John Rambo recently arrived in the popular battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone, alongside his 80s action hero peer John McClane. The character fits in well scrounging for loot and engaging in firefights across Call of Duty: Warzone's Verdansk. Rambo is one of the biggest action heroes to come out of 1980s cinema and is well known for his tactical maneuvers, proficiency with a bow and arrow, never-ending determination, and his ability to use superior training to overcome insurmountable odds. All of which fits well into Call of Duty: Warzone.
Of course, there are other 80s action heroes that would fit well in Call of Duty: Warzone as well, but John Rambo seems like a match made in heaven. However, Call of Duty: Warzone is far from the first video game to feature the likes of John Rambo. Not only does the action star boast a sizable library of titles based on his movies, but he has popped up in a handful of crossovers with other games as well, including some that were very unexpected.
Rambo's History in Film
John Rambo exploded, in many ways literally, into the public consciousness with the release of First Blood in 1982. The film introduced viewers to John Rambo, a United States Army veteran returning from the Vietnam War, only to have to use the skills he learned from war to combat abusive law enforcement in a small Washington town. First Blood was followed by Rambo: First Blood Part 2 in 1985 and Rambo 3 in 1988. The original trilogy solidified John Rambo as an action hero icon and built a dedicated fanbase. The first three Rambo movies are all classics, and fans have even gone so far as to recreate some of their most famous scenes in Call of Duty: Warzone.
But that was not where the series ended. The franchise saw a reboot in the form of 2008's Rambo that saw lead actor Sylvester Stallone jumping into the director chair for the only time in the series. Rambo brought the character into modern times and saw him living in Burma as a mercenary. Rambo also brought a new level of action and gore to the series that was repeated in the franchise's most recent entry Rambo: Last Blood from 2019. While some Rambo fans were not satisfied with Rambo: Last Blood as a conclusion of the franchise, the two newest titles were surrounded by a bunch of John Rambo appearances in new video games.
All of the Rambo Video Games
John Rambo's arrival in the video games industry was kicked off with the release of the simply titled Rambo in 1985. Based on Rambo: First Blood Part 2, the game sees players dropping into an open map and having to search for their gear, locate a POW camp, and then escape with rescued hostages while being pursued by enemies. Remarkably, the gameplay is actually somewhat similar to what players do as Rambo in Call of Duty: Warzone. Rambo was followed by Rambo: First Blood Part 2 the video game in 1986 that was a top-down shooter based on the movie developed by Sega. Rambo 3 also received a tie-in video game of the same name that was a light-gun rail shooter loosely following the movie's narrative.
Much like the movie franchise, Rambo video games took a break until 2008 when Sega released another light-gun game simply titled Rambo that was based on the second and third movies. However, 2008's Rambo was only released into arcades in Japan. The last video game led by John Rambo was Rambo: The Video Game, released in 2014 on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The game sees players controlling Rambo through rail shooter sequences covering the stories of the original Rambo trilogy. However, Rambo: The Video Game was largely panned by critics and players alike. With how poorly it was received, there is little wonder as to why Rambo: The Video Game never received a sequel.
Rambo's Appearances in Other Video Games
John Rambo's recent appearances in video games have been quite varied, and range from small appearances to full playable characters.
One of the character's most minor appearances is in the mobile game Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff. The game is based on the popular show and sees players building their own customizable version of Quahog by collecting a variety of the show's most iconic characters and scenes, including John Rambo, for some reason. Of course, Rambo also appeared in Broforce, a side-scrolling shooter that is an ode to 80s action movies. Broforce features a variety of action heroes that players can play as, each with their own arsenal and playstyle, and sees Rambo bringing his iconic M60 machine gun along for the ride.
John Rambo's biggest appearance in video games came when the character was added as a playable character in Mortal Kombat 11. Mortal Kombat has a massive cast of characters and has never been afraid to bring some crazy characters through DLC like Spawn, the Predator, and DC's Joker. Mortal Kombat 11, however, saw John Rambo and the Terminator able to battle it out once and for all to determine who was the most capable action hero from the 80s. Rambo's inclusion in the fighting game was his largest yet, as it bore a great resemblance to the character and included a wide variety of cosmetics and customization options that span all of the character's movies.
With how popular of a character John Rambo has continued to be so many years after his original film appearances, it is no surprise that he has started making his way into so many video games. His newest appearance in Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War may be his most fitting yet, and it is unlikely that it will be his last. Hopefully, John Rambo and other classic characters will continue to be featured in a variety of video games so that players can see them in a new light and experience some of their favorite characters in entirely new ways.