‘Wet’ part ‘Kill Bill,’ part ‘Tomb Raider’
In "Wet," Rubi is just minding her own business as a sexy mercenary, an angry cuss wearing chest-tight leather with an itch to scratch. Then, this big mob guy tells her how much he likes her, and asks, can he hire her for a killing job?
Rubi shouldn't take him on his word, but she does. Next thing you know, she gets the old double-cross from this new scum. And so, Rubi goes into revenge mode. She will shoot. She will swing a sword. Many people will lose their heads, arms and crotches.
That's the violent story behind "Wet," one of the most creative games of the year, but also too short to be considered great.
You play as Rubi. She's a dirty looker in full lips, feathered hair, sharply raised eyebrows, black leather and gun holsters.
She moves with a signature style borrowed from others. She runs across walls supernaturally (like "Prince of Persia"); she climbs up walls and leaps from pole to pole as a gymnast would (like Lara Croft in "Tomb Raider"); and time goes into slow motion when she jumps or slides on her knees while firing a gun (like "Max Payne").
Rubi uses these acrobatic moves so frequently to shoot and sword people to death, I think of "Wet" as Cirque du Slay.
Rubi has borrowed from the best. The female-killing flow seems at times to resemble "Kill Bill Vol. 1," with Rubi slicing bad guys two-by-two. And the stellar visuals -- camera angles and set designs -- are reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's grindhouse film projects.
Some reviewers will criticize "Wet" for not being wholly original, to say the least. But the developers have fully acknowledged their influences and, more important, "Wet" works. There's a rage mode occasionally where everything on the screen turns either red or black, creating a striking silhouette style, and that mode alone is stunning.
Also, the killing mechanics (shooting, swording) are mostly smooth. And the place settings are varied from an Asian town to a "Matrix"-like car-jumping routine, and beyond.
In the most arresting level, you fall from an airplane, then you shoot men who also fell out of the plane and are descending to their deaths as you are, then you dodge plane debris (tricky), then you look for a parachute amid the falling-sky debris. This is fairly exhilarating.
All the action comes with constant music from bands playing punkbilly, punk-surf and other grindhouse-ready sounds.
The bummer: You can finish the game in 10 hours, on its moderately challenging mode, if you're a regular gamer. And there's no multiplayer to keep you gaming. So replay value seems low to me.
The dialogue between action is swift and comically brutal, such as when you paralyze a bad guy who says he can't feel his legs, then he curses you. Rubi responds, "You should have stopped at 'I can't feel my legs,' " and proceeds to blow him up with fire and gas. See, I told you she's an angry cuss.
("Wet" by Bethesday retails for $60 for PS 3 and Xbox 360 -- Plays quite fun, but too short. Looks outstanding. Challenging to very challenging, depending on settings you choose. Rated "M" for blood, gore, drug reference, intense violence, sexual content and strong language. Three stars out of four.)
Doug Elfman's column appears Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. E-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
NEW IN STORES
"Halo 3: ODST" (Microsoft) is the newest "Halo" shooter. Yes, it's a shooter, unlike the most recent strategy-action title, the disappointing "Halo Wars."
Not that you need to care, but "ODST" stands for "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers." Yeah, that's silly. But the game returns "Halo" to its 26th century action roots, but with twists, and that's potentially very good.
"ODST" takes place in the time before "Halo 3." You play as a rookie ODST soldier dropped into the interplanetary hostile zone of New Mombasa. This is a shooter, but it's also a sort of detective run-through, so you have to find and study clues to puzzles.
Since you're not playing as "Halo" hero Master Chief, you run slower with less protective gear. Guns: machine gun, pistol, sniper rifle and plenty of other weaponry.
There's also a subplot in the game called "Sadie's Story," which has you checking out the life of a local resident just before the big destruction from "Halo 2."
And the game comes with the online multiplayer for "Halo 3," instead of setting up a whole new multiplayer, packaged with 24 maps, three of them new. In all, you can play solo, cooperative mode, survival-cooperative or multiplayer.
The game retails for $60 for Xbox 360. It's rated "M" for blood, language and violence.
"Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection" (Crave) lets old-time gamers remember the days when video games were nothing, and pinball machines were everything.
"Williams Collection" comes with exact visual and physics replications of its classics "Black Knight," "Funhouse," "Pinbot," "Taxi," "Space Shuttle," "Gorgar," "Jive Time," "Sorcerer," "Firepower" and Whirlwind.
This game came out last year for Wii and PS 2. At the time, I called it the best pinball video game I'd ever seen. Now here it is available for the Xbox 360 and PS 3.
The game retails for $40 for Xbox 360 and PS 3. Somehow, it's rated "E 10+" for animated blood, mild violence and suggestive themes.
"Rock Band Metal Track Pack" (EA) is the latest expansion disc for owners of "Rock Band."
It comes with 20 songs, some of them previously downloadable, including: Queens of the Stone Age's "3's and 7's"; Rage Against The Machine's "Bulls on Parade"; Lacuna Coil's "Closer"; Motorhead's "Killed by Death"; Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance"; and Blue Oyster Cult's "Transmaniacon MC."
The game retails for $30 for Wii, Xbox 360, PS 3 and PS 2. It's rated "T" for mild lyrics.
"The Price is Right 2010 Edition" (Ubisoft) is, naturally, a game based on the TV game show. You custom-make your own contestant and play 30 "Price" subgames, from "Plinko" to "Cliff Hangers," "Safe Crackers" and the dice game.
The game retails for $40 for Wii; $30 for DS. It's rated "E" for alcohol reference, mild language.
-- By DOUG ELFMAN
