G.I. JOE The Rise of Cobra The Game Review

I’ve never been a fan of games made in conjunction with a movie, but a few weeks ago I was tapped to review GI JOE The Rise of Cobra the game and couldn’t help but be excited.

You must understand though that I grew up in the eighties and so for me GI JOE represents not only countless childhood cartoon watching, but also it’s a chance for the powers that be (studio heads and game makers) to redeem themselves after having already thoroughly destroyed the Transformers franchise.

After 30 minutes of playing:

After watching the game intro, I already knew I was in trouble. The graphics were dull, blocky and showed lots of visible jagged staircasing (and this is on my 60″ Sony with full 1080p). Just for fun I loaded up COD 4 and Killzone to compare quality and it was night and day. The difference is so glaring, but again I remind myself that I am comparing apples to oranges and reset my sights accordingly.

I do like how GI JOE the Rise of Cobra the game storyline follows where the movie just left off. Continuity there is noticeable and appreciated, but other than that, I am not too impressed. You basically play the character of Duke and shoot everything in sight as you navigate through the missions. There isn’t much to this game and it feels very familiar.

I am playing Advanced mode (medium) with a buddy.Casual (easy) mode and Hardcore (hard) mode are other options for gameplay. The game reminds us a little like Ikari Warriors or Contra from back in the days, but not nearly as fun. The only redeeming quality in the first 30 minutes of action is the Accelerator Suit feature which gives each player temporary invincibility and blares the familiar GI JOE theme song. We both laughed the first couple of times, but it quickly gets old.

After 1-hour of playing:

After passing a few of the 20 missions, I realize the game is going to be more of the same.  This game feels routine and the visuals seem like they keep repeating themselves over and over again. The levels all start looking all too similar.

There really is no strategy to the game, you basically just button mash your way through each level. An average player should have no problem passing the game in a day or so, but younger players might find the game more difficult at the Advanced mode (medium level).

I also notice the in-level checkpoints are a joke because you have to start at the beginning if you die…major flaw. What’s the point of even having checkpoints if you don’t go back to the checkpoint? It defeats the purpose of even having them and goes against the grain of many games out there.

After 3-hours of playing:

I barely even got this far. My buddy who I thought would at least stay for a few hours left after playing for only an hour so I had to keep playing by myself.

In single player mode, you can swap in/out other characters, but of course you have to unlock them first (which feels like a chore). After unlocking Heavy Duty and a few of the other characters, I realize it will take a little while before getting to all the characters and I just don’t feel compelled to keep going.

Overall, it’s safe to say GI JOE the game is a disappointment with very few redeeming qualities. The nostalgia factor made it worth a look, but it misses the mark in almost every basic game aspect. Graphics are uninspiring and not up to par with even lesser titles. Gameplay is unrefined at best with Advanced being too difficult and casual being too easy (don’t even bother with hardcore). If you happen to get this game as a gift from aunt Sally, you might be better off exchanging or getting store credit for it.

Official G.I.Joe The Rise of Cobra Site