The tactical squad-based
games have been piling up this year and rightfully so. The success of the Ghost
Recon series on the Xbox and the SOCOM games for the PS2 have shown that gamers
do enjoy a game that puts you in charge of your own team of specialists ready to
take on terrorist threats around the world–and who wouldn’t, really? The
Rainbow Six games, though, have jumped from the PC to consoles such as the Sega
Dreamcast and even the original Playstation so hearing about that the series
continues on the Xbox made this reviewer’s mouth water. So does this game have
what it takes to compete with the Ghost Recon games? Oh yeah.
Gamers take up the role of
Ding Chavez; the leader of an elite team of specially trained tactical
operatives known as Rainbow. It is the year 2007 and the oil crisis in America
has caught the interest of a terrorist faction based in Venezuela where America
gets most of its oil these days. The result is a terrorist plot against
Americans and this is something the United States will not tolerate. To out an
end to the acts of violence, destruction and hostage taking, Rainbow is
activated and are sent to eliminate the threat they only way they know
how–skilled, tactical professionalism and plenty of bullets.
The Rainbow team is
composed of three specialists–Loiselle, Weber and Price. While you don’t get to
take control of the three other operatives, you do get to command them during
the game’s fourteen missions. The commands are plentiful and range from
following you to securing a location by tossing a flash grenade into a room and
storming in with guns blazing. You can also issue orders on Zulu, meaning they
will only perform that task in one location if you give them the go-ahead. This
order works best when you want to burst into the same location using a different
door than your team.
Rainbow Six 3 has a
variety of missions that slightly mirror those of the Ghost Recon games. The
missions put you up against a terrorist threat while securing hostages and
deactivating bombs scattered throughout the area. One mission has you killing
off terrorists in an alpine resort while another has you in an oil refinery in
the Dutch Caribbean. Unlike the Ghost Recon games, though, you’ll often be in
communication with your contact person so you know exactly what to do during the
mission.
The controls are easy to
get into for a first-person shooter that stresses the importance of team
interaction and switching from your primary weapon to your secondary weapon is
satisfyingly quick. Yet the game is realistic enough that how fast you can
reload your weapon depend on the weapon itself. From the start of each mission,
you are given the choice of what kind of equipment you want to carry for each
weapon. Your armament ranges from heavy machine guns to light Macs with
silenced barrels. You can also decide whether you want the non-lethal smoke
grenades to grenades that can set your enemies on fire.
The game also allows you
to use your Xbox Communicator headset to issue the commands by voice so you can
concentrate on what you’re doing rather than going through the command menu.
The bad news, though, is that even with this help the game is still a bit too
hard as a single player experience. The difficulty comes from the incredibly
intelligent enemy AI that ups the challenge considerably. It also doesn’t help
that your three teammates often make boneheaded mistakes such as throwing a
flash grenade against a wall instead of out the door and thus blinding you
instead. They also often stumble their way into a location, making them easy
targets in the process.
Now on to the good news,
which is very good news indeed. This game was made with multiplayer in mind and
while you can set up a great multiplayer game using the System Link cable, the
game really shines online using the Xbox Live service. That’s right, this
is–by far–the best online game since Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of
War. Up to sixteen players can take each another on different game modes and
types such as Optimatch, adversarial and cooperative matches. You can team up
with friends and take on strangers online or you can split up and have an every
man for him or herself. The options are all up to you.
Visually, Rainbow Six 3 is
quite beautiful to the point that it contains most of the things we loved about
Splinter Cell’s graphics. The lighting is handled just as gorgeously and gamers
will be at awe how lighting plays a role in the game. Don’t know if there’s an
enemy behind that corner? A light source might give him away once his shadow
shows up. The environments are also nicely detailed and, although you’ll find
many corridors throughout the game, they are never dull to look at. The effects
really steal the show, though, and you’ll see this especially when things
explode or when enemies catch on fire.
