Demo Play: WET (PS3)

Someone at Sega might be groaning a little bit. Why? Because WET bears a strong resemblance to the recent MadWorld for the Wii, except it is almost destined to sell better ... a bizarre statement on the relative demographics of the Wii and the combined PS3/360 market.

Let's chalk up some similarities. Both games revel in being uberviolent. Both games use a combo/movement system to chalk up specific kinds of kills. Both games offer a very singular design motif (MadWorld with it's Sin City TV concept ... WET following the Rodriguez/Tarantino movie vein). Both rely on arenas/environments as stages. And I'd say "both use Quick Time Events" ... but that's hardly getting specific in this day and age.

Don't get me wrong ... I'm not accusing WET of being a MadWorld clone or even necessarily being derivative ... but both games are taking some modern game dynamics and reaching the same conclusions.

Whether you find it entertaining, I think, will come down to a similar set of criteria, though. Basically - do you enjoy the base set of combos and how they work with the combat? Because you'll be doing them quite a bit. Jump, shoot, slice. Slide, shoot, slice. Wall run, shoot, slice. Pay close attention to the tutorial level ... because it's the very essence of the game.

It certainly gets style points, and like MadWorld, if you get into a good rhythm the game is fun to play and watch. Just not the highest on my anticipation list, but still keeping an eye on.