Articles
[Preview] A2M Shows us Wet
by Ron Burke
Bethesda Softworks and Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) have teamed up to bring back the announced-and-then-stealthed title, Wet. Heavily inspired by such titles as Kill Bill, Death Wish, and Desperado, the title grabs hold of the crazy 70's action style complete with grainy visuals, cliche' characters, cheesy sound effects, and an ironic mixture of over-the-top violence and humor.
The story follows Rubi, a 'fixer' in skin-tight leather who uses her skills with bullets and blades to 'resolve' problems for her employers. In a spaghetti-western style, Rubi (voiced by Eliza Dushku) starts our demo in pursuit of a guy in a wheel chair who, via his throat voice box modulator, is brokering some sort of medical transaction when things go completely sideways and he takes some 'lead poisoning' to the cranium. Careening through the sky and flying through a plate glass window from her statue perch, Rubi dances through the air shooting enemies in all directions. Flipping, somersaulting, knee-sliding, and bouncing off of nearby walls - Wet is all about over-the-top action.
As we tracked down our double-crossing foe, the action pauses and a big movie-like stamp on the screen identifies him as "Simmons". Chasing across the rooftops, we got to see how the targeting mechanic in Wet works. The first gun locks onto an enemy in a fashion not unlike quite a few other shooters, but the second gun is fired completely manually. Using the thumbstick, we locked onto several enemies, gunning each down at light speed. As we closed to melee range, the developers pointed out that the sword is being used as an 'exclamation point'. The hook here is the acrobatics.
Rubi can run and gun with the best of them. She can also bounce off of walls, run up the sides, wall
walk over obstacles, slide down ladders head first, swing around poles, and much more. Acrobatics aren't just the mechanics - it is the reward. Chaining acrobatics together is the only way that you get to break out that second pistol, so learning the mechanics will pay dividends as your enemies begin to multiply. Eliza Dusku isn't the only voice actor lending her talent to the game, we'll also have Allen Cummings, Malcom McDowell, and even Brian LeBarton, musical director of Beck is in pocket. Brian LeBarton scored the game with a 70's cheese rockabilly soundtrack that fits the Crazy-88-style madness of the game quite well. Want to recover your health? Swig a bottle of whiskey, throw it into the air and shoot it. Even the loading screens have a 70's "Let's all go to the lobby" video intermission to keep the mood going.
Moving onto a vehicular level, Rubi continues on her mad pursuit by jumping from car to car on a high-speed freeway chase. The scripted sequences utilize quicktime events to progress, highlighting the over-the-top action. Moving back to an on-foot level we got to see what I considered to be the highlight of the demo - Rubi raging out.
There are moments during the game when Rubi will reach maximum rage and she will literally see red. The walls turned red, enemies changed into white silhouettes, and the game took on a very comic book style. Slashing enemies sprayed white 'paint' all over the walls, and Rubi's acrobatics shifted into overdrive. Wet, after a long hiatus, is finally coming together. Penned by a writer from season 1-5 of the hit show 24 and scored by Beck's music director Brian LeBarton, the game looks to bring back the spaghetti Western style with a new twist. Bethesda and A2M look like they've got a hit on their hands. This looks like another quality title that Activision let get away - look for Wet to hit shelves for the 360 and PS3 this Fall, and look for our hands-on time with the heavily stylized Tarantino-esque acrobatic swordplay shooter as we get closer to the release date.
-- Ron Burke
Director of Gaming Trend
