This summer is filled with plenty of blockbuster movies based on popular TV Franchises. Star Trek, Transformers 2, and GI Joe all will adorn the silver screen. Of course with any great blockbuster comes the video game tie in, and G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra is no exception.
The Electronic Arts published game will be available on just about every platform, and put players in the Joe universe immediately following the movie. It promises to recreate many of the greatest moments from the film, cartoon and toy line. With sixteen characters are your disposal, your favorite is sure to be there. So far Snake Eyes, Duke, Heavy Duty, Ripcord, Scarlett, Shipwreck and Gung Ho have all been announced. At anytime during the game a second player can join in and choose one of these characters for some couch co-op play.
IGN recently had some hands on time with the game, and came away particularly impressed. There's lots of love here for Joe fans with unlockable collectors cards and real "Yo Joe" battle cries. They even got an indepth look at the co-op mode.
Designed as a couch co-op game (sorry, no online play), G.I. Joe focuses on earning individual multipliers and racking up a higher score than your buddy. The idea of creating a cooperative experience that's also competitive isn't a bad one, especially since the target is a more general audience and not just everyday gamers. And since part of the idea is offering up nostalgia for old farts like myself who loved G.I. Joe as a kid, being able to share that with a similar old fart on the same couch could work well.
Each character in the game is classified as a specific class: Heavys for damage, Commandos for close range, Combat Soldiers for balance. These play a crucial role in beating missions, as some classes are better suited than others.
The best news for co-op gamers is the fact the game supports drop-in and drop out play. As evidence by the Team Xbox preview - it's a standard feature we should be seeing in more co-op games.
The gameplay is designed a single-screen co-op game, enabling two players to collaborate in battle against the Cobra organization (or a single player can pair up with an AI partner). As has been the case in many recent co-op games, The Rise of Cobra will support drop-in/drop-out co-op, meaning a teammate can join your cause for a while without the need to restart the game, then bail out for whatever reason and whenever, returning you to reteam with your AI pal. All of it takes place seamlessly and without interrupting the action.
Finally MTV Multiplayer has gotten a hold of an exclusive trailer for the game. The game looks pretty chaotic and there's plenty of huge vehicles for players to drive - all in co-op.
