Wetrix

"Stay OUT of the water. I repeat. Stay OUT of the water."

Wetrix was a game that peaked my interest at the time of its announcement. A unique take on Tetris - Sounds neat, huh? Well, the concept is, anyways. No longer would players be restricted to blocks raining down on a 2-D map. In Wetrix, they would build up raining mountains in a 3-D environment, wtih a few twists here and there. Unfortunately, the final product was very unpolished, enough that it hurt the entire premise of the game.

Story: N/A

Gameplay:
Wetrix offers players various different modes to play. The one-player mode, Wetrix Classic, is the meat of the game. The game begins immediately, with a flat rectangular surface. Suddenly, mountainside will begin raining from the sky (yeah, it's a little weird), and the player will take control of the mountains and can position them around until they land on the surface, where they become solid. The goal is to build up some sort of basin. Why, you ask? Well, soon enough, giant water droplets will begin raining from the sky. The player must trap these water bubbles inside of a mountain basin to prevent it from leaking out. If enough water leaks out, it's game over for you.

So what exactly is so flawed about the gameplay, you ask? Well, first, it gets incredibly frustrating. Unlike Tetris, which has you hooked the entire time as you steadily progress to harder and harder stages, Wetrix has no balance in difficulty. It throws you right into the hard stuff at the beginning, with no extra "levels" for surviving as long as possible. The goal is simply to rack up high scores, which gets old, fast. The other modes don't offer much, either.

Multiplayer:
Multiplayer is most likely the best part of the game, which is rather fun, considering how the goal is simply to outlast your opponent. It gets quite frantic and fun. If only the single-player were on-par with the multiplayer, then maybe we'd have a winning puzzler on our hands.

Graphics/Sound:
The graphics are actually fairly impressive for a Nintendo 64 game. The ripple effects and the water textures are among the most advanced on the gaming era. Sound is a little less-impressive. The music isn't very noticeable, and even then, it's not something you're bound to remember until the next time you flip on the game.

Replay Value: Moderately Low
For single-player, this game will have you coming back for...about 30 minutes. It gets old quickly. Multiplayer replay value is significantly higher, but is really only good for parties. Even then, though, there are better titles than Wetrix you'll want to have as a party.

Final Verdict:
This is the perfect example of good innovation gone awry. It's maybe worth a buck or two if you find it that cheap, but I'll take Tetris any day over this (and you most likely would, too).

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 07/01/05