Chalk this up as yet another movie-to-video-game conversion that didn’t turn out
well. Since videogames hit the mainstream, companies have tried to release a
videogame tie-in to popular action movies. The problem is that most of the games
are hampered due to relativity short/rushed development time in order to get it
out by a certain date, and G.I. Joe: The
Rise of Cobra proves once again that with rushed development time, the game
will never be A+ material.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is very simplistic game. Players select a mission
and hold down the fire button shooting everything in sight. Gamers have the
ability to move around and defend enemy fire by taking cover, but it is not
very effective. The main issue is lack of variation in G.I. Joe: The Rise of
Cobra. Players will be doing the exact same thing for the entire course of the
game. Even though players can choose from a variety of G.I. Joe’s, the gameplay
remains utterly mind numbing. The pattern breaks down like this: select a
mission, kill everything in sight, solve a simple puzzle, fight more enemies,
then get to the boss, and defeat it. Then repeat it all over again. The enemies even look identical!
This is fun for the first hour or so, but after a while, players will get bored
of doing the same thing and give up on this dull and bland game.
The best feature the developers put into this game is the ability to play each
of the missions with a friend. Games of this nature are always better when
players can play with friends against the computer AI. It is better to
share the misery that can be found in this game with a friend then by yourself.
One positive aspect the developers did a good job on was making sure that each
character has its own set of weapons and special attacks. This makes players
actually use the entire roster to beat certain parts of the game. Many times
players will choose lesser-known characters because they have a special attack
that is more effective and useful in certain situations. Even though players
have their favorites, the huge roster of characters makes sure players would
actually want to play with all of them.
There are numerous unlockables that can be found in this game. Players will be
able to unlock many additional G.I. Joe’s and even Cobra characters. Many players will be a bit nostalgic at seeing and playing with these
characters. There are also many file cards that are strung about throughout each
level, which tells many details of various characters. The best part is finding
many of the Public Service announcements that are taken directly from the
cartoon! Players will love trying to find all of these.
Players will be fuming with this game over its checkpoint system. For the past
decade, when players get to a checkpoint, they expect their game to be saved at
that point. If the player dies further down in the level, they will respawn at
this point. In G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, if the player dies in the level,
instead of going back to a checkpoint, they will have the privilege of starting
the level from the beginning. This begs the question, what is the purpose of
including a checkpoint if it will not save gamers location? It would have been
better not to include them at all than give players a sense of a safety net.
Another huge issue with this game is the lack of camera controls. In the world
of 3D gaming, player always struggle with camera angles. One way to help fight
this is allow players to control the camera. Unfortunately in this game, players
do not have that opportunity. The camera does not keep up with player actions in
this game. Many times players will run into enemy fire just because the camera
did not keep up with the players actions. This is extremely disappointing that
the developers did not first this issue, as it really hampers the gameplay.
The graphics for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra are poor. The game looks like it
was build for the original Xbox and not the Xbox 360. The character models are
not very detailed and the environments are very sparse. The animations are very
clunky and are uneasy on the eyes. Combine this with the bad camera and the
graphics turn gameplay sour in a hurry.
The sound for this game is a mixed bag. One of the better things about it
is that many of the actors from the movie lent their voice talents to the
characters in this game. Fans of the movie will enjoy hearing many of the same
voices. The music is decent, but players will really love the remixed classic
songs. The sound effects get the job done, but it is nothing players have not
heard in the past.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is rated teen.
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Gameplay: 5.1
The repetition in this game is ridiculous; players will definitely get bored
after playing the game for a while. The camera controls, or lack of, really
hamper the game as well.
Graphics: 5.0
The developers really did not push the hardware at all. Sadly this game looks
like it could have been made for the original Xbox.
Sound: 6.1
Most of the actors from the movie come back to voice their characters in the
game. The music is decent, but nothing that will be memorable.
Difficulty: Hard
The "broken" checkpoint system makes this game very difficult.
Concept: 3.5
This game does not innovate in any way; in fact, it almost seems like a
regression. The failed checkpoint system is proof of that.
Multiplayer: 6.1
Even though this game is extremely redundant, the co-op mode really helps liven
up the fun a bit. It is always more fun to play through a game with a friend.
Overall: 5.3
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is another shining example of a movie-to-game
conversion that fails to impress. The campaign mode is really short, the
graphics are ugly, and the sound is passable. The only reason to play this game
is to pad your gamer scores or if you are an extremely die-hard G.I. Joe fan.
