STYLE KILLS SUBSTANCE WITH A BIG ASS SWORD: WET THE VIDEO GAME

Tron Evolution, The Matrix, Avatar, Blade Runner ... these are movies that are known for very distinct "looks" Looks achieved through special effects, CGI, cinematography or usual a combination of both. I think they are all successful movies, I think they are movies with stories far deeper than their glossy (or gritty) surfaces and yet it is those very surfaces, that distinct look, that helps to tell the story.

All these movies have style. They also have, in my opinion, as substance but it's a substance that you can't truly appreciate without that style.

These considerations can be applied to another visual medium: video games. One of my favorite video games was Max Payne (and its sequel) never to be confused with the so called movie of the same time. Max was drenched in style, from the world weary Noir narration, to the comic book like panels to the distressed colour panel. It was one of the first games that I played that struck me as being truly cinematic. And it had a story, a fairly good mystery story with some compassion. So style, with substance.

Which brings us to the latest game I'm playing. Like all the games I prefer, it is a first person shooter, an action game with an intriguing protagonist. It is so drenched it style it may leave a stain. But substance ...?

I give you Wet, the video game.

Look at the cover, say the word Wet again ... OK enough of that, don't be crude. No on second thought it's OK to be a little crude but it isn't that kind of game. Well, not exactly.

Wet is an action game. It features Rubi Malone, a modern day gun .. and sword ... for hire. The game is all about Rubi. It is a third person shooter and you control Rubi as she moves through a sleazy crime world on some kind of path of mayhem.

Rubi is a lot of fun. She is an over the top female bad ass. Living in some kind of run down plane graveyard in Texas called the Boneyard, Rubi is deadly with her twin pistols and her sword and she is all kick ass and rough edges. Think of her as Kill Bill's the Bride's redneck cousin. There is, in fact, a lot of Tarantino influence in this game. It is presented as a grindhouse movie, complete with cheesy drive in style intermissions, a scratchy old film filter and when Rubi dies (and in my control Rubi dies a lot) we get melted film frames.

I like this game because it does not shy away from its less the B Movie aspirations. In most games of this sort, you must control your character's health. They get shot up and their health falters. Usually you refresh their health by find a med pack, or taking pills ... Rubi drinks a bottle of whiskey then tosses it into the air and shoots the crap out of it. Yeh, she's a real debutant. Wet likes to play with video game conventions. In most games you can gain points or unlock features by collecting objects throughout the world. In Wet, Rubi collects little cymbal banging monkies. I don't know why. I'm not sure I want to know

A common trait for most shooters is, of course, weapons. Rubi starts out with her sword and twin revolvers. You can unlock more weapons as you progress through the game. But Wet is not a game that hinges its playing experience on logic. It any other game I've played, ammo or the lack of it becomes an issue. Not here. If you stick to Rubi's six guns you never have to reload and you never run out of ammo. Hell, why let reality intrude with the girl's bad assery.

Rubi can not only shoot and slay multiple enemies with one swipe of her sword, she can move. Like another one of my favorite games, Mirrors Edge, you can make Rubi jump, slide, wall run, flip, vault, swing and all other manners of acrobatic moves ... and she can still shoot while doing all of them. I enjoyed the character of Faith in Mirrors Edge, she was skilled and brave. But I fear Rubi would be a bad influence on her. Or maybe keep her tied up at the Boneyard for god knows what kind of shenanigans.

Rubi is beyond your usual chick bad assery. Rubi may be a little bit insane. At certain moments in the game, Rubi will shoot someone point black and get blood blow back on her face .... when this happens, she goes into Rage Mode. The graphics change into red and white line drawings, blood becomes black and oh my goodness there is a lot of black. None of it makes sense. But oh my goodness, it sure is fun

Wet has Rubi's blade slicing through bad guy torso's and its tongue firmly implanted in its cheek. There are a lot of little bits of just pure goofiness. There are moments in the game where Rubi has to ride in elevators. We observe her through security cams. Most of the time she taps her foot and impatiently jabs the button; no waiting for our girl, there is whiskey to drink and bad guys to explode. Fair enough. But then there is the scene in an elevator where Rubi suddenly produces a harmonica and begins playing ... It is a truly special "what the fuck" moment

Another fun thing about Wet, and one of its strongest components is the music. This game has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. Dozens of bands provide songs that are definitely out of the Tarantion-Rodriqez camp; hard fast jangly punky twangy southwestern drum driven darkly comic gems. The first time Rubi goes into Rage Mode the lyrics are something like "my girl friend is insane, 4 out of 4 doctors agree she's a menace to society" Seriously, how fucking cool is that.

So Wet has style .. 60's era matte black huge finned Cadillac sized style. But does it have substance. Well the story well, really isn't. I haven't finished the game but I can see that clearly story isn't an issue here. This isn't about story. This is about putting Rubi through her paces, giving her dozens and dozens of bad guys to spatter, giving her the opportunity to slide upside down, down a ladder with her legs while she unloads with her twin pistols ..

It's about fun, story be damned. Elements are thrown in here simply for the sake of making you laugh and say "holy shit, that's cool" I can sometimes accept that in movies and I'm even more willing to do so in a video game. Yes, I've played games with very compelling stories but in the long run, I just want to waste a little time, enter a entertaining world or meet and fun character.

And Rubi Malone is fun. Just don't tell her I said so. I'm not sure she has a sense of humour. And trust me, I don't want to piss her off