Immersive storyline
Reviews (102)
Action/Strategy minus the strategy
This game is extremely linear.
Clear out a room, move to the next, kill people, move to the next.Occasionally rescue a hostage that has very poor AI and likes to get shot, or defuse a bomb that is in a room previously filled with very stupid terrorists.
The obstacles are static, the enemies are always in the same place, and the only 'strategy' involved is the fact that you can only save twice per level.Talk about realistic, I bet lots of military people wish THEY had a save and a load function (you don't get to save in game in the original Rainbow Six games, which is a good thing).Oh well.
In one level, after clearing your way to a hostage, making as much noise as you like with no repercussions, you take the hostage, who you cannot tell to NOT follow you, to a very large open area.In this area there is another stupid hostage and the only way to move them around is to actually walk into them and push them (a grueling process).You have to wait in this large open area until an evac comes.
Here's a smart idea, let's sit in a big open area while terrorists come at us from every angle while we wait for a helicopter...when we could just go back the way we came, since our cars are outside.The sarcasm should be obvious.
I'm not even going to talk about the next level, which is worse.There are no choices in this game, other than that of weapons, and there is no strategy.I would recommend Rainbow Six (original) for PC, as well as Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear.These games allow you to choose your team(s) of up to 8 men and women, from snipers to demolition experts, to scouts, and designate them on 1 to 4 teams.
In Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear, there is a very detailed plannig phase, where you have a 3D blueprint of your next mission's location, and you can set the path for your teams to follow, via waypoints. There is also a great multiplayer system, where you can compete, or you can co-operate and play the any part of the campaign.
Long story short:Rainbow Six 3 is crap, and I'd think Tom Clancy would be ashamed to have his name on it.The original is greater by far, as is Rogue Spear.As well, as with any first person shooter, the PC version is better.
Great Fun to Mess Around With, But Several Small Errors
Being a big fan of tactical games, Rainbow Six 3 was on my to-get list and just recently I picked up my copy.I had a blast with it and still play it despite the fact that I beat it several times.The weapons were veryy accurate in terms of practicality and functionality; I was very pleased that Ubi Soft actually got the technical information of the actual weapons and implimented them correctly instead of making a messed-up array of weapons like the RCP-90 in Golden Eye (Great weapon for a great game).
The graphics are not bad given the time of RBS3's release.Nothing special about them, but they arn't lacking soo much that one begins to notice it.However, the AI is seriously lacking on both the terrorists and your fellow team mates.When you give Zulu (Attack on your command) commands, they can get stuck in corners walk into the given area and get killed in the process.It's really annoying to move them out of your way too.Several times when clearing rooms they'll either jump out in front of me and take a few rounds to the back or they'll stop in the doorway and start shooting like it was a carnival game.
The terrorist AI is also lacking.I could take out someone with a loud .40 S&W handgun and the nearby terrorist will just scratch his head wondering if it was a firearm or if his stomache just made a noise.Other times the terrorist will try to roll away to safety and instead roll towards you and shoot you while rolling... it's really weird.
What also makes me mad is the fact that you need XBox Live in order to do Co-Op.I'm sorry, but I don't feel like paying money in order to play Co-Op.I think it's rediculous and a money-making scheme dreamed by Tom Clancy or Bill Gates.I was escatic to play Conflict: Desert Storm on Co-Op, why can't other games be the same.
Lastly, I hate it when you can only control yourself and not others, much less give individual orders.It takes away from the controlability from the game, thereby being at the mercy of the AI... and we know how much I love the AI.
But nonetheless, I loved playing this game.My favorite thing to do it use phosphorous on the terrorist and watch them burst into flames.It's a really fun game, but these small errors really do add up to a big deal.However, it is still worth getting.
Move, move, move... I said MOVE!!
I was a huge fan of rainbow six on the PC and was pretty excited about the console version. I expected it to be a bit more 'arcadey', but having also got Ghost Recon, also expected a similar level of realism and strategy. But all in all I have to say I was pretty disappointed. On the plus side, the game is really well presented, with some good missions, great graphics, and the sound is superb. But it's the gameplay where it fell down for me. For starters all you have is one group - consisting of 4 men, of which you are one, and can only play one - Ding Chavez. One of the best parts of Rainbow 6 on the PC (and indeed the Ghost Recon games on console) is the ability to send different units off to different areas, storm rooms at the same time from multiple angles and give eachother cover fire. With the console version there is none of this. You don't plot waypoints or anything like that, you literally issue orders on the fly. To be honest, that didn't really bother me too much. In fact I quite liked the added sense of on the spot realism this gave the game. You can issue a variety of commands, most of which can also be issued with a 'go' code, so you can do your thing, and then shout to code for them to execute their orders on demand.
But without the advance planning what you really need is some AI to keep the game realistic, and functioning smoothly. Sadly I found this quite poor. There are many niggly problems that are really detrimantal to the game. For staters when you tell your team to move - they don't move to your crosshairs - they move towards them and then fan out into all kinds of stupid positions even taking fire from bad guys, which they wouldn't have done if they'd have stopped where you asked. In a game that essentially relies on stealth tactics, it's like sending an army of chimps into a hostage situation.. This is incredibly frustrating. Opening doors is also extremely irritating. You can't seem to sneak it open without your team attempting to do something. For example, you press the A button and the D pad to open the door slightly to check for badguys, but when you release it you get a 'ROGER, opening door..' in your ear, and the whole team arrives to open the already semi open door.. Also can anyone explain why you can only order your team to flash or frag rooms that have a door?? There were many occasions where I wanted to order a teammember to frag an open room.
Also, it has to be said that the voice recognition is not great. Sometimes I had to actually check to see if the mic was muted after having said MOVE!! about 5 times. In the end I found it was a little more successful if I faked an american accent. So perhaps you guys will be ok... I also noticed that Zulu go codes can result in odd things with voice recognition. You will set the team up to storm a room on a go code, get to your door, issue the go code and they will just move to you, or try and storm the room from your door.. This was not a problem when using the interface.
Enemy AI is also not as good as it ought to have been. Forstarters, in a game that is primarily about stealth, they never run for help, nor seem to get particularly alarmed when you plug one of their accomplices nearby. And how come everyone seems to know that you're coming? An enemy will step out from round a corner, you'll shoot him, and he'll run off. 2 minutes later he will step out from round the corner again, seemingly having completely forgotten there was a team of four camouflaged anti terrorist officers kneeling with big guns waiting there.. Snipers are probably the most ludicrous though. Despite the fact that the enemy effectively has no idea that Rainbow are in the building, they appear to be camped out waiting for you - tiny little spots on distant cranes, that shoot you in the head as soon as you step round a corner. The game is furiously difficult in places.
But it's not all bad. Generally, despite the niggles the game functions really well, (more so if you don't use the headset) and you are rewarded for 'sensible' playing. You can't run around Halo style in Rainbow six, you have to use cover, tread carefully, keep to walls, and not expose the group in wide open spaces. A few shots will kill, so listen to your team mates, and use your different view modes (night vision, and thermal). Whilst it is not as strategic as it's contemporaries, the small level of strategy involved is satisfying enough, particularly when you confuse the enemy by storming a room through two doors etc. Hostages are also dealt with extremely well, you can secure them, or escort them, and the bad guys will not hesitate to kill them if you aren't fast enough.
So all in all, it is more one for those who prefer the arcade side of these style of games than the strategy, and if you can forgive it's shortcomings, it is a good, albeit tough 1st person shooter.
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Asin: B00008G764
Subjects: 1. Video Games
2. Xbox (x box)
3. Microsoft
4. Action
5. Adventure
That was fat!
