Reviewed: August 18, 2009
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Electronic Arts

Developer
Double Helix

Released: August 4, 2009
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2

7
7
8
7
7.6

Supported Features

But as I got bigger and JOE and his friends got smaller - much smaller - we parted ways. I was aware of the cartoons but I didn’t watch them. I figured that much like Transformers, Hasbro was using these cartoons as 30-minute commercials to sell their toys, but when the movie was announced I have to admit I was more than curious. So, I’ve seen the movie and it was amazing – best action movie since Star Trek in my opinion – and I’ve been playing the movie-inspired video game for a few days now and am ready for my debriefing.

I was worried going into this review, as is the case with any movie game, but rather than try to emulate or replicate the film EA and Double Helix only took elements, the scenarios, the voice cast, and a host of unlockable JOES and Cobras, then spun a good old-fashioned retro action-shooter around them to create a next-gen Contra game that will delight gamers whether they know JOE or not.

G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra is a straightforward pedal-to-the-medal shooter for one or preferably, two players, that will have you playing as Duke, Heavy Duty, and ten other JOES, each with their own set of weapons and special abilities as well as four playable Cobra villains. The gameplay is all action all the time. In fact you seldom need to remove your finger from the trigger. You move around large but linear levels, shooting everyone and everything in sight. You collect various pieces of intel and other secret items, and build up your suit power until you can hit the Y button and unleash one of the best power-up moments in a shooter, complete with classic GO JOE and patriotic theme music you’ll be humming long after the power-up expires.

While the game does an admirable job of redressing the environments, outdoor levels, indoor levels, snow worlds, jungle worlds, desert worlds, there is no denying that the gameplay is repetitive, but so is every other shooter made in the last 20 years. The Rise of Cobra is nothing more than a glorified next-gen version of Contra, and nobody is trying to hide that fact. As long as you know this going in you won’t be disappointed…and knowing is half the battle.

There are a few bad design decisions I had to suffer through but nothing that was game breaking. I would have enjoyed an online co-op mode. The two-player mode is infinitely more fun than playing by yourself but its not always easy to get a second player to sit down next to you when you want to play a game.

Another feature I didn’t care for was the checkpoint system and difficulty settings and the restrictions it imposed on the players. If you play on the casual mode you will instantly resurrect when you die and lose half your points. Fair enough, even at the expense of not getting a bonus multiplier at the end of a chapter, but when you play on Advanced if one of you dies that character is out of the game until the next checkpoint (3 per level), and some parts of this game are very hard to complete with only one character. If you play on the Hard setting any dead characters stay dead until the next level or until you restart the one you’re on.

A good example is the first time I came upon a teleporter – a device that allows you to swap out your current character for any other unlocked characters back at base. I needed to open a special door that only Heavy Duty could open, but my partner was playing HD and had already died making him unavailable for swapping, forcing us to restart the entire mission. This was about the time we both realized that we were going to have to play the game on Casual if we wanted to have any fun.

I enjoy a challenge but G.I. JOE can be pretty unforgiving at times, especially for a kid-targeted shooter. Even the designers seemed to have recognized this as they offer to let you restart at a lower difficulty without having to trudge through the menu system. I may go back and play on Advanced someday but I will never tempt fate with the Hard mode. I just don’t have the patience or time.

If you do find yourself playing solo you can swap between the two characters at will, making use of their skills and special weapons as new challenges present themselves. The A.I. does an impressive job of playing the other character and never dies, so you essentially have a second life traveling with you should you die and are playing on the advanced skill setting. Your own health is regenerating as long as you can take cover until you heal. There is a nice snap-to-cover system that allows you to hide behind any object, although most everything can be destroyed so cover is temporary at best.

The game does a great job of mixing up the gameplay, not only with multiple JOES, each with their own weapons and combat, but also by including shielded opponents that force you to engage in melee, and even some vehicle combat, although I personally found the vehicles problematic to control and even harder to aim accurately.

The Rise of Cobra looks impressive for its genre, mixing a director-controlled camera and a 3D world to provide a unique perspective on the gameplay. It’s not quite top-down, but it’s also not over-the-shoulder. It’s just far enough out so two people can play intelligently without fighting the borders of the screen. Just stick with your partner, share the power-ups, and this game will be a totally fun experience for both.

The levels are vast and there are great textures and artistic details. The cutscenes don’t go for hyperrealism but rather keep things in the comic book or animated series zone. It’s all very stylish, yet extremely polished when you get into the levels and see all the small touches they’ve included like the HD on Heavy Duty's backpack. Explosions are frequent and look amazing with fire and smoke, and most everything in the game can be destroyed to some level.

The sound design is excellent with many actors from the movie lending their voices to the game. There is some great music, both from the film and the classic American Hero theme when you power-up your suit. Gunfire dominates most of the sound mix and comes at you from all speakers, accented with powerful explosions that had my subwoofer working overtime.

G.I. Joe is an 8-10 hour game, at least if you play it on Casual. There is a ton of unlockables and a nice “store” option to purchase more JOES and a viewer to check out all the art and cards you will unlock throughout the game. A host of achievements will keep you coming back longer than you’d expect, but most of all, this is an arcade shooter that keeps scores – REAL SCORES, and whenever you have the quest for high scores you have a game that has infinite potential, especially when it offers such mindless, addicting, and challenging fun.

G.I. JOE fans will certainly enjoy all the subtle nods and insider references contained within this game, and even though it doesn’t follow the movie, it can still ride the momentum and hype from the film. There is a new awareness of the G.I. Joe franchise and the designers have managed to capitalize on the buzz without selling out the franchise. The Rise of Cobra is not without its faults, but if you scratch the surface just the slightest you’ll find a surprisingly fun game that will put your reflexes and arcade gaming skills to the ultimate test.