G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Hands On

Anyone who grew up in the last few decades should have fond memories of action figures. Mask, Action Man, and Dino Rider were popular, but everyone knew the real king of action figurines was G.I. Joe. Since starting out as a humble figurine more than 40 years ago, G.I. Joe has appeared in video games, comics, and cartoons and will soon feature in a Hollywood movie.

Based on the "Real American Hero" G.I. Joe line from the '80s, the movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is hitting cinemas this summer. It features familiar characters, such as Snake Eyes, Ripcord, Storm Shadow, and, of course, Cobra Commander. EA's action-packed game tie-in takes place directly after the events in the movie, and we played a preview build to see how it's looking.

Our Xbox 360 demo started out in the Arctic tundra, where the Joes were investigating a former weapons supplier to Cobra, the Military Armaments Research Syndicate (MARS). MARS had kidnapped G.I. Joe Heavy Duty and Ripcord, and we had to take control of fellow Joes Duke and Scarlett to get them back. The gameplay is third-person action, and you automatically lock on to any nearby enemies. A quick flick of the right analogue stick will switch between targets, and while the mechanics work well, there are still plenty of threats to keep you busy. There's also a good covering system in place to avoid enemy fire, but because cover is destructible, you'll need to keep pushing forward. Advancing through the mission, we encountered plenty of MARS foot soldiers and defence fortifications. We eventually ran into the Baroness--one of Cobra's chief lieutenants and a formidable femme fatale. Unfortunately, after a brief firefight she escaped, and we had to roll out and rescue Ripcord from within the MARS facility.

Each character has access to three individual special moves; for instance, Duke has a grenade launcher attack. In addition, you can use the movie-inspired accelerator suit once you've killed enough baddies. The suit makes you temporarily invincible and increases your speed and firepower, making you the ultimate supersoldier. While they weren't playable in our demo, other Joe characters, including Hawk, Stalker, Breaker, Tunnel Rat, and Dial Tone, made cameo appearances. Scarlett is a commando-class character, and she excels at short-range attacks because of her pistol and crossbow combination. By contrast, Duke is a combat soldier, and his grenade launcher and assault rifle make him perfect for medium-range attacks. After rescuing him from a holding cell, we were also able to play as Heavy Duty, a heavy-class character whose chaingun makes mincemeat of distant enemies. You can also perform melee attacks, and because some force-field-equipped enemies can only be defeated in this way, you'll need to get in close at times.

While the game is full of suitably cheesy Saturday-morning cartoon action, we noticed a few weaknesses in our adventure. The main concern we had was with the camera. It works in most situations, but when your character is obscured by objects, or when you backtrack, the camera doesn't correct itself. This makes it hard to work out what you're shooting at, or if you're being shot at. Meanwhile, the aiming system doesn't differentiate between bonus items and enemies. Switching between targets means you could be firing at an enemy followed by some bonus points, rather than at another enemy. Vehicle controls also felt a bit clunky, unlike the controls in the on-foot sections of the game.

As expected, the visual style is inspired by the movie and includes the likenesses of its lead stars. The story is presented via cutscenes and through regular comms chatter between you and headquarters. It's full of amusing dialogue, and with cheesy one-liners and snappy comebacks such as "these cockroaches will be crawling out from under theirs rocks again soon," it's certainly guaranteed to give you a few laughs. According to EA, there are 16 playable characters in total, including four Cobras, which are unlocked as you progress. With all of this packed into one game, Joe fans should certainly be well served.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is hitting consoles later this month. For more on the game, check out our video preview and stay tuned for more content leading up to the game's release.