In the video game industry, striking while the iron is hot is nowhere near as important as the strike being one of quality. Don’t tell that to those who oversee the Call of Duty franchise, mind you. With that in mind, the idea of video game dedicated to the violent undertakings of John Rambo is fertile ground waiting to be plowed, and that’s what just what Reef Entertainment is trying to do with Rambo: The Video Game. A couple of days ago, they released a gameplay trailer, which gives us a great idea of how things are progressing.

Presented in the familiar first person shooter format, the Rambo game certainly has a lot of ground it can cover, which is apparently the goal of the publishers. The trailer shows our hero in locations from each of the theatrical installments. The question is, why do the cutscenes look so, well, dated? Take a look for yourself:

While the graphics on the gameplay look fine–a great FPS doesn’t need vast, detailed open worlds if the action delivers–but the quality of the cutscene-based action is not up to par with modern console/PC capabilities. Again, it’s quite possible, if not common, for a game to overcome graphical shortcomings, but the cartoon-like quality in the Rambo trailer was a little unexpected. Maybe the developers are concentrating on giving us a game that effectively puts the player in the shoes of John Rambo when he’s going up against a team of Spetsnaz, or a redneck police officer who doesn’t like drifters.

That appears to be Reef Entertainment’s goal:

According to publisher Reef Entertainment, the game will be “triple-A” quality and intends to “capture the gritty atmosphere and full-on action which made the Rambo movies so successful.” To do so, Rambo: The Video Game will be based on the three original movies and feature “shoot-outs, stealth killings, demolition, knife-play and more.”

It should be noted the publishers’ track record includes games like Liquidator 2 for the PC and Sniper Elite for the Wii. Does that improve the outlook for Rambo: The Video Game?