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G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Game Review

G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Game Review

The graphics are a sore spot on the game.  Sure I was stoked the first time I saw a Hiss Tank and it was awesome seeing Snake Eyes slicing up Cobra Troopers but for a current generation game these graphics are unacceptable.  One might say that these graphics are old school much like the design of the game play but that is a easy cop out.   I will say that the sound is pretty decent.  It has the voice actors from the movie as well as other voice actors from non movie characters.  The dialogue between team mates was interesting and entertaining,  and no matter how cheesy it may sound,  hearing YO JOE! Is very cool.  My favorite was Cobra Commander even though his voice parts were limited.   The music was also a nice surprise.  The controls are mixed for me.  I put a lot of stock in game controls when I review games.  First of all,  it doesn’t matter how great a story is,  or how amazing the graphics look,  if the game has spotty controls then it’s over for me.  When your controlling the Joes,  it feels fluid and fun.  As soon as you hop in a vehicle,  it’s all over the place.  I can’t even explain the amount of frustration and anger you will experience when your driving a vehicle.  Even with the horrible controls I still managed to have fun with the Mobat.

The story picks up after the events of the film.  What’s interesting is Baroness is back to being the Baroness and Destro and Cobra Commander are not imprisoned anymore.  Oh well,  it’s not like the live action film had a very good plot anyway.  Like I stated earlier,  you start the game as Duke and Scarlett with the intention of freeing Heavy Duty,  Snake Eyes and Ripcord who are at the M.A.R.S. Detention Center in the Arctic where you will get assistance from Snow Job.  You will then travel to Egypt,  along the way you will run into Cobra Bosses Baroness and Firefly.  Eventually you will learn of Cobra’s master plan and must travel to the Jungle to do battle with Destro getting Intel and advice from non playable characters like Dial Tone,  Dusty and Recondo.  Finally you will meet up with Cobra Commander at his Cobra Volcano Base.  I enjoyed the 20 missions and my favorite environment was the Jungle,  those levels seemed to be the most fun and the best boss battle was the Cobra Commander one.

You will also have a chance to fight Storm Shadow on 3 different occasions with the last being in the final area of the game.  The SS fights are somewhat hidden,  you must have a correct class Joe in each level to open a class ability door.  More on that later.  The story is nothing to brag about but it does have a G.I. Joe feel to it.  Crazy Cobra plot… Check.  Locations spread all over the world… Check.  Large cast of characters… Check.  The characters in fact make this game so enjoyable.  You have a total of 12 playable Joes and 4 playable Cobras.  Among the Joes are fan favorites Beachhead,  Gung Ho and Shipwreck with Polly,  although Polly was really cool for the first 5 minutes,  the bird became a distraction and made me not want to play as Shippy.  You also get more obscure Joes like Backblast, Kamakura and Flash as well as a brand new female Agent Helix.  The game of course also features the main movie characters like Heavy Duty, Scarlett, Duke, Snake Eyes and Ripcord.  My favorite characters are the NPC’s.  Stalker has the best role as your Field Commander giving you missions and advice.  You will also hear from Wild Bill,  General Hawk,  Breaker(who’s just as annoying as in the film),  and Tunnel Rat among others.

The 4 Cobra playable’s are Firefly, Storm Shadow, Destro and The Baroness.  It’s strange playing as Cobra, because you still play the main story,  so your Storm Shadow shooting up Cobra Troopers.  The designers added some humor in the game as Baroness will often question what she is doing fighter her own faction.  I enjoyed using Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow at the same time even though I’m not into Ninjas.  Playing as the Arashikage duo also unlocks a Trophy/Achievement.

 

 

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About Tim Kraemer

Tim is a mook who likes to drink, play video games, and other stuff. He's Monkeywrench on our forums! Buy him a drink, friend for life!

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