G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout (Xbox One) was provided by GameMill Entertainment for the purpose of this review.
Story: G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout is a joint-production of Chilean developer Iguanabee and Costa Rican studio Fair Play Labs. A third-person action-adventure with hero shooter elements, Operation Blackout is the first licensed G.I. Joe title since 2009.
Operation Blackout consists of two distinct modes: six-hour story campaign and local co-op and versus play. The story campaign allows players to be both members of the G.I. Joe squad, as well as their villainous rivals COBRA.
A violent attack on G.I. Joe headquarters results in the scattering and disbanding of the Real American Heroes, which leads to the vile Starscream Cobra Commander becoming President of the United States.
While scattered across the globe, it is up to the player to reunite the members of G.I. Joe, before launching a series of covert missions to free the United States from COBRA's control. It's a plot straight out of the TV show, delightfully over-the-top and filled with amusingly welcomed holes and contrivances. The story is told through some nicely laid out comic-book style art, which makes up for the static nature of the cinematics. If there's one thing Operation Blackout does very well, it captures the feel and atmosphere of the G.I. Joe universe well.
Fun Factor: While I can give it credit for maintaining the same high energy that some of the other 3rd person shooters have (such as Gears of War), the wave of enemies feels repetitive with nothing really interesting about them outside of the change of skins and some abilities.
The sensitivity and controls don't help matters, and there should definitely be a way to hone sensitivity or make it easier to control aiming if you choose to take off aim assist.
Replay Value: A plus in the game is the ability to unlock custom skins for multiple characters modifiers in a classic comic book of the Cobra commanders Destro, Duke, Roadblock, and more.
Multiplayer delivers the usual game modes like capture the flag, skirmishes, and King of the Hill but hit breaks because the con about this game is that there isn't an online mode. It's only local play which is okay if you have a group of friends or a house full of gamers to partake in those game modes, but with a pandemic going on, friends are out of the question if you had enough to game in the first place.
"What?! That makes... zero sense! They could have focused on making the best single-player experience possible if there wasn't going to be an online multiplayer option. They could have even worked with another studio to collab on making that possible. I guess... it's an okay addition for a full house, but..." - Blu
Price: The price feels like it should be around $24.99, not $39.99. It needs to be competitive beyond the G.I. Joe branding.
Overall, I give G.I. Joe Operation Blackout a 6 out of 10 definitely something for the younger generation to play around the house as an alternative to Fortnite.
Story 4
Fun factor 3
Replay Value 3
Price 3
3.25 out of 5 Cool Points
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