G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout Review — Missing the Mark

G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout Review — Missing the Mark

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GI Joe: Operation Blackout code for Nintendo Switch was provided by GameMill Entertainment and Maximum Games, so special thanks to them.

Licensed tie-in games occupy a weird space in the gaming community. Despite the idea of taking an already loved property and translating it into a form of entertainment loved by many, so many of these titles seem to miss the mark. They typically lack polish or are designed with little thought of how they may be received by gamers who aren’t already fans of the property. A poor adaptation can do harm to a popular brand, tarnishing its reputation and leaving the franchise in a worse state. This is especially unfortunate when the franchise has such a legacy behind it as the GI Joe series.

GI Joe: Operation Blackout is a third-person shooter developed by IguanaBee and Fair Play Labs; as well as published by GameMill Entertainment and Maximum Games. The title follows the GI Joes in one of their bouts with the villainous Cobra who has taken down the GI Joe Headquarters. Now scattered, the Joes must reunite to free the United States from Cobra’s clutches.

Knowing Your Enemy

The main campaign of GI Joe Operation Blackout will have players take control of either member of GI Joe or Cobra as they engage in missions around the world. These range from storming a military compound to defending a computer terminal while they hack. As a third-person shooter, the game controls how one would expect. However, there is a notable lack of polish in this title. Taking control of your character is atrocious, with simple motions like a melee attack being difficult to perform due to the unwieldy controls.

Movement is slow and clunky with any action feeling oddly weightless. Any attempt to dodge the fire from enemies or to simply control firing at targets is imprecise, thus making for an unpleasant experience. Shooters require precise controls to allow for split decision-making and an overall smooth experience. Unfortunately, GI Joe Operation Blackout simply lacks that precision and it bleeds into every aspect of this title. The A.I isn’t’ very well designed either with your partner on missions rarely contributing to fights. Enemies won’t shoot at them, so they don’t draw their attention and partners only seem to hit what they’re firing at very sporadically. There is also a distinct lack of variety in the enemies players will be encountering during this title. Almost every enemy is the same build with the same weapons and this leads to an extremely repetitive experience.

Boss encounters are some of the least engaging parts of GI Joe Operation Blackout. Most boss fights are either extremely simple or excruciatingly frustrating. The A.I in this title overall isn’t very intelligent and thus, it’s quite easy to exploit this during boss encounters where there aren’t any other factors to worry about. Certain bosses will stand entirely still and wait to shoot, not even attempting to crouch to defend themselves. While others will sprint directly at the player and begin gunning them down with pin-perfect aim. These issues are most notable in sections that involve the use of temporary vehicles. Not only do they control poorly but, most levels will typically take the form of on-rail shooters. However, players will have a frustrating time hitting any target with aiming controls that are this unrefined 

G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout In-Game Screenshots And Official Info - HissTank.com

Cobra Members Storming GI Joe Headquarters

Knowing the Environment

The level design in GI Joe Operation Blackout is functional for a third-person shooter but, no location is particularly memorable. Despite traveling across the world for this title, most of the designs for where players will travel in this title are incredibly dull. From standard mountain ranges to fairly generic canyons. Any of the inventiveness in the original GI Joe property doesn’t translate over and the game suffers for that.

The practical design of the maps often misses the mark as well. Cover is an important aspect of this title as it allows time to focus on reloading. However, most maps aren’t designed with many blockades in mind, often requiring players to either take a large amount of damage which leads to frustrating deaths, or luring enemies into a secluded area so they can be slowly picked off. This option slows the game’s pace to an absolute crawl.

The issues reach a breaking point in objective areas. Many of these locations are simply not designed with combat in mind and yet, waves of enemies or even bosses will attack the player in a tiny room leaving little area to defend one’s self. The major issue here is that to have an engaging experience with a shooter, the design of arenas can make or break the enjoyment of completing a task. The lackluster designs of these maps lead to frustrating moments that inhibit the player due to the game’s own issues.

G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout Revealed with Cool Action Gameplay Trailer and Release Date |

Sniper preparing to Fire

GI Joe VS Cobra

The plot in GI Joe Operation Blackout is handled fairly well. Seeing both the Joe headquarters destroyed, and the characters, who fans have grown up loving, are defeated and forced to split up, is genuinely saddening. The fractured GI Joes need to pull together, fighting back against a world under Cobra’s control, and while a somewhat standard message, it’s handled rather well and the title does an impressive job emulating the style of the animated show.

Even choosing to allow the player to take control of Cobra was another fairly great decision. Seeing the story from their perspective and seeing the relationships of our enemies helps the audience to become invested in them. It takes advantage of the fact that only a video game could allow for such a storytelling decision to take place.

The voice work very much helps to bring the story to life. The cast gives a commendable performance in each scene, capturing the righteous tone of the GI Joe animated series. The members of Cobra are the strongest in the cast, however, with some of the most entertaining vocal performances of the bunch.

G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout is a third-person shooter on its way to PC and consoles - VideoGamer.com

GI Joes in the Tundra

Presentation

The visuals of GI Joe Operation Blackout are adequate but appear extremely underdeveloped. Character models look as if they’re poorly sculpted action figures that hardly animate during sequences. Some characters will even look entirely different from their portraits due to the poor texture and model work done on the characters. Environments are just as lackluster. The Antarctic map especially appears poorly done,  with frankly unappealing texture work and unshaded coloring to the locations.

The sound design isn’t done very well either. There are plenty of moments in which sound effects simply don’t play. Such as when enemies drop to the ground and explode or when players take control of an anti-aircraft turret but none of the planes exploding over-head let out any sound Creating an unsatisfying experience in laying waste to an army of soldiers. The sound effects present are quite unimpressive and even don’t loop properly in the case of a helicopter in which the point in which the sound clips stutter can be heard.

The system performance was another issue encountered during GI Joe Operation Blackout. The frame rate does have a tendency to dip in specific areas or when reloading a map. While this doesn’t affect the overall experience with gameplay too heavily, some encounters filled with waves of enemies do unfortunately suffer from drops that may lead to issues aiming.

Overall, GI Joe Operation Blackout is an unpolished shooter with imprecise controls, unintelligent A. I and a frustrating and uninteresting campaign that has all been wrapped in an unappealing package.

That’s it for this review, thank you for reading and until next time…

If you’re looking for more reviews, check out our review of Crash Bandicoot 4 It’s About Time

4.0

Author's rating

Overall rating

4/10
The good
  • -Faithful to Source Material
The bad
  • -Subpar Controls
  • -Mediocre Visuals
  • -Poor Campaign
  • -Frustrating A.I
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