Developer: KID Publisher: Capcom Release: 03/92 Genre: Action
As a child of the 80s I remember a time when video games did not have release dates, they simply showed up in stores. With the advent of video game publications clueless gamers like myself could learn about new titles before they appeared in stores. G.I. Joe: the Atlantis Factor was one such title. I do not recall any extensive marketing which is probably appropriate; as a 1992 release for the NES all eyes were on the SNES. Which is a shame as it is a pretty good game all things considered.
After their defeat in the first game the forces of Cobra retreat to lick their wounds. Cobra Commander has discovered Atlantis and raises it from the ocean depths. With its advanced technology Cobra begins rebuilding their army to take over the world.
The Atlantis Factor is a departure from the original G.I. Joe title. The game’s structure is similar to Capcom’s own Bionic Commando, to the point it cannot be a coincidence. Like that title you navigate to points of interest on the map which are divided in to two categories. Routes are simple action stages that must be completed before you can travel back and forth at your leisure. These are where you have the most opportunity to power up individual members of your team as you collect them. Lettered stages are Cobra bases that usually have some objective be it planting a number of bombs (a nod to the first game), or rescuing hostages. Completing these will usually unlock another member of the tame as well earn a new weapon.
The structure is not the only change. You begin the game with General Hawk and must rescue each member of the Joe team. General Hawk is well rounded so it is not much of a hassle although those that have a favorite character will have to wait to play them. Roadblock, Wet Suit, Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, and Duke all await and the game has given traits to make them unique. As his name suggests Wet Suit can dive underwater without taking damage. Roadblock can crawl through tight spaces while Duke can fire in multiple directions. Both ninjas fire projectiles as their normal attack which saves ammo as well as jump the highest. Reserve members like Spirit and Gung-Ho serve different purposes as they revive dead character or provide ammo if you need it.
While each character is more unique they are homogenized in other ways. Everyone shares the same ammo and weapon pool which sucks. Everyone has stats in melee, weapon, and health that level up individually per character. Each stat maxes at level four which becomes tedious once you have assembled the whole team. You have to max each individual weapon per character lest you enter each grueling boss battle under powered. Power-ups are not reliable and the mad dash to switch characters to make sure the team is on the same page gets old fast. Some like Storm Shadow have such low health that you need to boost it immediately. Meanwhile the tight clock discourages grinding. There are other problems as well.
The world map allows you to tackle the game in any order. This means prioritizing certain characters or outright skipping them as well. But it is obvious certain levels are end game as the difficulty skyrockets. It is the inconsistency that hurts the Atlantis Factor the most. Routes are short, repetitive, and outside of the opportunity for some slight upgrades still feel like a waste of time. The bases feature tightly designed maps that are up there with the best of the first game. I don’t think the switch to the Bionic Commando style structure benefits the game in any way. It is different, I will give it that.
The difficulty is through the roof from the start and only seems to get worse even as you power-up. The balance, or lack thereof, is glaring. You have just enough time in each base to find the exit. If you run into a dead end or forget to place a bomb death is almost a guarantee. The chevrons that boost maximum health are rare and certain characters desperately need them to be worth a damn. Because characters share ammo you must hoard it for the grueling boss battles. Outside of the ninjas melee combat sucks no matter how cool it looks. And speaking of bosses, wow. Even at full power the boss battles are still a nightmarish slog. They have far too much health and your weapons outside of the laser rifle inflict little damage. What were cool cameos before are now an annoyance.
In Closing
G.I. Joe: the Atlantis Factor is not as good as its predecessor but is still a good game. It can be frustrating at times and does not live up to its potential (Who doesn’t want more Bionic Commando style action?) but overall has enough good points to warrant a purchase.
