The storyline featured in Rambo: The Video Game is easily the best part of the new release. The game relives the best moments of the first three films in the series that sees military vet John Rambo face off with the unruly police squad of a small town, dangerous soldiers in the jungles of Vietnam and Russian soldiers at the height of a war in the Middle East. The game does a good job of presenting the scenes with the actual voices taken straight from the films the content is based on, but longtime fans of the series will be able to easily pick apart the scenes that don't always translate well from the source material in the game. It only makes matters worse that the game doesn't look good for the current generation of games and the voice sync throws off any immersiveness the game attempts to create.
Gameplay in Rambo: The Video Game isn't much better. Players will be faced with on rails shooting meaning they have almost no control over the character in the game but instead constantly focus on aiming, shooting and reloading. There aren't a lot of weapons included in the game, though fans of the series will find plenty of iconic weapons such as the M60 from the original First Blood. There are also tons of quick time events, none of which are very fun to participate in. The controls during these sections aren't very responsive either and will force restarts for seemingly no reason at all. Rambo: The Video Game doesn't offer any unique gimmicks or other enjoyable qualities from this basic gameplay, and it becomes incredibly taxing to keep playing through new missions with such monotonous gameplay.
Anyone can take a quick look at Rambo: The Video Game and tell it's one of the worst looking games to come out in recent memory. Actually playing the game doesn't make Rambo: The Video Game look any better than it does in screenshots either. Character models aren't very good, and some of the facial expressions seen in the game are likely to give players nightmares. Animations aren't a whole lot better, and the game tends to drop frames during several cutscenes during the game. PC gamers can turn up the graphics settings to the max and still not see many improvements for the game. Controls don't work well during quick time events as noted above, but they are fine for aiming and shooting, though playing with mouse and keyboard on PC just makes a boring game even more trivial. The only noteworthy part of the game's presentation are the voices and that some of the original tracks from the trilogy have returned to give the game some decent music throughout the campaign.
Rambo: The Video Game is a single player title with 16 different missions from the original films. The game takes several hours to complete from beginning to end, but there isn't any reason to come back to the game after it has been completed once. The game does incorporate a skills and perk system that allows Rambo to gain new abilities while progressing through the game, and classic weapons like the M60 and bow are here for some authenticity, but it's just not enough to make the game rise out of the grave it has dug for itself. There are some score attack modes for players attempting to shoot for the highest scores possible, but there isn't any hidden content for players to unlock or find. Gamers get what they see with Rambo: The Video Game, and it ain't pretty.
Rambo: The Video Game is now available from all major retailers for the MSRP of $39.99 and can be purchased for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Rambo: The Video Game is rated M by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence & Strong Language. For more information on the game, check out the official Rambo: The Video Game website.
Game Features:
- Single Player
- On-Rails Shooter Action
- Original Voices
- Steam Trading Card Support
- Trophy/Achievement Support
Game Information:
Developer: Teyon
Publisher: Reef Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & PC (reviewed)
Release Date: February 21, 2014
Score: 2 out of 10