GDC 2009 Media: EA Talks G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, Plus Other Details

At the Game Developers Conference, GameTrailers caught up with Jason Enos, Senior Product Manager for EA’s upcoming G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra video game to tell more about it. And, among other things, he details what will make the DS version unique from its console and PSP brethren:

I have to admit: Personally, I’d feel a bit sketchy about buying a game which takes place after a movie that hasn’t come out yet, but harks back to events in said film. I wonder what kind of first-day sales this one might have…

In addition, there are some other details which Enos provided Kotaku at the show. First, as noted when the debut trailer surfaced, it seems that the game will take from more than just the movie, and the simple reason for that is because it does:

“It wouldn’t work if we just followed what was presented in the movie, which is an origins film, to have a fun gameplay you want to get right in and start blasting away at Cobras.”

And while there will always be two characters active onscreen at a time, with either a computer-controlled partner or a buddy busting some snakes, there will unfortunately be no online co-op.

Regarding how you actually play the game, the following details are provided:

The game plays from an odd angle, with the characters seen from a quasi-isometric view, and typically playing up, almost into the screen. Movement is done with the left thumbstick and targeting with the right.

The controller’s right trigger shoots, the X button is a melee attack. Special attacks are performed with the B button and you strafe with the left trigger.

Auto-targeting reticules show who is aiming at who. An enemy has either a green or orange reticule on them if they are targeted. If they have a yellow reticule, than both players are targeting the enemy.

The game also has features the accelerator suits from the movie which temporarily make the characters invincible. The suits also can shoot missiles, rail guns and give characters boosts of speed.

You can swap characters as you play, by finding and getting into a swap chamber during the mission, but all 12 characters are not unlocked initially.

Characters come in three types: Heavy, combat, and commando. If I remember correctly, Snake-eyes was described as the latter on his file card. I wonder if that will hold true here. In any case, as one might guess, each has their own brand of talent which will let them get into places others can’t.

The game is comprised of 20 missions, and has 75 file cards to find. However, it only contains four PSAs, and you can bet that none of them are from this assortment. Along the way, you’ll play some missions as agents of Cobra, though they aren’t saying who just yet (except for Storm Shadow, who was mentioned as an unlockable for full-game replay in the video).

The game has three modes, casual, advance and hardcore. When played in casual you have infinite lives. In advance, lives work a bit like Left 4 Dead, with characters returning after you hit a check point. In Hardcore, once you’re dead, you’re dead.

…Casual and Advance it is, then. I really hope this isn’t one of those games where they put the “real ending” or something behind an impenetrable wall.

Oh, and for the Wii crowd? There are some interesting extras, such as motion-controlled slashing with Snake-eyes, and raising the Wii Remote elicits a cry of “Yo, Joe!” from the game.