Knowing is half the battle!! I give 2 thumbs up and a pause and another 2 thumbs up to G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra DS. The game was fun, interactive, a good pace and kept me sucked into the world of G.I. Joe. SO much so I think I may go out and re-buy all the G.I. Joe figures I gave away years ago.
The game starts where the movie ends and goes off onto another story line. In this case it is a spoiler for the movie ending but not a huge one and I like right away that I’m not going through the motions of just playing the movie on my DS…After you complete your first mission you do get a great tutorial, and I am not a fan at all of tutorials but the way this one was done, it is great. Breaker walks you through a systems check before you start your mission, so this involves you going through your weapons, moving your character, special moves, how to reload, read your map etc. This was helpful and not boring like other games can be.
The controls are pretty decent, you have to use your D-pad for moving your character, all buttons are for weapons, hand to hand combat, weapons reload, and special attack. It is not confusing at all once you start and it is the same for whichever character you choose.
The graphics are OK, they are pretty detailed and look exactly like the actors whenever the game is in a dialog screen, but when in action mode, it is good enough to distinguish good from bad guys. Though it does tend to get a little more pixel looking.
At the start you get to choose, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Duke or Ripcord. All are great and have their own attributes from weapons, speed, power. I found I liked Snake Eyes the best, good power – great speed and the fact that Ray Park (Darth Maul) plays Snake Eyes in the movie, so I might be a little partial. Side note George Lucas should of never killed off Darth Maul in the 1st movie. I digress.
There is a vast selection of weapons from machine guns, side arms, swords, cross bows, and it can get pretty intense once the bullets start flying. You also have the option to drive tanks equipped with crazy machine guns, cars, you can go as far as stealing cobra vehicles and use them in the battle against the cobras. There are also bonus features, such as the accelerator suit which gives your character insane shot burst and invincibility. The first time I was able to find an accelerator suit and used it – it was awesome. Consider whatever level you are on completed. Do keep in mind it is a little hard to control your character because they are going so fast but this is a great advantage to you.
GI Joe can also be played in a 2 player co-op mode with drivable G.I. Joe and Cobra vehicles against your opponent.
Overall, I am very impressed with the game especially for a DS version of it. In fact I’m still playing it and I haven’t been able to say that in awhile about some of the DS games as of late. G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra for Nintendo DS retails for $27.49.
Good: Does the movie justice by being a standalone game. Will keep anyone entertained for hours especially G.I. Joe fans. Lots of different things to do and doesn’t involve boring puzzles and other typical DS features.
Bad: The graphics could be better.
