Wet Progress Report
Rubi leaps back into the limelight.
April 27, 2009 - It has been a while since we've heard from Wet, the stylish third-person shooter from the folks over at A2M. In fact, last we saw it was back in 2007. Things went dark after it got dropped from Vivendi's portfolio following the merger with Activision. Now, thanks to the publishing duties being picked up by Bethesda, Wet is once again ready to start grabbing headlines with its acrobatic combat.
Wet follows the story of Rubi Malone, a gun for hire that takes the wrong job and finds herself killing in mass numbers just to stay alive. Before you start getting any dirty thoughts, the name Wet is short for wetwork -- a euphemism for murder or assassination in reference to the blood that spills. And there is no shortage of blood in this action game set in San Francisco.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/976/976617/wet-20090426045628650-000.jpg)
Nighty night.
The style here will instantly evoke notions of Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino with its grainy, '70s grindhouse presentation. This is by design and A2M isn't shy about pointing to that era of movies as its inspiration. From the grainy filter (which can be turned off if it isn't your thing) to the cheesy sound effects, to the drive-in movie style intermission ad that occasionally replaces the loading screen, the team went all out to nail the retro feeling.
Of course, Rubi isn't just there for looks.
At first glance, it's easy to write Wet off as just another action brawler. That wouldn't be doing it justice. The intriguing combat system is something like a Tony Hawk and Gears of War mash-up. It's acrobatic. It's filled with combos and wall runs. And the bullets and blood never stop flying. This explanation might not make too much sense. I'll explain.
Wet is designed to give players the ability to seamlessly transition in and out of acrobatics, all the while allowing the gun and sword based combat to continue. While walking normally, Wet performs just like any other action game -- close combat calls for a sword while ranged attacks can be launched with guns. The interesting part of Wet comes with the acrobatics, which is where my reference to Tony Hawk comes into play.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/976/976617/wet-20090426045715960-000.jpg)
It's all just a playground to Rubi.
Rubi has the kind of moves dreams are made of. Walls exist only for her to run across. Ladders perform more like fireman poles. Any flat surface, be it table top or floor, is just begging Rubi to slide across it on her knees. Even enemies can be turned into small ramps for leaping. Any time Rubi goes into one of these acrobatic stunts, the game goes into slow motion so that the player can keep the guns blazing without becoming disoriented. To make things even simpler, Rubi pulls out a second gun that automatically locks on to an enemy while the other remains free to aim. That way, players can take out twice the bad guys in less than half the time -- all while running across a wall or sliding across a china covered table.
To give the players even more incentive to use the acrobatics, A2M has included a combo and score multiplier system in Wet. Chain two acrobatic moves together while killing a few guys -- such as a wall run followed by a ground slide -- and you'll get more points than each on its own. Early on in the demo, A2M showed off one of its arena combat areas where players are required to take out a huge number of enemies in one area before moving on. "We look at it as a skate park," said Patrick Fortier, creative director on Wet. Inside these, players are challenged to kill enemies while using the surrounding environment in as many creative ways as possible. New players can use "Rubi Vision" to highlight the areas that can be hopped on to. And If you find yourself overwhelmed and taking too much damage, you can always look for a bottle of whiskey to regain some health.
Like most other action games, the points earned by doing these moves will allow the player to unlock and upgrade the four guns (including an explosive crossbow) and get some new moves for Rubi.
I also got a look at two of the other main types of gameplay aside from the straight combat. The newly unveiled Rage Mode, which is triggered at certain key sequences in the game, changes the visuals into a highly stylized, red tinted motif. Everything appears painted with blood while blood itself spews out in white plumes. The look is very Mad World-esque with the only colors dominating the screen being red, black, and white.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/976/976617/wet-20090426045637790-000.jpg)
Rage Mode looks pretty darn cool.
The other style of gameplay shown is how some of the boss battles will play out. This particular one involved a car chase with Rubi leaping from one rooftop to the next. This high speed scene obviously can't be fully controlled by the player, so the action reverts to quick-time events where the player must push a button at the right time to keep Rubi moving along.
A2M is preparing Wet for a fall release this year on Xbox 360 and PS3. The game is shaping up to be roughly 8-10 hours in length with two or three other modes in addition to the story included to extend the fun. Add in four difficulty settings and some monkey collectibles to find and you've hopefully got your replay value. And if nothing else, there's always the voice of Rubi to listen to over and over, provided by Eliza Dushku.
|
