Deep in a Texan plane boneyard a giant hollowed-out Black Betty bomber sits among the wrecks. A platform's been erected inside the fuselage. A solitary dentist chair sits by a makeshift table - a tractor tyre with a wooden plank on top - and soda cans and pizza boxes litter the scene. So far so student digs (apart from the bomber, that is) but the radio transceivers, the crate of machine guns and the Ultimate Ninja arcade cabinet paint a very different picture. Welcome to Rubi's world: the life of a 'fixer' whose choice of home is a middle finger to her fear of flying. Welcome to Wet.
You join us at level three's beginning. We've just played through the first two scenes, a San Franciscan chase sequence followed by a freeway QTE leap-a-thon clearly inspired by Matrix Reloaded, and the opening credits are now rolling. The boneyard's a moment of calm after the relentless thirty-minute gun porn of the first two levels. It represents a chance to take stock and familiarise ourselves with Rubi's, erm... handling.
So far impressions are mixed. The opening acts' frenetic combat has been a permanent heartbeat away from catastrophe. Rubi's gymnastic talents lie in the middle ground between Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider: Underworld; pole swings and wall-runs are all very Prince (even down to the scuffs highlighting the optimal areas to interact with) but the gunplay during these actions borrows heavily from Lady Lara herself.
Contrary to the touted fluidity of Rubi's movement there's no real flow to the action. Initial arenas are each designed with a couple of circuitry routes in mind; pre-placed lines of interactive objects (ramps to leap over, poles to swing on, bars to slide under and walls to run on) which need to be followed religiously for success. Every acrobatic motion then triggers the slow motion targeting (bullet time usage is unlimited) to dispatch enemies quickly.
Sadly the story's not quite that simple. Swing on a pole (which you often will), and both of Rubi's palms become rooted to the metal, turning you into a defenceless Catherine wheel until you leap away. Worse still, if you stray from the intended route your health bar will seriously suffer. Like Stranglehold, toe-to-toe fights are suicide. Your best tactic is to dive to the floor and use mid-air bullet time instead. It's a necessary evil of the air-based combat, and it always results in clumsy camera spinning.
Were the hands-on to be restricted to Wet's opening our coverage would be ending just about now, but there's good reason why we've devoted a larger chunk of magazine to the game. Beginning with level three, and then leapfrogging on to level eight and ten, we are afforded the opportunity to boost Rubi's moveset. And when we do, something actually quite brilliant happens...
The transformation begins in the boneyard. Rubi's home is her very own Croft Manor: a vast selection of hidden areas and time trial routes used to train you in the art of aerial combat. By this point we've earned enough Rubi points to upgrade the leading lady's repertoire, and suddenly the stilted combat from before makes sense.
Wet hasn't been made without flowing combat. It's been created with fighting as the core focus. The reason this fact is unclear up until now rests in the upgrade menu. Stylish kills, combos and a keen eye for collectibles will rake in the Rubi points. These can then be spent on abilities such as shooting while on ziplines, shooting while swinging round poles and sword slashing from a knee-sliding start.
Should these moves be part of Rubi's staple ability set from the beginning? Possibly; the argument for is certainly a strong one. Thankfully you're only castrated during the first thirty minutes, after which the game kicks into a much higher gear.
Once you've completed the boneyard it can be accessed at any point, and will have levelled up with some new time trials and challenges in the process. For level three's purpose however it houses just a trio of challenges: a timed dual-pistol run, a timed dual-shotgun challenge and, of course, the obligatory mounted turret section.
The challenges are a chance to master the novel split-aiming mechanic. Gunplay's gone through many iterations during Wet's production time, starting off as a full lock-on mode and progressing into a system with automated movement and designated individual gun controls to both sticks and triggers. Finally A2M settled on their split-targeting system.
It's activated by leaping into the air and pressing fire. This then paints an automated reticule over one enemy and brings up a secondary reticule, controllable with the right stick. This allows you to fire at two targets at once, and to pick higher-value targets to keep the combo counter ticking over. It doesn't always work (we frequently found the automatic lock-on choosing the same goon we had gone for ourselves) but we've been assured this problem shouldn't appear in the final build.
With the boneyard level complete we then skip ahead to London-based level eight. The scene opens up beside a cliff face, on a mined beach with grounded trawlers completing the grim picture. It's a mini Sandtraps level to begin with, although instead of triggering Antlion swarms, a misplaced step will blow Rubi to sexy smithereens.
The only solution is to scale the cliff face with some Prince-style wall-runs and carefully timed ledge hops, making full use of the beached ships and ziplines along the way. Should the way ever become unclear Rubi Vision can be triggered to highlight potential routes in a bright red hue. Sounds like Mirror's Edge's pathfinding trick? That's because it is.
Next is a gloomy wine cellar where more acrobatic antics are called for. When A2M talks about amalgamating combat and movement they're not joking: the easiest way forward is always to combine the two skills, to twist and turn through the air between leaps and grabs while shooting chandeliers or even the odd fortuitously-placed explosive barrel. Nope, even Wet can't bypass that tiresome old chestnut, though we'll forgive it on the grounds that the explosive barrels are actually liquor-filled kegs. That excuse just about slips past our bullshit detectors...
On we leap and swing, slicing enemies who get too close, until we're stopped by an arena battle. There are two in this level, much like there were two back in the first and, as we later discover, two more awaiting us in level ten. Each one takes place in a giant arena where baddies continuously flood through doorways. They keep appearing until we block the entrances, either by slicing away at shutter control panels or creating obstructions.
