GI JOE: The Rise of Cobra (PS3) Review

Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 08.25.2009

Its been fifteen years since the last time the GI JOE franchise had a video game. How does this PS3 version based on the new live action movie measure up? Jeffrey Harris checks in with his full review.



Title: GI JOE - Rise of Cobra
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Double Helix Games
Genre: Action Adventure with large robots
Players: 2
Rated: T for Teen

It has been almost two decades since the last GI JOE video game was made. The last GI JOE video game was a fun, forward moving arcade shoot 'em up released in the 1990's. With the live action movie now in theaters, EA is bringing a line of movie based games to your consoles. Here's the skinny on the PS3 version we got to try out. The new game is really only inspired by the dull, disappointing, America-hating Hollywood movie and thankfully sticks to its own story which bears more of a resemblance to the first cartoon miniseries involving the MASS device.

Graphics

This is the PS3 of course, so already the graphics and models are going to be pretty above average. Graphics and character models all look very sharp and smooth. The environments are nicely lit and detailed. The problem is that for this game they look quite small. The characters look remarkably tiny along with the enemies when you are trying to battle. Often they will look like micro-joes. Those who aren't a big fan of the lame movie redesigns, the classic character outfits for people like Duke and Scarlett. The fixed camera and faulty targeting system also makes the views of the nice graphics even harder to view.



Gameplay

The gameplay has two very major serious problems that absolutely befuddle me why they couldn't have been fixed. There are absolutely no adjustable camera angles in the game. This mucks things up because quite often you won't even be able to see what you are shooting off screen and vice versa. This feels like a simple error the producers just opted to forget about fixing before the game's release.

The other major problem is the enemy targeting system in that its there, but the targeting of enemies does not work very well. The R3 analog stick can be used to target enemies, but toggling it does not really switch enemies you want to target when say you want to target the same enemy or object with your co-op player. So when you want to switch to be shooting a ninja that's about to kill you, your gun is focused on draining a power-up item you can just run over and grab at any time.

The gameplay is a lot like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance or Justice League Heroes except more flawed, faulty, and de-evolved. For a GI JOE game with all the opportunities, the characters all have the same basic attacks and weapons. First you have a melee attack which you can hold and charge up. There's your basic firing weapon and your special attack weapon. If you beat up enough enemies, you can use the stupid accelerator suits from the movie. The accelerator suits are essentially this game's yellow star from Mario Bros. However, there's nothing that allows you to unlock fighting/attack combos, upgrading or buying new weapons, or customizing your weapons and attacks which could've added more depth to the gameplay. This sort of sucks since Snake Eyes' long range weapon is probably the weakest and slowest. He's got a pistol. What about Snake Eyes' uzi his toys almost always come with? Snake Eyes should be allowed to get an uzi as a power up.

To the positive aspects there's a ton of characters you get to play as. Besides the characters from the movie you can unlock and play as classic GI JOE characters such as Gung Ho. You can also play as Cobra members like Storm Shadow and Baroness. Another cool feature is the the vehichles as many of the classic Joe vehicles such as the Cobra Bubble and the HISS Tank appear in the game which you not only get to blow up but drive your own Joe vehicles as well.

The boss battles which tend to take place in arena like environments are a lot of fun, especially when you get down to the Storm Shadow/Snake Eyes battles. There's a bit of an old school, Contra element to the shooting and fighting as well. The unfortunate thing is that it needed to be a lot more refined and it looks like corners were cut.



Sound

The score for the game is probably one of its most classic attributes. The composers actually worked in a big, epic, sounding version of the classic GI JOE cartoon theme song which is totally awesome. It generally kicks in when the player activates their accelerator suits.

Almost all the movie characters in the game have been recast by veteran voice talent rather than actors from the live action movie. This is actually pretty good because they do a better job of capturing the characters than the live actors themselves. So basically, Roger Craig Smith's Duke > Channing Tatum's Duke. And Grey DeLisle in pretty much anything will almost always be better than Sienna Miller.


Cobra Commander is my what?! Stupid Hollywood idiots.

Lasting Appeal

I think this would make more for a quick, fun rental than a game to own and play for years. However, the game does provide you with a ton of new characters to unlock and play as well as the hidden costumes. There's also the ranking and trophy systems where you must complete certain challenges to earn trophies to get access to gallery art and videos as well as bonus missions and characters. But this is not the all time great GI JOE video game.

Fun Factor

If you are a hardcore Joe fanatic, this could be the game you are looking for. Finally getting to play as Storm Shadow is a geek out moment, and playing Snake Eyes again is really cool. If you can get past the flaws of the controls, camera, and targeting its a decent game to play. I just wish they did more with the strategic and planning elements in using specific Joes on missions.

Graphics	8.0	Good graphics and models, but they often appear way too small and are at times hard to see.
Gameplay	7.0	The fixed camera system and the faulty targeting system seriously hamper the gameplay.
Sound	9.0	Good voices and sound as well as a cool, new rendition of the classic GI JOE theme.
Lasting Appeal	5.0	This would make more for a fun, quick rental than a long lasting classic you will cherish for years, even though its the first GI JOE video game in almost two decades.
Fun Factor	6.0	For a hardcore Joe fan, there's probably a lot to like here, plus you get to play as a lot of classic Joe characters for the first time ever. But overall, it feels like it could've been better by fixing simple problems that mess everything up.
Overall	7.0   [ Good ]

Screenshots
All 6 G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra Game Screenshots