Impressions: Wet (PS3, Xbox 360)
Wet is a game that is for all intents and purposes pretty good, but it has the makings to be a lot better. However, the developers failed to give Rubi the room she needs, and for the brief period of time we had with the game, felt the confines of the small environments kept the game from realizing its full potential.
We won't bother wasting your time regaling the concept behind the game and what the whole point is -- we've already done that. Instead, we'll address what the game has done right, and what needs to change before a good game can become a great game.
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One of the more interesting mechanics in Wet is Rubi's ability to shoot multiple enemies at once with her double pistols. Many games that arm a protagonist with duel pistols (Dante in Devil May Cry, Agent 47 in Hitman, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, etc) and only one reticle to use them with. In real life, it's anything but that, and thankfully there's a touch of that realistic flavor added into the virtual world of Wet.
Another thing that Wet does right is make it easy to link together stylish moves and kill lots of guys quickly. When you're in the middle of combat, and you string together slides and wall runs and murder handfuls of goons, the game is definitely fun. But, the game puts you in far too many confined spaces for this feeling to last.
Sure, Rubi has her sword, and is just as graceful with that at normal speed as she is in slow-mo with her guns, but she is far too susceptible to gunfire while hacking and slashing in close quarters, causing one to emphasize the gunplay over the former for the sake of surviving a conflict. Add that she's usually fighting more than a handful of enemies at a time, and you can see where the frustration comes about.
It may seem like a minor issue, but when the game is pushing the idea that Rubi is a deadly weapon, someone who cleans up the messes, we believe she needs room to work before we can consider this game a great success. It has all of the makings of a great title, but some minor design issues keep us from being more excited about it. Hopefully, the final product will feature more areas where Rubi isn't constricted and can move freely, because that is when the game truly shines.