Yet it is the sound that
wins over the visuals with its ample amount of detailed sound that will
practically surround you. Each environment is filled with the smallest of
details to the point that everything will catch your attention. If somebody
opened a door somewhere in a building, you’ll know it from the squeak. Sound
can also distract you. For example, moving through a villa you will hear the
wind slam a shutter, catching your attention to the point that you might just
get caught looking away from a target. The music in this game is also good,
although you’ll hear it mostly in the load screen.
Rainbow Six 3 does not
revolutionize the squad-based tactical action genre but it is sheer perfection
and the most addictive first-person shooter to come along since Halo. Not only
does this game feature some excellent missions but its online mode makes this
the best Xbox Live title up there with Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of
War. Buy this one if you love first-person or great action games.
|
#Reviewer’s |
Gameplay: 9.2
There are just so many ways you can
approach a given situation within each mission and this is the heart and soul of
Rainbow Six 3 . . . and what makes this such a pure joy to play on a continuous
basis. The game plays like an excellent first-person shooter but the squad
commands and tactical strategies are left entirely up to the player in the same
fashion as the Ghost Recon series. The mission variety also helps keep the game
fresh and addictive and the Custom Mission mode will have you going up against
terrorists (without worrying about hostages and bombs) in areas you unlock up
the replay value.
Graphics: 9.0
Remember a little game called
Splinter Cell? Do you remember how it captured lighting so perfectly that
everything that moves past a light source make a realistic shadow? If you do
then Rainbow Six 3 will bring back memories of that other Tom Clancy inspired
game and this is a very good thing. A first-person shooter to blend such
beautiful light with highly detailed environments is pretty rare and so it is a
treat to see this game in action. Although the characters during the game look
a bit awkward (most notably their heads and faces) and the bodies of fallen
terrorists simply disappear if you look away for a second, the game’s visuals
are still quite amazing.
Sound: 9.2
Now do you remember a little
tactical squad based game called Ghost Recon? Do you remember how the
environments reek with audible detail in the littlest of things such as a wind
passing through trees or the barking of a dog in the distance? Sound is handled
wonderfully here and this also goes for the voices of your squad mates and the
sounds of your various weapons. Explosions also sound incredible if you have a
good sound system.
Difficulty: Hard
You’ll quickly find that the game is
also hard even in the Veteran difficulty mode. This becomes noticeable once you
move on to the second and third missions, which will often have you loading the
game again and again. The reason the game is so hard is the fact that the enemy
AI is wonderfully intelligent and your enemies have the good sense to take cover
or carry out ambushes successfully. Your team, though, is not as smart and
makes plenty of unusual mistakes. While this might be a bit frustrating for
some gamers its addictive gameplay won’t make you mind doing it over again.
Concept: 9.0
The Rainbow Six games have always
been about the interaction between your team and the situation that demands you
to come up with different methods of performing certain tasks. You can chose to
go into a building with guns blazing or have your men toss a smoke grenade into
the room before storming inside to secure the room. Freedom of choice is always
an excellent quality to have in a game and the Rainbow Six games allow you to
select your own gear and devise your own tactical plans. The Xbox version isn’t
any different and it feels right at home with the console. The game also allows
you to customize your game online and use the Xbox Communicator for single
player use. There’s also downloadable content for Xbox Live subscribers.
Multiplayer: 10
This is the game the Xbox Live
gamers have been waiting for and it’s online multiplayer fun does not disappoint
in the very least. Aside from the fact that you can play this one using a
System Link cable and multiple Xbox consoles for up to sixteen players, the
online game has plenty of options and several different game types to choose
from on the Xbox Live. You can team up with friends to take on others in
Optimatch mode or you can customize your own game and basically have a
last-man-stand type of match. You can also team up with friends for a co-op
version of the single player campaign missions. The possibilities are all
there, which makes this multiplayer heaven for fans that love to share their
game with friends.
Overall: 9.3
Quite possibly this year’s best
tactical squad-based action game on the Xbox, Rainbow Six 3 proves that the
genre can be ultra realistic and ultra fun at the same time. With lush graphics
and detailed sound, seldom does a first-person shooter really immerse you into
the game’s world the way this one does. Not only do you command a squad but you
make up your own tactical strategies all on your own–isn’t freedom wonderful?
Buy this one right away, you won’t regret it.
