Rubi’s All ‘Wet’

Rubi’s all wet.

Wet with blood that is.

Forgive us if we like it- if we like it, a lot.

Currently a demo on X-Box 360 marketplace and set for a Sept. 15 release on the console, Bethesda’s newest action shooter, “Wet,” is making splashes, due to an engaging graphical engine, excellent physics and empowering gameplay, creating a title that looks like the best action shooter since Max Payne.

Things are far from perfect here however, but lets get to the good stuff first.

Imagine if you will a combination of “Tomb Raider,” “Prince of Persia,” Devil May Cry” and “Max Payne” and you essentially have the foundation of “Wet.” Now what originally sounds derivative in fact becomes extremely stylish, especially when the game feels like it’s being played in a world created by comic book legend Frank Miller. Because of that, “Wet” is something special in its own right.

The game’s main character, Rubi, is just as sexy as Lara Croft, despite not being as buxom and having quite a potty mouth. Regardless, what she lacks in heaving bosoms is more than made up for in her ability to kill.

Able to scroll walls, swing on poles and perform various other types of acrobatics, Rubi can easily be be compared to “Shinobi” or “Ninja Gaiden,” but overall the experience feels more like “Prince of Persia.” Because of that, fans of these series’ will be able to get into a groove rather quickly and enjoy the game. Being able to use a sword, in addition to a pair of guns, “Wet” caters to both beat-em-up fans that like their gameplay quick and brutal or to more seasoned gamers that prefer to make good use of the slo-mo aspects of the game and avoid enemy attacks.

The game also features gameplay aspects that have been made famous in games like “God of War” and “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows” that force you to push buttons during the correct times to continue battles and progress the story. Again, while it’s easy to say that the developers have created an amalgam of successful gameplay elements and put a sex kitten in the middle to make some dough would be an insult. For the post part, all of these additions work well and add to the overall experience, making for an extremely gratifying shooting and slashing bonanza.

Nonetheless, a tricky camera that makes it difficult to spot enemies at times is something that needs to be tightened before the game goes out to ship. The same thing goes for the enemy A.I., which is far from perfect. On one instance during the demo, in the square that is barricaded by two trucks, one enemy stood behind a column and was firing away for nearly five minutes, locked in the spot. This was the only real situation we came across during the demo that showed serious A.I. problems, but aside from that, the enemies were a joke and fell down after a sword strike or a few bullets.

If the game is going to seriously thrive, the boss battles need to be a step above what the standard gameplay offers.

From the look of the last scene in the demo, that may indeed be the case, as the demo ends in grand fashion.

However, if the camera and A.I. aren’t tweaked, all the promise this game will quickly be relegated to solid, rather than spectacular. With no telling how far the game has come since the demo was released, “Wet” is definitely worth a taste, but it may be a tough call purchase-wise, especially with so many proven titles coming out around the same time.