Video Game Vintage Title: Wet (video Game)

Wet (video Game)

Wet is a 2009 third-person shooter action video game, developed by Artificial Mind and Movement and published by Bethesda Softworks for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles. A PlayStation Portable version was planned, but ultimately cancelled.

The game puts heavy emphasis on killing a large number of opponents while engaging in stylish acrobatic moves. In its story and setting, Wet has a Tarantinoesque feel with a style reminiscent of 1970s films, and follows heroine Rubi Malone , a "problem-solver". Wet's title derives from the euphemism "wet work" � a messy job or task that involves one's hands becoming wet with blood.

Wet (video Game) Plot

Rubi Malone is a "problem-solver": a bounty hunter and general mercenary. In the game's prologue, she is hired to retrieve a briefcase that is hijacked by a gang. She does so, leaving numerous dead gang members in her wake, and delivers the case to a hospital. It turns out to contain a human heart, which a powerful man named William Ackers needs to survive. Rubi delivers the case to Ackers's grateful son, collects her fee, and departs.

One year later, Mr. Ackers approaches Rubi in her Texas hideout and hires her to go to Hong Kong to bring back his son, whom Mr. Ackers says has fallen in with a bad crowd. Rubi flies to Hong Kong and consults with a local friend, Ming, who tells her that Ackers is heading up a powerful drug ring. Rubi, with difficulty, kidnaps the younger Ackers and delivers him to his father in London.

However, the "William Ackers" who hired Rubi turns out to be an imposter and a rival of the real Ackers. His bodyguards decapitate Ackers's son, then stab Rubi and leave her for dead. Rubi recovers with the help of a friend, Milo, and vengefully starts to track down the fake Ackers and his gang.

On a tip from Milo, Rubi does a favor for a shady woman named Kafka, performing a theft of a rare book being shipped to the British Museum. Kafka puts her on the trail of "Ackers", who is really a drug lord named Rupert Pelham. The trail leads Rubi back to Hong Kong and then to London again, where she is captured by Pelham's subordinate, Sorrell, and tortured for information. Rubi manages to overpower her captors and escape, and kills Sorrell, but not before he confesses that Pelham is moving in on the real Ackers that night.

Rubi confronts Pelham at Ackers's mansion, just as William Ackers is about to be killed. Rubi duels and kills Pelham's chief bodyguard, Tarantula, by snapping her neck, then decapitates Pelham. Ackers says that Rubi delivered his son to his death, albeit unknowingly. He cannot bring himself to forgive her, but her actions that night are enough for him to refrain from taking vengeance on her. Rubi accepts this and leaves, pocketing a small stack of cash that Pelham threw at her to try to save himself.

Before the credits roll, there is a close-up of Tarantula, whose hand twitches.

Wet (video Game) Gameplay

Wet is an action game that combines shooting and swordplay with acrobatics and gore. The main character, Rubi, carries twin pistols and a sword (she can also carry dual shotguns, submachine guns, or crossbows), and can fire while jumping, sliding on her knees, and running on walls. During these acrobatic actions, the game enters slow motion, and she will automatically aim at a second enemy, allowing the player to shoot at two enemies at once. She can also combine her attacks, such as wall running off a person or performing a sword uppercut while sliding. Racking up kills and collecting multiplier icons gains multipliers, which increase score and the rate at which Rubi regenerates health. Rubi can also regain health by finding bottles of whiskey.

In some sections of the game, Rubi's face will get covered in blood and she will go into a murderous, berserker-like rage. These sections are presented in noir style, with bold red, black and white visuals. Rubi's attacks become faster and stronger to fight against large numbers of enemies during these sections, and killing chains of enemies extends her psychotic fury. There are also motorway sections that feature shooting integrated with quick time events.

At the end of each stage of play, the player will be graded on three different factors: Completion Time, Acrobatics, and Average Multiplier. Based on performance in these areas, Style Points will be given, allowing the purchase of upgrades to both Rubi and her weapons. Different upgrades include additional health blocks for Rubi, as well as increased firing rate and damage for the pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, and crossbows.

Reception
Wet has received mixed reviews. GameSpot praised the game's mechanics and soundtrack, but noted that the visuals are a bit rough and awkward. These sentiments were echoed by Eurogamer and OXM UK who both observed that the "grindhouse" design ethic failed to conceal the game's dated visuals, but both also said that the game � and the character of Rubi � possessed sufficient charm to make it worth playing. PixlBit said that it "has its issues, but its Tarantino-esque style makes it a raucous romp." IT Reviews noted that "it isn't a particularly original game, with bits and pieces borrowed from everywhere", but also said "it's well executed riotous blasting all the way, and it left us with an undeniable grin on our faces the majority of the time."

Edge magazine was more scathing, commenting: "Some cool things happen to crazy people in A2M's Wet, but unfortunately there are times in between where you're actually expected to play it." Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, who hosts the online show Zero Punctuation, called main character Rubi "as likeable as a deepsea anglerfish in an SS uniform."

X-Play gave Wet a 2 out of 5. Writing for "The Pros": "Tons of violent action", "Excellent production values and use of the grindhouse theme", and "Acrobatic gunplay can be fun". For "The Cons": "Lackluster graphics", "Non-standard levels are mediocre", "Physics and gameplay in need of refinement", "Nothing new or better than what we've seen before".