Wetlands

Game is a nice on rail shooter, but beside a few regular missions at the beginning, it is barely playable. The most noticeable control issues are in the third mission in Zone 3. That part was to be played with a joystick, but the GOG version uses the mouse to simulate those controls (no option to change it to keyboard - devs fault, not GOG) and it is impossible to aim the target objectives. Later is even worse, the game speeds up to be an equivalent of a duck hunt from a speeding rollercoaster. I bought it because of it's animated FMVs, but unfortunately, could not see a half of them.

First of all, I've bought this game to have a digital copy of it. I own this game also as original CD-ROM. So I've played this game again after aeons. I had much fun playing this and would recommend this game to everyone who likes rail shooter. I guess, I don't have to talk much more about this game. You'll know it anyway ;) And then came Zone 3 and mission 3: Oxygen Approach. This level was designed to play it with a joystick. The transfer to mouse controls is just - IMPOSSIBLE to play. Maybe you wouldn't stuck your whole life but I'm quitting to play it further, because it's impossible and I can expect the devs would do their job and testing it before or at least fixing this. If they will fix it, I will play it. If not, I'm uninstalling and re-rate it to 1 star, because I've paid for 100% of the game and couldn't even play 50% because of it. SAD, but it is what it is for the moment :(

This is another one of those games that I wish I played back in the day. I'm sure my little 11 year old mind would have loved the FMV sci-fi story that Wetlands has delivered. The overall experience is in the same vein as other rail shooters such as Rebel Assault or Cyberia. But like most games of it's time, it's a bit rough to look at and to play. The controls alone are extremely dated, especially for something as simple as a rail shooter. All that said, this is worth the price if it has sparked your interest or even a little curious

NOTE: Haven't played the GOG version, which other reviews point to issues with. What an oddity. Wetlands was a FMV on-rails shooters that came from the school of Operation Wolf, and while it's competent and very, very challenging, that's all it is. It's a school of game design that evolved quickly, so this came across as something of a fossil. So it's competent, but was dated even for its time. What stood out was the high production value for the time. The animated cutscenes were lush and the voice acting was... comparatively... high quality. You'll recognize some old school anime veterans in here. I remember seeing the expert mix of CG and hand animation in the opening studio credit and being floored. But the game... an easy few levels quickly gives way to a nightmare of rapid hall-running, pixel-blasting action that tests reflexes and patience. I don't think I ever beat this fairly because on-rails shooters never even interested me that much (remember cheat codes and trainers?) but I had to indulge in the animation. I don't believe Wetlands ever made much of an impact because the first time I saw it, I bought it brand new for a few bucks. I'd wager that's still the price I'd pay.