Tom Clancy - years ago he just used to write fat books that took up your entire hand luggage on the plane when going holiday. Good books, with solid stories, top characters and written with such love and obvious knowledge that you wondered just how much was fiction. With the success Hollywood soon took an interest - books became movies and even more people got to know about Tom Clancy. However, having his name attached to a game happened long before that, with the game of Red Storm Rising bearing his name and games like Harpoon and SSN having his knowledge attached. Now Tom Clancy games have come of age and seem to carry with them the same quality storylines and characters of his books.
Rainbow Six 3 is the Xbox's version of the latest Rainbow Six game from the PC entitled Raven Shield. Based around what I believe to be one of his best books Rainbow saw ex-Navy Seal and CIA operative John Clark (who you may remember was in the movie of Clear and Present Danger) form an elite multinational anti terrorism squad (think the SAS but made up of operatives from all over the world). One of the main men on the team is a guy by the name of Ding Chavez.
The game sees you taking the role of Ding and having the responsibility of leading your four-man team across 14 missions, tackling terrorists, disarming bombs, rescuing hostages and doing everything else associated with being part of Rainbow. Players of the PC game will wonder how the lengthy mission planner at the beginning of each mission has been ported to the XBOX. Well it hasn't been. Following rather impressive cut scenes and military music you are given a briefing of the task ahead. You then choose the equipment you wish to take and then it's on with the mission - simple as that.
When kitting out you only choose the equipment that Ding will carry - the equipment carried by your men is set by the game. This for me is a bit of a problem. It takes a fair bit away from how you want to go about playing the missions tactically. You may choose a silenced gun but the rest of the squad turning up with M16s can be annoying. You get to choose from a very impressive arsenal of weapons and grenades all being presented with detail and all having unique characteristics, when you are happy you are taken straight to the insertion site.
Control of the game is as with any other FPS game on the Xbox with a few differences due to the squad-based nature. As a rule the squad will follow you around the map and react to any threats as they see fit. However, you being the boss can tell them what to do. The neatest way of doing this is with a headset. Using it the squad will follow spoke orders such as "hold", "regroup" and "breach and clear" - the voice recognition is superb but I have found it best to say things twice to be sure. If you do not have a headset orders can still very quickly be issued by the control pad.
Within minutes it really does feel like you are part of this elite team. You need to take things slow and you need to work as part of a group. Treating this like a standard FPS will see you dead from a headshot within seconds. Tell your squad to move ahead and watch as each one works as both an individual and a team, they move realistically from cover to cover and upon reaching their destination take up covering positions. You can then move with them or go around a different way. It's all so natural and easy to do that you will be setting up flanking manoeuvres and taking down the terrorists before they even know you are there.
The realism of the game is brilliant. Common barriers you face across your path are obviously doors. Behind them can be any number of terrorists waiting to blow away a hostage or detonate a bomb. The simple controls allow for the door to be opened slowly and precisely allowing flash or CS grenades to be lobbed or fired into the room before you storm it. You can also plant breach charges on the doors which blow them wide open and stun whoever is in the room. You and your squad are then given a few vital seconds to do what heroes do.
All this realism would be for nothing if the enemies you face acted stupidly but unfortunately for your guys they don't. They are some of the cleverest enemies you will have faced. Watch as they dive head first away from your gunshots. See them roll behind crashed cars and duck back quick as one sticks a gun up from behind a fence to unleash a volley of lead towards you. Slow and steady is the order of the day and never forget you are part of a team.
Worth noting is the fact that the game is not easy - you will die a lot at the start, and soon realise your biggest weapon is your brain rather than the one in your hand. The game gives you two saves per level but these cannot be overwritten during your current mission, which does result in some levels having to be played again from the beginning. During most missions you will reach an obvious point where you have achieved an objective, but it's always down to you to save and use them wisely. As with most FPS the locations of the enemies on each mission can be remembered, but not relied on as the game does slightly alter their positioning, weapons and reactions, which allows for each retry to be just as tense as the last.
The graphics are very nice indeed - the game uses the Splinter Cell game engine and looks very smooth and detailed. The levels are very believable and well designed - there is also a wide range of locations to visit. A real neat feature is actually watching members of the squad shoulder a rifle whilst they use another piece of equipment - the character animation is simply superb, and even extends to lip synching as they speak, or as you communicate with team mates online. Sound in the game is very good - great use of 5.1 with some very deep and heavy bass in the gunshots and explosions. All the weapons sound different and you soon are able to know if it's an M16 or an MP5 being fired. The game also has the best ever weather effects - the rain sounds the most rain like and the sound it makes on different surfaces has to be heard to be believed - very atmospheric.
Owners of Xbox live can compete in numerous online games. You can play the missions with up to 3 other "real" people or go for a death match game with up to 15 other players. The servers are always packed and whilst it does suffer from the odd juvenile game player it's a very good experience with the game hardly ever suffering from slowdown.
Rainbow 6 is almost a great game. I much prefer it to other FPS games I have played on the Xbox and also find it to have the best experience online of all the games I have yet played on Live. The game however is not perfect. It has a glitch and a bug or two, but the biggest problem I have is that of not being able to equip the entire team yourself, I also feel it would be an idea to be able to change to another team member and also split the team up a little more. For instance; with all the realism the game has to offer it's not possible to leave a single member of your team at a vantage point with a sniper rifle to give you cover. But that's about it for the criticisms, and the problems only come about because of just how good and solid the game generally is. An essential purchase for any Xbox owning FPS fan. DK
