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When you think of games published by the likes of Bethesda Softworks, we’ve grown to expect games that are heavily weighted (sometimes too much) and relatively slow-moving. WET, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of The Elder Scrolls. It’s fast paced, tight and linear, and it’s better because of it.

The main protagonist is Rubi Malone, a gritty, no-holds-barred, contract killer, who isn’t afraid of getting her hands wet for the right amount of cash. Hence the games name, which itself defines the slang term ‘wet’ as meaning getting your hands bloody.

Rubi gets thrown into a non-stop, slaughterfest that is portrayed in a way that would make Tarantino proud. The game lends itself to several films and other video games, ranging from Kill Bill (this one’s so obviously influenced this game I’m surprised Rubi isn’t donning a yellow tracksuit) all the way over to the Wii’s slash-and-shoot-em-up, Red Steel. Following on from the latter point, WET does what Red Steel tried to do and more. It gives you a sword and a gun and lets you use them in a variety of ways that will make gore-lovers drool; the odd severed limb can be seen after Rubi has finished with a room full of henchmen.

There are no in-game loading screens per say, instead you get old fashioned adverts that advise you on some good nosh, whether it is the classic hot dog or the not-so-appealing gherkin (pickle) in a bag. You will also get the occasional lift loading screen that features black and white CCTV footage of Rubi looking bored or playing away on her harmonica. Don’t worry though; these loading screens are never more than around 10 seconds.

The missions in the game and the story itself are quite basic. You are basically running or jumping your way from A to B, dishing out bullets or sword cuts non-stop to anyone in your way. This is refreshingly spliced with unique gaming moments like a car chase and free falling from an exploding plane as the debris rains down around you and in front of you, while you take advantage of Rubi’s ability to make everything go slow motion so you can squeeze between tiny gaps.

Every now and again, a mission will start with Rubi automatically shooting an enemy and the resultant blood splatter on her face causes her to go psycho. The next section of the mission will all be in vivid red, black and white colours and Rubi will go hyper, allowing you to slice up and shoot enemies at a ridiculous pace.

The game features Quick Time Events quite prominently, especially in the bespoke scenes, such as the car chase, where tapping the relevant buttons will allow you to jump, dodge or stab enemies.

In terms of variety the game offers 5 different weapons, which unlock throughout the game. Rubi starts off with her sword and the standard dual pistols, which have unlimited ammo, and later gains access to shotguns, sub-machine guns and a crossbow. WET also features an upgrade system where you can spend points that are obtained for getting kill combos and finding point pick-ups. You can upgrade the weapons (fire rate, power and capacity) and you can also buy new Rubi abilities, which can be anything from new acrobatic moves to being able to shoot while on a zip line.

Overall WET is gritty, dirty and graphically inferior to many of the games coming out at the moment. But all of this just seems to add to the style of the game, especially the film grain effect, which gives the game the Tarantino-esque it is obviously striving for. The story is about 8 hours long and probably won’t offer much of a reason to return to it and without a multiplayer the game has very low replay value, however, even playing through the missions just a couple of times is worth every penny for the amount of class this game just oozes.

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