There are some games such as Far Cry 2, Bioshock, and Shadow of the Colossus which we can analyze their game design mechanics and discuss topics such as ludonarrative dissonance. They are games that have depth and provide something a bit more than a shallow entertainment experience. WET isn’t one of those games and it doesn’t try to be. WET’s tag line is ‘Get ready for some monkey business,” and believe me it doesn’t sell short.

I’ve been hearing about WET for almost 2 years now and to be honest I never knew what to think. At first I thought, “Oh great, some great sexual reference to sell a game. How original.” Then the reasoning behind the title was discussed and a glimmer of hope shined in the sense where I said, “Okay, so maybe it’ll be an alright game.” Then I go on to hear how WET would be a game that someone to the likes of Quentin Tarantino would make. Don’t get me wrong, Duppy Demetrius might be an amazing TV writer (writer of several 24 episodes) but, he’s no Tarantino. Finally the WET demo has been released on the PSN European store and I have been able to see what this monkey business is all about.

One of WET’s back of the box features is the over-stylized art and yes, it is over-stylized. The entire universe seems to have taken on a gritty western indie action film filter adding to the what I’m dubbing to be Tarantino effect. It’s quite nice actually and adds to the overall fell of the game. As for the gameplay, you have several options of attacking those being jumping and shooting, running on a wall and shooting, sliding and shooting, and slicing an enemy with your sword. I don’t include standing and shooting simply because the way that combat has been designed simply makes it difficult for you to not perform a ‘bullet time’ action which will allow you to aim.

Attempt to simply stand and shoot and you’ll find that the aiming controls are loose and ‘feathery’ whereas when performing an action shooting sequence the controls are a bit tighter and your bullets will be finding their way into the back of an enemies skull much easier. Aiming while in an action sequence is actually done automatically. Something which at first was a bit ‘cheap’ if you will, however, by providing a second aiming reticle which allows you to control your offhand weapon this allows those players who might be a bit more skilled to get an extra edge over their enemies while those casual players can simply press and shoot. This ultimately lowers the barrier of entry for picking up and playing the game at any time by anyone and also is a great example of a pyramid approach in design where the features captures a wide audience however, allows for the depth of a much more hardcore player to go beyond that of a casual player.

The problem with bullet time action as a game design mechanic is that it must provide good flow for the player. This in my perspective is part level design and part systems design. I don’t believe that the systems design falters very much in WET. When Rubi is diving through the air and your aimin’ and gunnin’ it feels gratifying and good. The aiming responds as you’d expect it would if the entire world around you was soaked in molasses and you get a noticeable edge. There’s rather good flow to it. It’s when the environment around you doesn’t let you perform these actions where it becomes un-gratifying and ultimately the bullet time mechanic not only is rendered a bit useless but it irks the player. There were some moments when I found myself wishing that pointing and shooting while not in bullet time would be a viable option. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

A mode which breaks WET from it’s standard gameplay is rage mode. This mode is very much similar to the visual style of Kill Bill’s crazy 88 fight. It is like the rest of the game over-stylized and sticks to black, red, and white. Rubi dons a black with red highlights silhouette while your enemies have the addition of white into their model. One could might ask, “Just three colors for the entire level while in rage mode?” Trust me, it’s beautiful. Rage mode also provides a great balance of both gun and sword combat, something which the rest of the demo didn’t do so well. While in rage mode you can also chain enemy kills and seeing that counter increase is surprisingly satisfying. All in all, rage mode is a nice addition which could break up some rather monotonous gameplay. For more information on rage mode be sure to check out my friend and amazing artist Marc D’Amico’s blog post about creating rage mode, The Anatomy of RageMode in WET (the game) .

There are issues with WET, that is clear. The camera is a bit too close to the character at times making the player feel as if the space is cramped and providing for awkward movement. Certain actions which one would seem to think would be possible are not, such as jumping and then running on a wall, and as mentioned the level design didn’t seem to promote the core game mechanics all too well. However, I must remind myself this was merely a demo and while flawed the demo did make me chuckle, and completely enjoy myself for those brief 15 minutes. Eliza Dushku’s voice overs are also a small treat as she does a rather excellent job and her attitude suits Rubi perfectly. WET is an action packed ride that simply gratifying if you enjoy it’s theme and I definitely did. If you haven’t give the WET demo a spin yet be sure to do so. It might not leaving you soaking wet in ‘awesome’ but it is sure to leave you moist with anticipation for it’s September 15th release.