827th played so far
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: Nintendo 64
Year of Release: 1998
Developer: Zed Two
Publisher: Ocean/Infogrames
Time for our next Nintendo 64 title of the batch. Wetrix has always been an interesting entry on the list – as much a tech demo for water physics as it’s a puzzle game using them. It’s an interesting concept, but I’ll have to see where they end up taking it.
Our Thoughts
Very few games have a Dutch translation – even those made in the Netherlands or Belgium don’t tend to unless they’re aimed at a very local audience or young kids. Seeing it in Wetrix, then, was an unexpected surprise and I had to try the (at times awkward) translation for myself. Nobody else would probably care, but I thought it was a nice feature.
Wetrix itself is a pretty straight forward puzzle game. You raise and lower the landscape and occasionally get to dump water on top (in a place you specify). Your goal is to make sure as little water as possible leaves the playing field – too much and you lose. It’s not too complex, but like good puzzle games the simplicity is effective.
The downside is that the game doesn’t do much more with the system. There are no designed levels or individual puzzles to solve, just semi-random combinations on a blank field. It lacks a bit of longevity there to keep you going. It’s more impressive technologically, with the simulated flow of water feeling impressive even now, it’s still something we don’t see in that many games.
Final Thoughts
Wetrix doesn’t feel like a game I could play for hours at a time, but it’s great to dip into every once in a while to play a few levels and see what happens to the game. While this could easily feel like a tech demo, Wetrix goes beyond that to create an addictive enough puzzle game. We own the sequel – I should give it a try at some point.