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DEVELOPER
Infogrames
PUBLISHER
Infogrames
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
Cartridge
PLAYERS
Two
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 ell isn't this just grand? Another puzzle game with a name that bears an odd similarity to the Tetris label. Following hot on the heals of the N64's other puzzling title Tetrisphere, Infogrames brings you Wetrix, which is basically Tetris except it's slightly moist.
The aim of the game is simple. You are given a flat three dimensional platform, which has the uncanny ability to attract different objects of varying shapes and sizes to fall from the sky. The primary objects you have to worry about are the little globs of water that come splashing down, threatening to drip over the sides and cause all sorts of havoc. That's where you come in. Your goal is to stop the water from dripping over the sides by creating walls to contain the water.
You create these walls by navigating and rotating large chunks of rock that fall from the sky, directing them to form pools and lakes of various sizes in which the water can be contained. The more lakes and pools you have, the better. As time goes on, you'll be faced with rising water levels, earthquakes, rain, and other complications that will cause leaks and necessitate different strategies in managing the water, such as reducing the number of lakes on your platform and so on.
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Despite the strange but mild fuzzy hue over the on-screen graphics, the
water effects are absolutely brilliant.
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Although the basic idea presented by this game sounds limited, its serious puzzling elements are revealed in the objects you can manipulate other than rock and water. For instance, there are explosive devices that will destroy whatever rock it touches; ice cubes that solidify everything immediately within a pool; and fireballs that melt, evaporate, and generally turns rock to rubble. When you factor that in with the water and rocks, you get quite a bit of mayhem as you try to decide which walls are expendable to an incoming fireball, rush to fix up a wall before the ice melts, and curse as the CPU doesn't give you a chunk of rock to plug up a damned leak.
On that alone, the game appears absolutely fine. The gameplay is frantic, the controls are solid, and there's even a 2-player competitive mode to spruce up the value-for-money of the game. The visuals are also quite impressive. Despite the strange but mild fuzzy hue over the on-screen graphics, the water effects are absolutely brilliant. They flow, reflect, splash, and evaporate in very convincing fashion, similar to the water effects seen in Banjo Kazooie. The music and sounds effects aren't anything particularly special, but it's of little importance considering that this is a puzzle game.
There are, however, a couple of problems that spoil what can otherwise be considered to be excellent gameplay. The first is that there is no discernible scoring system. Of course, in a game of this type, scoring should be irrelevant as the aim is purely to survive. In single-player mode, it is not much of a concern. In two-player mode it becomes frustrating in that not only do you lack an ability to see who scored higher, but you also lack any ability to affect the efforts of your opponent's game. In other head-to-head puzzle games, you can destroy certain numbers of blocks and send them over to your opponent, or something in that vain. Wetrix has no such interaction which, aside from physically enduring through the game for a greater period of time with somebody sitting next to you, removes any sense of real competition that the feature is meant to have.
The second more concerning problem is in the leaks that you are meant to plug up. The leaks are an integral part of the game. If they are left to leak for too long, then it's game over. In that respect, a large portion of the game is actually spent on plugging up actual and potential leaks, and building up walls to give yourself some breathing space. However, you'll eventually discover that these leaks appear virtually at random, and not through any doing (or lack thereof) of your own. Sure, there might be a little meter on the side of the screen indicating how close you are coming to overflow, but the fact that the overflow is not related to what you have done takes away one of the most important elements of puzzle games: detail. Hard core puzzle game fans are control freaks. Every little detail in the game must be within their control. Puzzle games provide a sterile environment with known and controlled variables that test the mind's abilities within the given parameters. When a random element such as the leaks are thrown in, the controlled environment is lost. Instead of knowing exactly why a leak has occurred and how it can be dealt with, you will be required to actively think on your feet, trying to prevent a set of circumstances that occur without rhyme or reason. When that happens, every other strategy gets thrown out the door. While active thinking is a good thing (this is like the distinction between turn-based and real time strategy), a lot of puzzle fans will be in unfamiliar territory. Given that this is strictly a puzzle game, many would react negatively.
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In two-player mode it becomes frustrating in that not only do you lack an ability to see who scored higher, but you also lack any ability to affect the efforts of your opponent's game.
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So to finish up, Wetrix is quite a unique puzzle game with excellent and addictive gameplay elements that are sure to get people hooked for hours. However, hard core fans would be very quick to point out that the important details have been left out, which will easily turn off most puzzle enthusiasts. Otherwise, mainstream gamers will probably like it.
-- Kevin Cheung
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