Gaming Target - Xbox: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3

Written by Nick Doukas on September 26, 2003

First Impressions: Clear and present dangerЕ

Microsoft's Xbox will be lighting up this holiday season with military themed shooters. Counter Strike makes its debut this November, and at the end of October, Ubi Soft's intense and graphically stunning FPS Rainbow Six 3 will land on store shelves everywhere. As much as I'm looking forward to CS, Rainbow Six has stolen my heart. Let me tell you whyЕ

Rainbow Six 3 is a full-on, Xbox Live enabled console version of Ubi Soft's PC game Raven Shield. In RS3, you'll take on the role of Tom Clancy's hero -- special forces operative Ding Chavez, a battle hardened veteran of countless dangerous missions. The game is set up as a squad based tactical shooter, so the scenarios and play mechanics reflect the need to approach each objective like a seasoned and cohesive counter-terrorist unit.

The single player campaign will take you through close quarters combat in numerous exotic locales, including a very cool homage to The Rock, in which the game virtually recreates the sewers and cistern room of Alcatraz, where Michael Biehn and his squad are slaughtered by Ed Harris's team of rogue soldiers. You'll command three operatives -- specialists -- their advanced AI making them more than mere cardboard cut-outs, and instead an integral part of your team. All of the orders that you'll be able to issue them are context specific, and the 16 commands available to you appear in groups of 4, based on the situation at hand. By placing your targeting reticule anywhere in the environment (like an upcoming hallway, or a door) you'll be able to get a list of available actions for your troops to perform at that location. Whether sweeping and clearing a room, using flash bang or smoke grenades to surprise an enemy patrol, or simply covering your six, this team is a smooth group of operators. They'll wait for you in a specific section of the map when told to do so, and they'll also automatically fan out and follow you anywhere in the level when you're on the move. In an interesting twist, you'll be able to use your Live headset during the offline campaign to issue commands, in addition to the option of using the buttons instead if you wish.

Graphically the game looks wonderful. The same incredible shadow and lighting effects that graced Splinter Cell are in full effect here (the game runs on a modified version of the SC engine) and the environments through which you'll fight are simply stunning. Clean, sharp textures adorn every surface; weapons fire looks ultra-realistic, and the character models of your squad-mates move well and appear lifelike and alert. The sound is also well implemented, the bark of weapons fire blending with the rich voice work, immersing you further into the world of high risk operations.

Another cool feature that the developers have included encourages the player to think tactically, instead of running and gunning. During play, the circle of your targeting reticule gets smaller when you're on the move (since presumably your accuracy is diminished by motion) and grows larger when you're in a solid, stationary position. I'm sure you can guess which scenario scores a better kill ratio.

The incredible, team oriented, online portion of the game promises to keep me up Сtil the wee hours of the morning Ц well, that and the fact that my gaming buddy snoops resides in a time zone that's 3 hours behind mine! You'll be able to team up with your pals and take on up to 16 players in various game types, including the standard Deathmatch. In addition, you and 3 of your boys can play co-operatively -- over Live -- through the single player campaign together. Now that sounds really sweet!