"He'll fight for freedom where ever there's trouble.
GI Joe is there.
It's GI Joe against Cobra the enemy
Fighting to save the day.
He never gives up.
He's always there,
Fighting for freedom over land and air
GI Joe- A real American hero
GI Joe is there!"
Everyone who watched Saturday Morning cartoons in 1985 knew these words signaled the incoming of one of the greatest cartoon/comic series of all times. Unrivaled in scope and popularity in the boom of seemingly unlimited toys that continuously rolled out. Transformers had a foothold on our hearts, but GI Joe had a monstrous roster of heroes, villians, tanks, planes, ships, and buildings. The Pseudo-military cartoons and merchandise had grabbed hold of our imagination and let us build and lead our very own army.
1991 heralded the first and arguably the best GI Joe game for the NES. It had different characters which brought different skill sets and weapons as well as multiple vehicles to take down the forces of COBRA.
So what has happened since? Not a whole lot actually. 3 sequels on the NES, an Arcade GI Joe game, a forgettable foray in the movie-videogame tie-in, and nothing else.
The imminent release of Transformers:Devastation gives me pause for thought on what a GI Joe game could achieve.
I mean with all the FPS, Espionage, and Vehicular Combat games that are making new entries with each console generation, I have to wonder how we have been overlooking GI Joe for so long.
In the right Developer's hands, this could be an incredible gaming experience.
With the GI Joe canon alone there are multiple characters, each with quirks and different set of skills.
Duke: the well rounded leader
Snake eyes: Sneaky ninja/CQC
Scarlet: Sniper, distance kills
Heavy Duty: Gattling gun
Breaker: Well rounded espionage
Ripcord: CQC/ Aerial Attack
Plus all the ancillary characters like: Rock n Roll, Short Fuse, Stalker, Ace, etc. Dozens of characters with backstories galore, and all ready to be explored.
On the Cobra side there is almost limitless Antagonist potential beyond the normal Cobra grunts. Dr. Mindbender, Destro, Baroness, Storm Shadow, King Cobra, right up to the Cobra Commander.
The vehicles are as much of GI Joe legend as the heroes piloting them. Remember the Hiss Tank? Or the Warthog? These were the units I dug around in the sandbox hour after hour, but to play them in a video game? Sounds like the stuff of legend.
GI Joe is an icon and should be treated as such in the video game industry. How have we let such potential be wasted? When I see games like MGSV and COD, I just keep asking myself "When will there be a decent GI Joe game? It seems more and more developers are pushing out annual shooters with little to no story or character progression. I think its time to revisit the classics. I mean, this game pretty much writes itself. There is 20 years of content to delve into.
Of course the biggest challenge is getting developers to treat the game with the love and respect that the fans of the original series have shown. Its time to leave the forgettable movies behind and go back to Gen 1 GI Joe. Its time for the GI Joe game we deserve.
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After seeing Platinum work on GI Joe I can definitely see a GI Joe game in the same type of design style.
I imagine a Battlefield type of game where you pick either the Joes or Cobra. Each character you could pick would have a special set of skills. The maps would be huge and you would be able to access popular GI Joe vehicles like the cobra hiss tank or the rolling thunder.
Gameplay would have objectives like putting together the weather dominator or stopping cobra from collecting Dan to form Serpentor.
Yes...I'm talking about an online multiplayer game.
Great blog!
I always wanted Gears of war but skinned as g.i.joe. Just give a little more moves to the melee part of the game but it would be great. Toy soldiers has cobra and gijoe in it but tower defense games get old quick.