"This is Kill Bill, the video game!"

I've heard my girlfriend make that statement a good dozen times now to friends, on podcasts...anytime she's discussing the game Wet. The Bride isn't quite as acrobatic (or as much of a boozer) as Rubi Malone, the game's protagonist, but I see her point.

This goes well beyond simply "bad-ass chick with a sword," too. Wet's gritty grindhouse style just screams Tarantino and plenty of other non-traditional Hollywood influences. The art direction's so good in fact, we almost forget we're watching game cut scenes.

Curious if some Hollywood type did have his hands in the game, I asked Wet Creative Director Patrick Fortier how exactly they put the style in this stylish third-person shooter.

Here are his thoughts on...

Rubi:

"Rubi has a 'Sergio Leone' sort of vibe with her twin old-style pistols and her 'strong quiet attitude' -- a kind of contemporary take on Clint Eastwood’s 'Man with No Name' character."

The story:

"The storyline is more of a '70s-flavored affair inspired by the Charles Bronson movies of the same era -- Death Wish, The Mechanic, etc. -- with elements of betrayal and revenge."

The gameplay:

"We were really trying to recreate in a video game the sort of energy and pace of fights found in Kill Bill or Desperado -- high flying, high body count, very stylized execution with very spectacular and totally outrageous moves. We also looked at Asian movies like Hard Boiled, The Killer, and other John Woo classics."

The visuals:

"The look of the game itself is heavily filtered with film grain and a constant 'projector' effect, some noise and crud on the camera lens, and some flickering here and there. This is made to match exploitation movies in general since the reels got played so much over the course of a day, everything has that dirty, worn-out feeling to it."

The cinemas:

"The cut scenes were handled by Attitude Studios. These guys have a lot of experience making cut scenes for games. The director was Antoine Charreyron. He really took to the style and vibe of the game, and really let loose on the cut scenes to have them portray the same off-beat, dynamic feeling we were striving for.

"There are a lot of really cool camera angles, quick cuts, trash zooms, and all kinds of other little touches that really makes the cut scenes stand out and entertaining to watch. It’s all a little off kilter, but it really works for our game and really blends well with everything else."