The year is 2007...
You are thrown into the role of Ding Chavez, a Rainbow Six veteran that leads a group of 4 operatives that make up an elite international counterterrorist unit. The group is sent around the world to resolve terrorist threats with a minimal amount of problems. 14 different missions are available for you to play through, each with their own objectives. Although, all of them will involve the usual counterterrorist work: killing anyone not on your side, disabling a bomb or rescuing hostages. The beauty of this game is that you have the ability to play through all of the missions solo and co-operatively, whether it be on Xbox Live or System Link. When playing through the game on your own, the 3 AI characters on your side have been designed to attempt to recreate the team strategy gameplay similar to what you would experience when playing with real people. Being the team leader, you must give them instructions on what to do. This is done via the Xbox Live Communicator (the game can be purchased bundled with the headset) or if you're not willing to fork out the extra cash, the controller.
It is possible to order your teammates to move to a location of your choice, open doors and clear the room, throw grenades, secure hostages and disarm bombs. This can be done by actually saying the command into the communicator or using the order interface brought up by a press the A button. Alternatively, if you want to plan a more strategic attack, you can hold the A button to bring up more advanced orders to give to your teammates. For example, if you want your team to open a door and clear the room, simply say "open and clear' while looking at the door, or press the A button. If you want to throw a flash grenade into the room before storming it, you would say "open, flash and clear" or hold A, and select the open, flash and clear order. All of the commands can also be performed on zulu, where the team will get in position and wait for your call to execute it. This opens a whole range of strategic moves you could perform, such as entering a room from two different locations at once. Your teammates don't act like robots, they are amazingly intelligent. If they are being shot at they won't hesitate on opening fire. Although you have complete control over their location, they do act independently in certain situations. When bursting into a room they will first take out any terrorists, or "tangos" as they like to call them, and then automatically position themselves in a way to cover you. If you do get overwhelmed by enemy fire and one of your teammates is killed, it is still possible to continue the mission, although this is the point where you will begin to feel the pressure to act as a team leader and keep the surviving members alive to complete the objectives. On the other hand, if you are killed in action, the mission will be over.
Being a Tom Clancy game the level of realism was an important part in the development. A fairly good variety of weapons are available, including pistols, assault rifles and a grenade launcher that has 4 different projectile variations for you to choose from. The equipment interface consists of four slots, primary weapon, secondary weapon and two other items of your choice. Frag grenades, flashbangs, smoke grenades, claymore and even a gasmask to counter the effects of tear gas are at your disposal. Night vision and thermal vision are equipped to you automatically and do not take up any equipment slots.
There is great fun to be had in the multiplayer modes of Rainbow Six 3. When playing co-operatively you will notice that the four-member team system from single player has been adopted. This means that up to 4 of your friends can take up the role of Rainbow Six operatives and form a powerful counterterrorist unit. The terrorist hunt is another game mode available. Here, your mission is to take out anyone that is not a Rainbow Six operative. This offers fast gameplay and is an alternative to disarming bombs and rescuing hostages as seen in the regular missions. If you want more players, the Survival and Sharpshooter game modes will be what you are looking for. If you set up a dedicated server, a maximum of 16 people can be playing at once, otherwise it is limited to only 8. Unfortunately there is no split-screen option included, so network play is the only option.
What you can't see, can't hurt you
Visually, Rainbow Six 3 is a mixed bag. The majority of the maps are well designed and it is great to see each having its own uniqueness, instead of suffering from the old "copy and paste" technique. But the textures used on the maps aren't up to scratch with the current generation of games. Although, being a reasonably dark game, it helps hide the less so stunning textures and you probably won't notice them. The character models aren't anything spectacular either. There are certain animation's on the characters that don't run smoothly and it seems to jump around a little. On the positive side there are some excellent lightning effects. As you enter a dark room no enemies are to be seen, until a shadow moves by on the far wall. Using the shadows to your advantage is an important technique in forming strategies and getting the upper-hand on your enemy, similar to what we saw in Splinter Cell. There are also some well-done effects which you will see when you get a load of tear gas into your face or get caught by a flashbang by surprise. You will be staggering around blind, letting a whole cartridge of ammunition out on a slight blur that you believe is your foe. The fact that the non-lethal grenades are actually effective is great and makes them a useful addition to any operatives inventory.
The sound in a game of this genre is always an integral part of the experience. When playing with Dolby Digital enabled, you will feel as if you are actually in the game. Ricochets, shouting of desperate terrorists and the explosions of grenades will all have you gripping your controller as if it be a real weapon. When an enemy opens up fire on you, it can be difficult to locate where the bullets are coming from which will usually result in taking cover behind a nearby object. The AI controlled players will talk to you throughout the mission updating you on their status and alerting you on the location of a terrorist if caught off-guard. One of the most interesting elements of the games audio is the way it calculates where voices come from. Any teammates that aren't close by are only able to be heard via the communicator ear piece, where as people nearby can be heard through your sound system, whether it be friend or enemy. This adds to the overall realism to the game and is superb when playing a large team match.
Mission complete
Any game that has emphasis on the multiplayer aspect is bound to stick with gamers for a long time. When playing through a terrorist hunt the AI waypoints of terrorists is randomised, so running through it once will not guarantee and successful run next time through. This should keep you interested for a good while until you get bored of ordering around the AI controlled players. After that, there is hours of fun to be had on Xbox Live or at System Link events.
Rainbow Six 3 is a great game that shines in both single and multiplayer areas. It features an excellent AI and offers some incredible experiences when playing with friends. Fairly good visuals and superb sound will immerse you in the realistic environments. This game is one of Xbox's best multiplayer games of the year and will definitely hold its spot in my games library for months to come. If you enjoy Tom Clancy games or are looking for something new to play at your next Xbox LAN party, check this game out.
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