Rambo: The Video Game (PS3) Review

It seems like I'm the only person that actually read the press release and knew this game was an on rail shooter. Even the description on Steam stresses the fact its a rail shooter on three occasions (pictured above). Of course people just look at the pretty pictures and assumed it was another first person shooter. I personally love rail shooters and it's such a shame it's becoming a dead genre. So I was really pinning my hopes on Rambo The Video Game, unfortunately the combination of bad game design and lazy production values hold it back from being a fun arcade shooter.

Rambo the Video Game recreates the events of the first three films in the franchise. You play as John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran unable to readjust to normal society and learns the battlefield is the only place he can call home.  The developers have managed to replicate all the key sequences from the movies, while adding a few of their own. The voices for Rambo and Colonel Trautman were taken directly from the movies and were spliced among newly recorded voice overs (comprised mostly of UK actors using a poor excuse for an American accent). The end result is an inconsistent audio mix that comes across as cheap and lazy.

The game play is an on rail shooter with a cover system similar to Time Crisis. Unfortunately this so called "cover" doesn’t protect you from certain enemies and can easily be destroyed by enemy gunfire. To make matters worst, half of the game is spent standing out in the open with zero protection. A huge problem when reloading your gun turns the player into a sitting duck. This has to be the most frustrating on rail shooter I’ve ever played, in fact the difficulty on the last level spiked so hard, the only way I could finish this bloody game was by adjusting the difficulty to the lowest setting.

The developers tried to mix in a couple of ideas from other genres, but they don’t exactly work in the simple on rail shooter. Does every game need to have stealth these days? As well as those bloody quick time events, in fact one whole mission is nothing but quick time events. A testament to the game's lazy design. 


 
Now to be fair there are some interesting ideas, including the RPG style upgrade and perk system. You can also disarm enemies by shooting the gun out of their hands and a wrath system where Rambo does his trademark screaming. The PS3 version supports the Playstation Move and the navigation controller. You can also use the sharpshooter attachment and this was by far the most enjoyable way to play the game. Mainly because it gives you the most accuracy and makes you feel like you're at the arcade with a light gun in your hands.

It took me 3 hours and 6 minutes to finish the story mode and this includes all my failed attempts and watching every cut-scenes. You can play through the missions again to unlock all the weapons and perks. There’s online leader boards and two player co-op. But it still doesn’t hide the fact it’s a really short game.

The graphics and animation are downright terrible. It's full of clipping, glitches and the occasional crashing. In fact Resistance Fall of Man, a launch title that came out seven years ago looks way better than this so called 2014 release.

The issues with Rambo The Video Game stem from it trying to do too much with a simple genre. Plus the low production values, terrible quality control and bad graphics are really glaring for a game on a system at the end of its life cycle. If you’re looking for a good Rambo video game, keep an eye out for the Sega arcade machine from 2008 and leave this one to rot in the bargain bin.

RATING - 2/10 (A FRUSTRATING, CHEAPLY MADE ARCADE SHOOTER)