Written by: PlayDevil.com Staff

 

 

 

So, here at the Playdevil.com office, we’ve had the chance to check out a late build of "WET", shortly before it launches onto consoles everywhere this fall. However, first impressions before I played weren’t great.

 

The titles, whilst standing for some rubbish, is clearly sexualised, along with the main protagonist, who insists on wearing tops about four times too small in order to show off her curved hips and bulging bosom. So far, so bad.

 

Secondly, the graphics in the game aren’t great. Everything has a kind of 70’s grindhouse movie tinge, and specks of dirt everywhere, but this just seems be an attempt to hide the fact that other games look quite a bit better.

 

I played the level that is now available as a demo on the 360 and PS3, and to be honest, the first few minutes of the level didn’t do much for me either. The game appears to have stripped every gameplay facet from Stranglehold, for better or for worse.

 

Stranglehold had a huge number of positives about it, but was ultimately a let down, with some clichéd gameplay, horrible spawning enemies, laggy multiplayer, and being too tight with the slow-mo powers.

 

Thankfully, the one area where Wet doesn’t follow on is with the slow-mo powers. Basically any action will put you into slow-mo mode- and this is a good thing, because without it, you feel slow, clumsy and underpowered compared to the multitude of guards and triads you’re taking out. However, if you wall-run, jump, slide or so on, you turn into a nimble killer.

 

There are some pretty neat touches, like the graphical effects when in this mode, but for me, it’s the ability to take out multiple enemies easily that’s the best feature. Your second gun will automatically aim at enemies, meaning you can concentrate your other weaponry wherever you please, which is pretty satisfying.

 

You also get a sword for close combat fighting, which is pretty much an insta-kill for anyone that dares to get too close to you.

 

There’s also more variety to the game. Firstly: you score points depending upon your performance in a level, and can rack up combos too. Secondly, there are different types of level to play through. One of the levels was set on a sprawling freeway, and was basically a giant quick-time event level. Whilst this will probably divide many people, it was certainly a nice distraction for a little while at least, and the action was undeniably very cool, with exploding trucks, tankers and cars flying everywhere in beautifully directed slow-motion.

 

There’s also another level, where, blood-drenched, you fly into a rage, and go mental, gaining extra strength, speed and power as you kill everyone in a total bloodlust, with some great graphical effects and post-processing going on.

 

There are more negatives though. Spawn doors, the bane of my life, are there, although it at least seems as if you can close them early by beating them, a la Gauntlet. Also, the graphics and animation were a pretty big issue in places.

 

Wet clearly needs some polish in order to be the finished article, and I also didn’t get the chance to play any multiplayer, which could be a big draw if it allows you to be in slow-motion and is also not laggy, has good quality maps, and a decent player count. It also needs some more work to be done to the graphics, and to ensure that the gameplay variety available in the preview build is effectively replicated in the full retail version.

 

If these issues can be overcome, then 'WET' could actually be a really decent game, despite the initial ‘sex sells’ impression I got. However, if it stays as it is, and/ or ships with a poor multiplayer suite, then the game will be heading straight for the bargain bins before Christmas, just like Stranglehold did.

 

Fingers crossed.