Wet isn't a particularly good game, and only the most forgiving gamers will enjoy it.
What I disliked : Arenas are the most stupid idea - ever. Platforming is badly executed. Jumping sequences are bad. Relies too often on trial and error. Pea-shooting mechanics. Lame animations. Subpar graphics. - Music at some point can get on your nerves especially during the '' rage '' sequences.
So here it is. The ugliest game of E3. When A2M started to show the gameplay videos of this game, we all knew it ; this game is going to be very, very lame. Well, we were wrong. It's not lame at all, but we were also a bit right ; it's not a good game either.
Wet is basically a Stranglehold / Death to Rights type of game. You jump around in slow-mo while gunblazing enemies on all angles and slicing people's arms off. Sounds like your type of game? Well, keep on reading. If not, hit back on your browser.
The gameplay of Wet is a mixed bag. Sometimes it's fun to execute all the moves you have at your disposal like jumping in the air, then falling on your side to slide on the ground, then go back on your feet, slice someone's face off, and so on. But too often, the game will pit you in very badly designed levels where it's not very natural to use all these moves. You'll often open a door only to have to fight one enemy. Don't try to shoot it without slo-mo ; Rubi's gun is very weak.
But if you magically decide to slow-mo jump into the nearby wall, then she'll use both of her pistols and the dual aiming kicks in, allowing you for quicker kills, and for multiple targeting at the same time.
Sometimes, it's quite good - when it works. See, the game thinks it'll let you do all these kind of moves by pitting you in arenas. The later are actually big rooms, filled with obstacles and decor elements for you to interact with to deliver pain in a more fashioned way.
Sadly, you'll most likely end up sliding on the ground, or wall-running withotu caring about the pole jumping and such, because while stationnary, flipping around a pole, you'll be a big and easy to kill target. Then, you'll have to 'destroy' some 'gates' that spawns infinite waves of enemies. Look guys, it's a good concept for some other mode, but during the main gameplay, it's quite bad.
Speaking of bad, they'll even put some sections, wich are unskippable, inbetween levels where you'll spawn in a training ground where you'll need to use your same-old manoeuvers to destroy targets. Training grounds are fine - but not during the main adventure. A2M should have put these gameplay segments into a different mode, called training or target practice.
That said, you'll also have to go through some phases called '' Rage Mode ''. Rage mode is basically the same thing than usual, except with a red, black and white filter that makes the game looks a ton better ( since the game isn't good looking on its own ; it's clearly a last-gen game with some high def sticker on it ). During Rage mode, you'll have to listen to the same song - on infinite loop - while trying to work your way until the door that'll finally relieve you from this nightmare. Why nightmare? Because the song is a headache fest with the same three lines over and over and over, and trying to figure out WHERE to go in some occasions is infuriating, especially if you have to retry it over and over, listening to that ska-punk-rock song.
Some levels, wich on paper sounded way too good, ended up being screwed on execution. At some point, you'll be free-falling from a plane and you'll have to pea-shoot your way out until a frustrating segment where you'll trial-and-error your way through some '' dodge the falling debris '' sequence. It took me around 8 tries to get it done, and seriously, it wasn't fun. Sure, it sounded amazing on paper, but actually doing it was a pain. Clearly not something i'd want to re-experience.
The platforming relies too much on trial and error, with some really bad animations, that it really makes you wonder what the hell the devs where thinking. It's boring, it's bland, it's filled with hazards that are impossible to avoid the first time through, and they're very uneeded.
The music in the game, except during rage mode, is quite fitting. It's not my taste of songs, but it clearly works for the game. It usualy kicks in at the right moment, but sometimes, it won't ; leaving you with a fight that should have some musical atmosphere on, and thats odd.
As for the graphics, keep the 70' films filter on, because if you take it off, you'll be left with a quite artistic game, devoid of any technical flavor. The game isn't a looker, and most enemies looks shamefully bad. Rubi looks alright, but that's about it, the rest of the game isn't dreadful, but it's clearly a game that could have been on the old xbox.
Overall, Wet isn't a good game. Sure, some of you who totally dig Tarentino's style to the point of being blind over every other of this game's elements will have fun with it, but for me, reaching the end within six hours of gameplay time felt horrible and boring.
Verdict : Pass.