Wet is a messy job. The 2009 third-person shooter from Artificial Mind & Movement asks players to move fast, aim twice, and walk away covered in blood. It is a game about a bounty hunter named Rubi Malone who gets pulled into a conspiracy involving a stolen heart, a fake boss, and a drug lord who wants her dead. It is also a game that understands its own pulpy ambitions better than most shooters of its era.
The game’s title comes from the euphemism “wet work” — a job that gets your hands bloody. That is the whole pitch. Rubi carries twin pistols and a sword, and she can fire while jumping, sliding, or running along walls. The game enters slow motion during these acrobatic moves, and she automatically aims at a second enemy, letting the player target two foes at once. It is a simple idea, and it works.
Rubi Malone and Her Contract
Rubi Malone is a “problem-solver,” the game’s own term for a bounty hunter and general mercenary. She is voiced by actress Eliza Dushku, who brings a cool, weary presence to the role. The story opens with a briefcase hijack, a job that goes badly and leaves Rubi with a body count. She delivers the case to a hospital, where it contains a human heart that a powerful man named William Ackers needs to survive.
One year later, Ackers hires Rubi to bring back his son, who has fallen in with a bad crowd. Rubi travels to Hong Kong, consults with a local friend named Ming, and kidnaps the younger Ackers. She delivers him to his father in London, only to discover that the man who hired her is an imposter — a rival of the real Ackers. His bodyguards decapitate the son, stab Rubi, and leave her for dead.
Rubi recovers with the help of a friend named Milo and sets out to track down the fake Ackers and his gang. She does a favor for a shady woman named Kafka, stealing a rare book bound for the British Museum. Kafka puts her on the trail of “Ackers,” who is revealed to be a drug lord named Rupert Pelham, played by Malcolm McDowell. The trail takes Rubi back to Hong Kong and then to London, where she is captured by Pelham’s subordinate, Sorrell, played by Alan Cumming.
Sorrell tortures Rubi for information but confesses that Pelham is moving in on the real Ackers that night. Rubi escapes, kills Sorrell, and confronts Pelham at Ackers’s mansion. The final act is a bloody confrontation that caps off a story full of betrayal and vengeance.
The Fighting System
The core of Wet is its combination of shooting and swordplay. Rubi can switch between pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, and crossbows, and she can fire while sliding on her knees or running along walls. The game enters slow motion during these acrobatic actions, and she automatically aims at a second enemy, letting the player shoot at two foes at once. It is a clever system that rewards aggression.
Rubi can also combine her attacks. She can wall run off a person, perform a sword uppercut while sliding, or string together a series of strikes and gunfire. Racking up kills and collecting multiplier icons gains multipliers, which increase score and the rate at which Rubi regenerates health. She can also regain health by finding bottles of whiskey scattered through the levels.
In some sections, Rubi’s face gets covered in blood and she goes into a murderous, berserker-like rage. These sections are presented in noir style, with bold red, black, and white visuals. Rubi’s attacks become faster and stronger to fight against large numbers of enemies, and killing chains of enemies extends her psychotic fury.
“She can also carry dual shotguns, submachine guns, or crossbows.”
Performance and Presentation
The game received mixed reviews from critics. It garnered praise for its gameplay, music, and production values, but was criticized for its graphics, levels, and lack of innovation. That split is easy to see. Wet is a technical showcase that pushes the PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware, but its levels feel repetitive and its ideas are thin.
The visual design leans heavily on the noir color scheme, with red, black, and white dominating the screen during Rubi’s berserker rages. The score is moody and atmospheric, matching the tone of a bounty hunter’s bloody contract. The animation is fluid, and Rubi’s movements are expressive — she slides, jumps, and runs along walls with a grace that few shooters of the era matched.
But the levels themselves are where the game stumbles. Many sections repeat the same layout of corridors and rooms, with enemies placed in predictable spots. The pacing drags in the middle of the campaign, and the game’s ambition to be a stylish, violent thriller is undercut by a lack of variety in its environments.
What Works and What Falls Short
The strengths of Wet are its mechanics and its presentation. The fighting system is satisfying, and the slow-motion acrobatics give the player a sense of control that most shooters do not offer. The voice acting is strong, with Dushku carrying the lead role with a confident, worn-out energy that fits the character. The music and sound design support the noir aesthetic, creating a tense atmosphere that the game mostly lives up to.
The weaknesses are structural. The levels are too similar, and the campaign loses momentum in its middle stretch. The game’s ambition to be a stylish, violent thriller is undercut by a lack of variety in its environments. It is a game that knows what it wants to be — a stylish, violent thriller — but it does not always deliver the depth to back it up.
The sequel was announced in 2011 but was cancelled. That cancellation speaks to the game’s commercial performance. Wet sold 1 million units, a modest result for a game with a big ambition and a small audience. The game’s reputation has aged better than its sales figures suggest, but the critical split remains: praised by some, dismissed by others.
The Final Word
Wet is a game that understands its own pulpy ambitions better than most shooters of its era. It is a game about a bounty hunter who gets pulled into a conspiracy, and it executes that premise with a fighting system that is genuinely fun. The slow-motion acrobatics, the dual targeting, and the berserker rage all work together to create a satisfying loop of violence.
But the game’s levels and pacing hold it back. The campaign is too long and too similar, and the middle stretch drags. It is a game that is best played in short bursts, where its mechanics shine, and less effective as a long-term commitment.
Wet is a game worth playing for its mechanics and its presentation, but not for its length. It is a flawed masterpiece of a shooting game, and it deserves credit for trying to be something different. It is a game that understands its own bloody premise and executes it with a confidence that few shooters of its era matched.
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