When I was a kid, my best friend and I played with G.I. Joe action figures. Soon after, the G.I. Joe cartoon hit the airwaves, a cartoon I loved at the time. Now, many years later, Electronic Arts is turning it into a video game, but the story is not based on the upcoming G.I Joe movie. Instead, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra takes place where the film will leave off. The men playing the game during EA's stage demo said that you will be able to play it without ruining the movie, and vice versa.
There will be 12 playable Joe characters and four Cobra characters, one of which is Storm Shadow. After choosing your character, you blast away at Cobras, making your way through different locals, like busy cities, barren deserts, wild jungles, and frigorific lands. At your disposal will be a primary attack and a unique special attack. During the demo, Heavy Duty used his special attack, unleashing a fury of flashing bullets, while Snake Eyes got up close and personal with a deadly blade. Did you expect anything less from a super ninja? If you work together with your partner, you build up a meter for your accelerator suit, giving you super speed and the ability to fire rockets from your hands, because we all know it's realistic to shoot red-hot explosives from your palms.
I'm disappointed that you can't play co-op online, but at least you can play co-op offline with a friend who can jump in and out of the game at will. When he stops playing, the AI takes over, giving him time to eat while you keep playing. EA designed the co-op gameplay so players have to work together to rack up the points in this arcade-style shooter, G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobras.
The best part of the stage demo was watching Snake Eyes dice up Cobras and flip over cover, something Heavy Duty can't do. Hopefully, the game will have a hardcore mode because the game looks easy to breeze through.
All this is played in a distant, over-the-shoulder camera view. You can see the whole character on screen, as you run forward shooting Cobras in the face. Occasionally, you have to shoot up at helicopters and other flying vehicles, a game mechanic that looks automatic.
The game looks like a modern 3D version of Commando or Contra, with shadow and lighting that adds atmosphere to the realistic looking areas. From what I could see, the characters were crisp and affected by real-time lightning.
The sound effects sounded authentic when barrels exploded and guns blazed. I didn't get to hear much voice acting, but what I did hear sounded okay.
It will provide G.I. Joe fans with shoot-'em-up fun and the chance to unlock cool information about the characters and even fight against big bosses. Did you know G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobras will be available on August 4, 2009? Well now you know, and knowing is half the battle. G.I Joe, the American hero. Can you hear the theme song?