Rambo: The Video Game

In the game, players assume the role of John Rambo as he plays out scenes from the first three Rambo films: First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Rambo III.[4] The mechanics of the game include stealth, demolition, and fighting off enemies using knives and guns using a cover system to avoid taking fire, and the player being moved through the environment by a rail shooter engine.[5] The game also includes destructible terrain and ragdoll physics for animating characters.[4]

John Rambo uses a tree as cover and to avoid detection.

Reef Entertainment acquired video game development and publishing rights in August 2011 to the Rambo film series from the rights holder StudioCanal.[2][6] As of August 2011, the three Rambo series films had grossed over US$600 million.[6] The publisher said the purchase was fueled by the 2008 Rambo's success and by the then-scheduled release of the action film The Expendables 2, starring Sylvester Stallone.[6][7] They stated that they planned to use the rights as a launching pad for the company.[6] In August 2011 the publisher said a Rambo: The Video Game would be released at retailers in 2012 and would be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows.[6] Jeffrey Matulef of Eurogamer said on October 5, 2012, that he did not believe the game would see release before the end of the year.[8] That same month Reef Entertainment said it would be out "soon". The Wii and Wii U versions had planned releases but they were cancelled.[9]

Reef Entertainment's commercial director Craig Lewis describes the game as allowing players to "get under the skin of Rambo and wield his iconic weapon-set in battle."[10] The developer used the actors from the film series to provide voices in the game for both John Rambo, played by Sylvester Stallone, and Col. Trautman, played by Richard Crenna.[11] However, the developer did not actually hire the two actors to provide voice work (Crenna died in 2003) but instead contacted the owner of the film series, StudioCanal, and acquired copies of the original voice tapes for the series to use in-game.[11]

Reception

Review scores Publication Score PC PS3 Xbox 360 Destructoid 1/10[12] N/A N/A Edge 5/10[13] N/A N/A Eurogamer 5/10[14] N/A N/A Game Informer 4/10[15] N/A N/A GamesMaster 23%[16] N/A N/A GameSpot N/A N/A 6/10[17] GamesTM 4/10[18] N/A 4/10[18] IGN 3/10[5] 3/10[5] 3/10[5] OPM (UK) N/A 2/10[19] N/A OXM (UK) N/A N/A 2/10[20] The Escapist [21] N/A N/A The Observer [22] [22] [22] Aggregate score Metacritic 34/100[23] 23/100[24] 28/100[25]

Rambo: The Video Game received unanimously negative criticism on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[23][24][25] Reviews criticized the game for its outdated graphics, generic rail-shooter gameplay, and copious use of quick-time events.[12][5] Reviews also criticized the game for its frequent crashing/freezing, poor enemy A.I, and very short length (the main story can be completed in 3 1/2 hours[26]).[12][5]

IGN said that its on-the-rails game mechanic "feels like an unmitigated waste of time for everybody involved."[5] Destructoid said the game was "an unpolished, uninspired on-rails lightgun game", and that "even the act of shooting doesn't feel impactful or fun."[12] GameSpot said the Xbox 360 version was a "a rail shooter that leads you through its levels by the nose, letting you instead focus on hovering your targeting reticle over the bad guys and gunning them down." [17]

Giant Bomb nominated Rambo for the Worst Game award in 2014.[27]

• Official website
• Rambo: The Video Game on IMDb
• Rambo: The Video Game at MobyGames