It's a generic-as-hell poster, but then again it's made for a generic-as-hell FPS...
- I'm here to talk to you about a man who killed dozens.
John Rambo.
This man enlisted in the Army when he was 17. He was in Vietnam by his 19th birthday.
We taught him to kill. We taught him to survive...Colonel Trautman', delivering his eulogy on John Rambo's funeral
Rambo: The Video Game is a 2014 Rail Shooter developed by Teyon, a Polish studio, loosely - very loosely - based on the first three films of the Rambo franchise.
Set in an alternate version of the series' canon timeline, the game literally opens with the funeral of John J. Rambo in 1988. After a speech dedicated to his honor by Rambo's mentor, Colonel Trautman, the game then flashes back to Rambo's past, turning into an abridged retelling of the first three films - First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III (events of Rambo IV never happened in the game's universe, as such it's excluded in the flashbacks).
Gameplay alternates between Rail Shooter segments in which you shoot bad guys while also being able to take cover by pressing a directional key (ala Time Crisis), to taking on a third-person perspective with Quick Time Events. It's as unpredictable and random as it sounds.
Rambo - The Video Game contains examples of:
- Actionized Adaptation: All three of the games, but especially notable in the segments adapted from First Blood which has Rambo shooting at policemen left and right.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: The segment based on First Blood, should players complete the stage, ends with Rambo getting arrested just like in the film. Unlike the film, where Rambo kills only a single policemen by accident, the game allows him to maim, shoot, and massacre aplenty without any guilt, with Rambo's arrest becoming like a slap on the wrist.
- To be fair, the game encourages the player to use non-lethal shots and QT Es, but still...
- Adapted Out:
- No mention whatsoever of the fourth Rambo film, even though it pre-dates the game by 6 years.
- For characters from the first three films, Murdock and Colonel Podovsky from the second film, Sergeant Kourov and most of the named Afghan freedom fighters from the third.
- Age Lift: The game's version of Art Galt is a lot younger than his film equivalent, lacking a moustache with dark hair. On the other hand, Will Teasle in the game seems slightly older than his film counterpart with a graying moustache and matching hair.
- Alternate Universe: Appears to be set in one of these, where Rambo has died in the not-too-distant future while Colonel Trautman is still alive (when in canon it's the other way around). Although the funeral is revealed to be a cover-up for Rambo to mount a rescue mission for Trautman in Afghanistan.
- ...And That Little Boy Was Me: It might not be immediately obvious because of the You Don't Look Like You nature of most of the characters, but the officer giving Rambo's eulogy isn't Colonel Trautman, but rather is revealed to be one of the POWs that Rambo saved at the end of Chapter 2/the second film. Trautman is being held by the Soviets in Afghanistan, and Rambo faked his death so he could go on an unauthorized rescue mission.
- Ascended Extra: Rambo's friend in his Vietnam days, Delmar Barry, is merely mentioned in passing in the first film. In the game, he appears in the first Vietnam mission and acts as an Assist Character to Rambo in shooting enemies - his inclusion also serves as a Resolved Noodle Incident because now players knew what's the deal with Delmar Barry after his brief mention in the first movie.
- Battle in the Rain: The night raid in the Vietcong camp is set in heavy rain.
- Blackout Basement: Several stages set at night, where Rambo's torch and / or Muzzle Flashlight is the only things providing illumination. Notably when Rambo's shooting his way through various MPs (from the first film), the Vietnam camp raid in the escape (taken from the second film) and infiltrating the Russian base in Afghanistan (from the third film).
- Camera Abuse: Blood, sweat, rain, debris and assorted stuff tends to splatter on the camera lens during gameplay/
- Compressed Adaptation: Of the first three movies in the Rambo franchise, now crammed into a single game.
- Cop Killer: Unlike the movie where Rambo averts this trope, with the only cop he kills being Sergeant Galt (an Accidental Murder at that), you can indiscriminately massacre the Hope Department police during shootouts. There's even an achievement called "Cop-Killer" for doing so!
- Cutscene Power to the Max: Yeah, the scene from First Blood where Rambo jumps off a cliff and lands on a treetop before crashing several meters all the way down? It's depicted in cutscene form where Rambo (switching to third-person) expertly took a plunge. And despite the cutscene showing him getting bruised all the way, when controls return to the player Rambo doesn't suffer any health loss.
- Death by Adaptation: John Rambo himself, whose death isn't even a spoiler because it's in the opening FMV. Though this is subverted as the funeral is actually a cover for Rambo to go rescue Trautman in Afghanistan.
- Genre Throwback: Rather than being a First-Person Shooter as expected, the game is essentially a throwback to licensed Light Gun Game Rail Shooter arcade games from the early to mid 10's, such as Terminator Salvation or Aliens: Extermination/Aliens: Armageddon, a genre that had effectively died out years before the game was released.
- Heavily Armored Mook: Soviet troopers wearing heavy armor and wielding either miniguns or flamethrowers appear in the 3rd chapter, mainly in the last level. They can take a lot of bullets to bring down, but the flamers can be shot in the legs to stagger them then shot in the fuel tank to blow them up.
- Knee Capping: You can take down enemies by shooting them in the legs.
- Life Drain: One early obtained perk gives you 5% of your health every time you score a headshot. It's very helpful, as otherwise your only means of restoring lost health is Wrath mode.
- Quick Time Event: Several of these pops out during the game, where as Rambo players will need to tap on buttons in order to accesss the next stage. The police station breakout from First Blood is notably depicted in QTE form.
- Red Filter of Doom: Whenever Rambo activates his "Wrath" meter, which turns the entire screen red.
- Set Swords to "Stun": In the stage based on First Blood, Rambo is encouraged to perform non-lethal disarms by shooting MPs in their shoulders, kneecaps, or otherwise immobilizing them without killing. There was originally a score penalty for for killing policemen instead of disarming them but it appears to have been removed in an update.
- Starts with Their Funeral: The game begins with John Rambo's funeral, with an eulogy provided by his mentor Colonel Trautman. It then segues into a bunch of flashbacks of Rambo's past, leading to the gameplay segments.
- Unstoppable Rage: The "Wrath" mode, which increases Rambo's attack strength, firing rate, speed (by making all onscreen mooks move in slo-mo) and even grants him Mercy Invincibility.
- You Don't Look Like You: Various supporting characters from the game look nothing like their film counterparts; Will Teasle is now bearded while Art Galt is clean-shaven (in the film it's the other way around), Co Bao has Boyish Short Hair and ditches her long dress she wears throughout the second film, Banks (the helicopter gunner on the second film who pulled a gun on Trautman telling him to turn around) now has a full head of hair unlike his balding live-action counterpart... actually, the only characters who averts this trope is Rambo and Trautman.
