Although I just missed out on the G.I. Joe toy franchise by HASBRO when I was growing up (I was a little too old by then), I was still a fan of the cartoon series and when I heard that a live action movie was planned for these cool characters, I was over the moon.

Even better, there was also a game scheduled for release about the same time of the movie and hopefully like The Transformers, viewers could be drawn into this action-packed world of good versus evil plus a healthy dose of weapons and futuristic gadgets.

Unfortunately the movie was a hit and miss affair with an overly complicated plot and special effects that ranged from impressive to abysmal, however remaining neutral, we still decided to give the a game a fair airing. Story wise, it's based on the movie that is basically the Joe's versus Cobra in some over the top missions. Bad guys threaten the world, good guys come to the rescue, the stock standard story of Greek Gods.

At its core, G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra is a third-person shooter, however the developers have added some RPG aspects for the player to tweak and aim for. The cool aspect of the game is that the player has two characters (or Joe's) to control and fortunately swapping between them is quite easy and best of all, each have their pros and cons.

In terms of RPG, your characters are given experience points which are called battle points in the game and this can be used to purchase new characters and unlockable content in the game such as concept art and equipment.

Like the movie, gamers can play either Scarlett or Duke (at the start), however as you progress, you have more Joe's at your disposal. The control system works well on the Wii and each of your characters has a primary and secondary attack.

The combat is actually a glimmer of hope for this game that is extremely over the top and mirrors the movie perfectly. The weapons work quite well and some of the Joe's really kick some serious butt with the amount of firepower at their disposal.  Interesting enough, the game is quite sturdy, however it unfortunately suffers from the "movie curse" and at the end of the day, the game feels rushed and un-inspirational.

Where the game feels rushed is through the gaming interface that does become exasperating as the game decides what is the best camera view for the player. The AI in the game, especially by your team mates is also like they are blind to the action around them, however the enemy always know who to target. Needlessly, it's a hit and miss affair from good to poor, more so on the other end of the scale

When it comes to graphics, the game is a mixed bag of eye candy versus Spartan which is a shame because the developers could have really gone all the way in this game to create some truly impressive gaming moments, especially from the outrageous abilities and equipment by the Joes.

Unfortunately for such a high profile game, it's very substandard when looked at as a hole. In relation to the soundtrack, it suits the game perfectly as do the clichéd voice actors who really get into their characters.

In conclusion, the average gamer will get a few hours of fun out of this game, however for longevity and playability, this is where it starts to dwindle. It's definitely be created for the fans of the series, however for someone wanting a truly memorable and fun gaming experience, this is not the game.