'Wet' (Xbox 360)

Also available on: PS3
Developer: Artificial Mind & Movement
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: Third-person action

Ever wanted to play the trash-talking, gun-toting, sword-slashing heroine in a Quentin Tarantino film? Well Artificial Mind & Movement's new third-person action game Wet is just the ticket to a blood-soaked and bullet-holed escapade. Mixing B-movie presentation with blockbuster action, the game is intended to be like taking part in a Grindhouse story, but with even more guts. Or at least that's the idea. In reality, Wet suffers from some messy presentation, repetitive gameplay and uninspiring level design, which threatens to mar the experience. However, the visceral thrill of wiping out hordes of bad guys in ludicrously elaborate and bloodthirsty ways ensures that the game is still worth diving into.

Players take on the role of Rubi Malone (voiced by Dollhouse's Eliza Dushku) - a sassy, black haired gun-for-hire who has as many bullets as she does brutally delivered expletives. Her line of work involves doing odd jobs for some rather less than desirable types, which typically means killing enough people to populate a respectable small town. The story is a mix of double cross, revenge and ultra violence that borrows heavily from its inspirations and then hacks it all together in a rather unsophisticated way. However, most players will care little for this quibble, because action is the game's real beating heart.

Playing as Rubi involves mixing fast-paced acrobatic movement with gun and sword kills. To outmanoeuvre enemies, players can slide along the floor, jump through the air or engage in a spot of wall running. Every time they do so while shooting, a Max Payne style bullet time slow-down comes into force, enabling the player to thump as many bad guys full of lead before the timer runs out. This creates some incredibly fun moments when enemies are dispatched in ever more brutal ways, with blood spattering all over the place. Kills can also be chained together to increase a multiplier to earn additional points and a better rating at the end of the sequence.

There are various well produced gameplay moments, such as sliding down a ladder backwards while firing at the unfortunates below. As Rubi always duel-wields weapons, she automatically targets one foe while the reticule hammers away at another. A katana can also be used for some brutal up-close kills, which prove immensely satisfying. The game does a good job of gradually easing the player into Rubi's individual abilities and showing how they work with the environment.

Gameplay focuses on Prince Of Persia-style platforming, general combat and quick-time sequences, such as one where Rubi dives between exploding cars on a highway. During the levels, players also encounter locked combat arenas where enemies keep coming until a series of spawn doors are closed. Constantly spawning enemies is generally an odious proposition, but Wet bucks the trend by allowing the player to really go nuts with ever more extravagant streams of kills, and then earn a performance rating at the end. Strong performance in the arenas earns points to upgrade Rubi's weapons and abilities, such as better ways to dispatch enemies or just stay alive during the mayhem.

The big problem with Wet, though, is that there is a certain predictability to everything, even despite the fact that the action is mixed up fairly regularly. There are times when the preposterousness of the whole experience just gets a little tiring. Rubi always has two guns - starting with pistols, then shotguns, submachine guns and crossbows - which are pretty much always packed with ammunition and rarely need to reload. It's great to be able to mash away at the trigger, but this gets a tad repetitive after a while. Other moments when Rubi's face gets covered in blood, leading to stylised red, black and white coloured sequences, add little to the experience and also prove quite confusing to navigate.

These issues are not helped by some quite messy visual presentation. A deliberately grainy, B-movie style filter has been placed over everything, which largely works well. However, there are just too many rough edges to the game. The cutscenes are badly animated and the lip syncing is poor, which is compounded by some stereotyped dialogue overly packed with swearing. The soundtrack, however, is really strong, with the rock and funk numbers all feeling really well placed. Indeed, the presentation issues never become sufficiently irritating enough to entirely ruin the experience.

Overall, Wet packs enough punch to outpace its flaws. Just as the game creates moments of annoyance for the player, and there are many, it then allows them to do a huge jump, blast three enemies and then slash another one in half with a sword. It's rather hard to stay mad after that sort of fun. Should the IP develop into a series, then the gameplay and presentation must be tightened up, and a more coherent narrative wouldn't hurt. In the meantime, bloodthirsty combat and blockbuster action ensure that it's still well worth jumping in and getting seriously Wet.