Video games with movie tie-ins aren’t exactly the type of releases that make me giddy. In fact, hearing about new ones make me groan. There wasn’t any reason to expect G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra to be any different and, well, it really isn’t.
Not that the game featuring America’s highly-trained special missions force is all bad. The action gameplay is fun (especially in two-player team mode), there are plenty of features for the franchise’s longtime fans (from the original cartoon theme to unlockable PSAs to secret characters) and excellent character diversity (Double Helix created four groups, namely Commando, Combat Soldiers, and Heavy Weapons).
While the action is fun, holding down the fire button as your character goes around in circles can get tiring after a few levels. Occasionally, the monotony gets broken with a vehicle level (with ridiculous driving physics) and a couple of mini-games, but it’s really just a never-ending shoot-em-all that goes over and over across three (yes, just three) different environments. To top it all off, the graphics were poor PS2-level (I played with the Xbox 360 on an HDTV) and voice acting was borderline ridiculous.
Will you have fun playing it? For a few levels, especially with a partner, it is enjoyable. At the price of a full game, though, there are probably a couple hundred titles you’d rather spend money on. Hell, many downloadable games from Xbox Live even play better.
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