REVIEW - WET
- Written by Randy Wallace |
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Enter the world of Rubi Malone, a gun-for-hire that is known to do pretty much anything for the right price. Take a walk in Rubi’s shoes in WET. Developed by Artificial Mind & Movement, and published by Bethesda Softworks, enter into Rubi’s world as you embark on an adventure spanning three continents. Set in a theme that resembles a 70’s style movie, equipped with an arsenal of over-the-top acrobatic moves, a sword to pretty much slice and dice all who get in your path, and the ever present firepower, you control Rubi as she takes on some of the biggest and baddest criminals you’d never want to meet.
From humble beginnings to underworld recognition as one of the most capable problem-fixers alive, Rubi Malone more than lives up to her reputation. For the right price she will do just about anything, within reason of course. Rubi has spent her life mastering moves that will make your head spin. But the truth is, if you ever see Rubi in action, there’s a good chance that you are already dead. |
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The game starts off with basically a tutorial level to introduce you to the mechanics of controlling Rubi as well as how to execute her attacks. After a brief, but gory scene of a transaction gone bad, you take control of Rubi as she chases down the man that stole the package she was sent to pick up. After a few short chapters, and introductions to a few key characters in the game, you are taken to Rubi’s Boneyard, which serves as her base of operations. In the boneyard, there are a few challenges that you are required to complete before the game will continue into the story. These challenges are relatively easy to complete, however, you are rewarded with medals based on how quickly you complete the challenge. These challenges essentially help you to hone your skills to make it a bit easier for you to progress through the game. After a short cut-scene in which Rubi is offered money for her services, you are off to retrieve a ‘package’, but things are not always as they may appear to be, nor are the ever as easy as you hope for them to be.
The controls are relatively simple to master, and before too long you’ll find yourself running along walls, diving through the air, and landing in a slide, while at the same time decimating all enemies in your path with your guns and sword. This is a very good concept to stick to as a moving target is always harder to hit, and also, based on how well you perform in each stage, you are rewarded style points which can in turn be used to purchase upgrades for both Rubi and her weapons. Style points are rewarded for each kill that you make in the game, as well as acrobatics used while making those kills. The more acrobatic kills that you make, which range from shooting someone while diving through the air, to shooting or slicing someone while sliding, and also even while running along the walls. The better you chain your kills together, the more the multiplier increases, up to 5x, and the more style points you are rewarded. At the end of each chapter, a summary is given of how well you did, and you are given the chance to visit the upgrade shop to make your purchases. Upgrades range from more health for Rubi, to being able to shoot while hanging from a ledge, to faster fire rates for your weapons. Each progressive upgrade costs a bit more, so performance throughout the levels is very essential. The better you perform, the more points, and the more rapidly you are able to acquire those upgrades. |
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A nice feature that was implemented into this game is the rage attack. While there are many other titles out there that utilize the ability for your character to go into a frenzy, so to speak, thus enhancing their attacks and speed and allowing the player to execute more powerful attacks, this game has gone about it a bit differently. In certain scenes, Rubi’s face will get covered in blood. When this happens, she goes into a complete rage, making her attacks much more powerful and her movements much faster. The way this game differs when it comes to a rage attack is that Rubi basically sees red and just goes into a complete murderous rage. The scene is presented in black, white, and red. Chain killing large amounts of enemies, extends the rage, racks up the points, and basically makes it that much harder to kill her.
The soundtrack for this game fits the game very well. The music for the game was composed by Brian LeBarton. For those that don’t know who he is, Brian is the keyboardist and musical director for Beck. The entire musical score was recorded live over a four day period, and was composed based on how the game was to be presented. The music fits the game very well and gives the player the feel of watching a movie from years ago. Eliza Dushku provides the voice for Rubi. There really isn’t anything bad to say about any of the audio in the game. |
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While this game looks good visually in so many ways, it unfortunately lacks in others. Granted the developers were trying to give the game a certain feel, and many of the animations are done in a very superb manner, there are a few things which just seem like they were rushed in order to get the game out in time. While the characters in the game look very good, and it is apparent that a lot of time and effort were spent on the character modeling, there is not much of a variety when it comes to the different types of enemies in certain areas. For example, in the first few scenes of the game, and particularly on the highway scene, a lot of the enemies have the look the same. A little variety between the enemies would have been nice and would have added so much more to this title. Also, some of the animations of the vehicles seem a bit underdone and jerky, which took away from the game in my opinion. Understanding that the grainy look of the game is how it was meant to be seen in order to give the game the feel of a different time, with the technology available, it just seems that a few things could have been cleaned up a bit while not taking away from the goal that was trying to be attained.
Overall, this game does provide enjoyment for fans of the shooter/hack and slash genres, the game just seems to lack in some areas. The lack of any form of multi-player takes away from the replayability of this title. Granted, there are levels of difficulty that are unlocked upon completion of the game, this does not really encourage the player to play through the title all over again. Visually, the game looks good, but it seems as things may have been rushed unfortunately. The soundtrack and voice work in the game are done exceptionally well. While being a fun title to play, this title doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be a keeper. I do recommend anyone into third person shooters definitely check this one out, but I would recommend it more as a rental, rather than a purchase. |
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SUGGESTIONS |
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While this game does have fun moments to it, and a pretty decent storyline, there is no multiplayer. Some kind of online fight mode, so that players could team up and take on enemies would have made this game so much better. While some sort of multi-player would increase the game’s longevity, if it isn’t possible, some DLC offering players a new mission or two would definitely help. This game could have been much more than it is simply by spending a bit more time on some of the animations in the game.
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Release Date
9/15/2009
Publisher
Bethesda Softworks
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OVERALL |
72 |
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GAMEPLAY |
73 |
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SOUND |
72 |
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GRAPHICS |
74 |
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REPLAY VALUE |
55 |
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