Multiple enemy types add a tactical layer: Uzi-wielders need targeting immediately while those brandishing clubs can be ignored unless they get too close. And in latter levels super-strong gatling gun bosses appear to make the battles even tenser. They're bullet sponges, only going down after a combination of shooting and QTE swordplay resulting in the katana being used as a painful enema, right up to the sticky hilt.
The arenas are Wet's showpieces and they're mostly brilliant. The souped-up Rubi's a joy to handle, and her actions are backed up by some thrilling psychobilly (yeah, we checked) music. Once the battle's over, ratings are handed out for style, speed and accuracy, along with a proportional number of points.
There are minor issues though. When tearing around slashing objects with your sword the few indestructible cardboard boxes that are super-glued to the floor stick out like an amputated thumb, especially compared with Stranglehold's 'destroy anything' mantra. More comically still, the arena battles are completed not just when all the doors are shut but only after the final stragglers have been executed. On two separate occasions, in two different arenas, we spent five minutes hunting the solitary man who wedged himself in a dark corner and couldn't escape.
Neither problem is game breaking. It's the development equivalent of putting both feet in the same trouser leg hole when getting changed, and then keeling over and bashing your head. They're silly mistakes and though the second is certainly fixable in the remaining development time, neither problem wrecked our enjoyment of the game.
Wet doesn't take itself too seriously. Listen carefully as you explore a dingy motel and you'll hear a couple arguing behind a locked door - we won't repeat the conversation but it sure made us chuckle. Grab a health-replenishing bottle of whisky meanwhile, complete with QUEBEC printed on the side, and Rubi will take a swig, toss it in the air and shoot it to a chorus of guitar riffs. Because, y'know, she's really cool like that.
More obvious giggles come courtesy of the intermission adverts. These drive-in theatre styled popcorn and refreshment adverts (our favourite is Chilly Dilly the Personality Pickle) tether together loose ends of action - one moment we're legging it out of a burning labyrinth, the next we're hanging off a castle's window ledge with no real explanation. These non-sequitur jumps are either lazy design or a genius idea. We're not completely sure which it is yet, but the ridiculousness of the interruptions makes us lean towards the latter option. A2M isn't quite stepping into Suda 51 territory but development was clearly a lot of fun.
The suggested eight-ten hour mark for a first play seems a tad generous (we finished five levels in just over a quarter of that time), although the boneyard time-trial extras should boost longevity somewhat. With that in mind we quizzed Creative Director Patrick Fortier about the team's honest expectations for the game, especially after Activision Blizzard decided not to support the project.
"I know we've got a good game," Fortier muses. "We're a young studio still developing our skills so we're not strolling in yelling 'Watch out God of War 3'. We don't have those expectations. It's like food: a healthy diet consists of different portions. You've got the meat and potatoes, the vegetables and the dessert. Wet's never going to replace the meat and potatoes but, man, life sucks without a good ice cream sundae. We're that ice cream sundae."
We polish off the final level and can't help but agree. Wet's no replacement for the Halos and CoDs of this world. Focus on its own genre and it's clear that Strangehold's been left to scrabble about in the dirt, and Lara's got a genuine contender to wrestle with. We've got our spoons ready and we suggest you do the same...
I borrowed Stranglehold and it was good but not great. Very stylish and I could see what they were aiming for, but it never quite got there. And the fact the framerate was a bit crap didn't help. Some of that, crossed with Tomb Raider-y parts and it could be sweet. Although once again those pesky QTEs raise their flow-breaking heads.
But the lovely Eliza Dushku provides the voice work. I'd buy it just to have her whisper sweet nothings in my ear
Allthough I'm loath to be a hater, judging from how the resent released demo looked and felt on PS3, Wet's right now is far from being amongst my top-tier expected games this autumn.
- graphics design seem weak combined with an engine that appeared just on par with Mercs. 2 Covering its lack of AA with a grainy 70s film filter.
- Gameplay did have some nice touches, but IMHO feel far short of Strangeholds polished and intense combat.
- The Desperado/Tarantino overall look&feel just felt old, contrieved and dated to me.
Ahh well, just my £0.02. Hopefully the demo isn't representative of the final game.
Its another one of those games that is greatly improved on the 360. Downloaded the PS3 demo. Really enjoyed it, love the music and the kind of balls to the wall craziness of it all.
Then saw the 360 demo so thought why not. Downloaded it and its just a much tighter package in every respect. The graphics are sharper and more vibrant and the controls are tighter due to the better pad (personal preference) Its not earth shatteringly different but you can definately tell which is the better of the two.
hey i dunno why one wouldnt want to hear her swear and talk abt killing people which is super hot unless they're gay...........
Don't care about killing people, but having her close enough to whisper to me at all would do me. I've been a fan since the very first time I saw her in Buffy (which was one of the first Buffy episodes I ever saw before I realised she hadn't been a main character from the start). Thankfully Tru Calling and Dollhouse were good, otherwise my girlfriend would never have wanted to watch them
Oh yes, there was a topic somewhere. Wet. Which is a game rather than a description. Err. Ninja action. Whatever. Finding the topic is now someone else's problem
I first heard about this game when looking up Mainframe (now called Rainmaker), and they do the FMV's for the game. The teaser cries sexy. I'll be keeping my eye open at least for this one anyway...
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