A good game, ruined by poor controls, a broken targeting system, and outdated graphics
GI JOE: The Rise of Cobra's name is actually misleading, the plot of the game actually takes place soon after the end of the movie, and focuses on the continuing adventures of the GI JOE team as the war against MARS Industries and COBRA continues to rage across the planet.
The game play of Rise of Cobra is probably the game's redeeming quality, mixing together the third person views of Gears of War and the run and gun style of the Contra Series and other classic Arcade shooters, complete with a score keeper. The other upside is being able to play as your favorite GI JOES, including fan favorites Duke, Scarlett, Heavy Duty and Snake Eyes, and the ability to switch out one JOE for another midway through a mission, and being able to unlock fan favorite COBRA operatives such as Baroness and Storm Shadow.
All in all the game would've been even better if there wasn't one serious flaw, namely the games controls. For the most part, the control scheme is typical third person shooter, right trigger fires, left joystick moves, you know the typical stuff. However the problems begin with the right thumbstick, which in most third person games is used to control the camera, instead in this game the right thumbstick is used to TARGET ENEMIES, leaving the player with no way to control the camera, thus leaving the player exposed to enemies who are either coming up from behind or attacking from the sides.
Speaking of the targeting system, at times the targeting system itself is more dangerous then the COBRA Vipers you're fighting against, every time you encounter the enemy, the targeting system automatically locks onto the nearest object, often times an exploding oil barrel, while your two JOES are cut to ribbons by the swarm of Vipers and Autoturrets that are protecting your objective.
The other big problem is the graphics, both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are capable of rendering graphics that are so life like you'd swear you were actually on the front lines. Rise of Cobra however is two steps back, looking more like something you'd find on a Saturn, PS 1, 32X, or Jaguar, giving the player the impression that the game was rushed through development in order to better tie into the movie's release.
Over all Rise of Cobra isn't a bad game, if you look past it's flaws, but it has all the hallmarks of a game that was rushed to meet a deadline. While the third person run and gun style game play is fun, and a nice throw back to the old days of the arcade, the developers should have gone with a GTA/Mercenaries style game, revolving around capturing the COBRA High Command, and their supporters or at least have included a separate COBRA Campaign, similar to the Transformers games including both Autobot and Decepticon campaigns.
In it's current form Rise of Cobra is better suited to being released on XBLA and PSN, instead of being shipped to stores. But the game will still appeal to fans of the GI JOE series, and fans of old school run and gun shooters. However I would recommend renting the game before deciding to buy it.