustrating sequences we've played in a video game for quite some time.  Attempting to freefall from a plane blown apart in mid-air, Rubi has to avoid the debris while attempting to retrieve the last remaining parachute.  It's just a case of memorising where each piece of debris is, a challenge that is little more than a test of your memory and perseverance.

As the game progresses the combat system develops and becomes more satisfying with extra techniques unlocked by spending the points earned on each stage.  Throughout the course of the game Rubi gets her hands on four different sets of weapons (Pistols, Shotguns, Uzis, and Exploding Bows), but the manner in which these are unlocked feels a little flawed.  By the time that the shotgun becomes available you'll have probably spent a few points upgrading the pistols, which coupled with the fact that the shotgun is pretty tame (before upgrading) means that you'll probably end up sticking with the pistols and their unlimited ammo throughout the course of the game - the uzi's are pretty deadly, but the ammo is in short supply.  Perhaps the best bit of unlocking new weapons is the 'Boneyard Challenges' that introduce each one.  Set one year before the present day in WET's deliberately chaotic timeline, the Boneyard Challenges take place in Rubi's junkyard dwelling and involve completing a lap, running between markers and taking out targets to add a time bonus.  It's simple classic video game fun and arguably one of the most complete elements of what WET has to offer.

As a symptom of the game's frenetic pace, WET is a short lived experience and is over between 6-8 hours.  Fortunately there's a considerable amount of content that is unlocked after completing the Story mode in the shape of a 'Golden Bullets' difficulty and 'Points Count' mode.  The former ups the difficulty to a more enjoyable level then the tame default setting, which makes the multiplier/health dynamic doubly significant and the action even more intense.  The latter pits you on individual levels with the aim of achieving the best score possible.  On top of this the game also features further Boneyard Challenges - which is always a bonus!