This First 45 features Chris and Luke.

Movie tie-in video games have never had the reputation of being very good. And summer block buster movie tie-in video games typically lead the way in the catergory of "not very good".  But Hasbro never says die, so this August will see a movie reboot of the classic cartoon series and toy line: G.I. Joe.  And naturally, a game will accompany it.

But before you write this one off, two of this years bigger films, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and X-Men Origins: Wolverine spawned some halfway decent, fairly enjoyable games...kinda.  So let's give G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra a chance, shall we?

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At heart, The First 45 is a first impressions video. There's a catch, the impressions we offer are taken solely from the first 45 minutes that we spend playing a game. They say first impressions are the most important, and we feel it is the same with games. If you really aren't pulled into a game within the initial hour, chances are good you won't dig it after that.

There are no exceptions, this is exactly the beginning 45 minutes, from the time we boot up the game. What if the game pulls an MGS and starts with a 30 minute cutscene? That's too bad. We live in a fast-paced society, and we don't have time to waste. We just want to play games.