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The original PC version of Rainbow Six 3 was "muy excelente". It featured much freedom throughout the game: it allowed you to plan out your course of action throughout the missions, your operatives, their weapons, and even down to their uniforms. You had the freedom to utilize up to four squads together comprising 8 or less operatives. Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield was clearly the king of all Rainbow Six games. Sadly, these freedoms have not been implemented in Rainbow Six 3 for the Xbox.
It is alarming how the Xbox version could be so different from the PC version. UbiSoft calls it "redefined console oriented gameplay, with a new interface, new circumstantial actions, and clearer icons, to lead Rainbow to success", but it is really more like a stripped down version of the PC version. When the original Rainbow Six came out in 1998, the whole idea, the selling-point of the game was the planning-out of the mission and the one-shot, one-kill process. No longer are these true in the Xbox version. Now, you can only control Ding Chavez, and lead your squad of 4 operatives including Eddie Price, Dieter Weber, Louis Loiselle, and yourself. What about the planning and the one-shot, one-kill policy? Those were thrown out too. Now it is more of a run-and-gun game more along the lines of Half-Life and Unreal. I found that you could take up to 15 bullets before you die. And when Ding Chavez dies, the mission is failed, but if any of the operatives get "incapacitated", they pop right back up for the next mission (assuming you accomplish the previous one without them). In the PC version, if your operatives die, they are gone for the rest of the game, and for injuries, your operatives take about 2 missions or so to recover. Talk about missing realism for the Xbox.
Now, seeing how you are stuck with the same 4 operatives, the least UbiSoft could do was give each of the guys distinct personalities, but that was not the case. You get 4 boring guys that are basically the same except Louis has an annoying French accent.
But, throughout all these caveats about Rainbow Six 3 for Xbox, there are many good things. For example, the lucious graphics based on Splinter Cell. The excellent lighting schemes (shadows, heat-vision, etc.), and fantastic details such as fluttering curtains and volumetric fog have been implemented in this game. Also, the inclusion of voice-recogniion technology for squad commanding is an excelent bonus, which really pulls you into the game. The sound is also excellent like the PC version: the super 5.1 positional sound, and even realistic static as you "talk" to your operatives. The inclusion of Xbox Live is also cool. The multiplayer is excellent and loads of fun. The problem is, is that there is no split-screen gameplay, so forget about inviting your friends over for a tango-killing fest.
The gameplay itself deserves a 2 out of 5. The entire selling-point of the R6 series is gone, and what's left is a run-and-gun mess unlike the other games in the Tom Clancy series.
But, with the inclusion of awesome graphics, sound, voice-recognition technology, and excellent Xbox Live gameplay (but no split-screen for Live-deprived people), it deserves a 4 out of 5. But beware, if none of the above-mentioned things in the previous sentence appeal to you, then I suggest you stick with Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield for the PC. It is more expansive, and includes the heart of the Tom Clancy series itself : tactical strategic gameplay.
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If you are familiar with Ghost Recon, this is just like it except indoors.The graphics and animation for the game is great. When a character talk, you can see his mouth move. The environment looks great, and the music and sound effects complement it well.
Gameplay is divided into two parts. Offline and Online. I haven't spent much time with the offline game, but here's what I know so far. You can use the headset to issue voice commands to the other characters. While the commands are not in the manual(and for good reason), you can find them on the net. There are a lot of voice commands to keep you and your team busy without going through all sorts of menus. The game doesn't really have a story, just a number of different missions that have nothing to do with the other mission. Afterall, its more like the real thing. There are three difficulty levels, "recruit", "veteran" and "elite". All quite challenging.
Now this is where I spend most of my time, ONLINE. While I'm not sure how many maps are there, there's definately more than ten, and there's a map waiting for you to download when you log into XBL. There are quite a number of game types to choose from, including: sharpshooter, survival, team survival, mission, terrorist hunt, etc. There are quite a number of weapons to choose from, and you can quickly switch to your secondary weapon in the heat of battle. Such weapons include automatics, semi-automatic, handguns, pistols, grenades(various), and the hady gas mask. A wrong move can leave you watching the rest of the match from the lobby. You can carry a total of four weapons/items during each game, and can change them while in the lobby. If you want to go on a frag hunt, or do it as a team, or even play though the offline mission with other people, then do it. Yup, you can play coop with up to 4 players. Pretty intense I must say. Teamwork is definately vital to success. There are some missions that are near impossible without good teamwork.
While you may experience some lag, it definately isn't bothersome. You won't be shooting at someone and suddenly he vanishes and I'm talking about 16 players here. Very stable I must say. If you are familiar with Wolfenstein, then the lag is definately better than that. You can use a sniper rifle and not worry about someone skipping across the screen. Your connection speed is shown with stars, one to three with three being the best. Most people have a three star connection. I can host games of up to eight people (using a cable connection) and a dedicated server of 16.
The controll setup is pretty good, and you can choose from a number of predefined setups. Luckily you can also invert the Y stick. Night vision and thermal vision are just a button away, and I truly find them useful, especially when you can't see through the smoke. Using thermal vision, you can see people on the other side of a door, but not through walls(and for good reason). You can choose a southpaw control setup if you desire. However, you can't set each button as you can do in Moto GP.
The number of people keep growing and it grows very fast. The last time I checked there were 200K+ people. The total number of players is displayed at the top of the statistic board.
If you've been wondering if this game is worth the purchase, my reply is it definately is. Go pick this game up and stop those terrorist.
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So far I have only played through part of the single player portion of this game but I can already say that it is one of the best first person shooters I have ever played! To start off, the game has excellent graphics, very similar to Splinter cell. In fact, you can call this game "team splinter cell" with the high tech gadgets replaced with great weaponry! The weapons in this game will cause you to drool...All of the best assualt rifles, sub-machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades & grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns make it into the arsenal for rainbow.I am also amazed by all the team commands you can give to your other 3 team members. Entering a room has never been better.... such as blowing the door down, using a flashbang entry, frag entry, or just opening the door guns blazing. It's really cool! The single player campaign is similar in style to splinter cell, but it's a lot more realistic & believable and of course more action packed.
Now the only gripe I had with rainbow were the controls. Placing the target on an enemy is a little difficult, because the joystick seems slightly sensitive on the xbox controller. But other than that, the game is near perfect! And that's just the single player! I have yet to play it against a friend or on LIVE. If the single player is this good, then I am more than sure the multi-player & online play is excellent. Definitly worth getting!!!
Honest reviews on Rainbow Six 3 (Tom Clancy's) - Xbox
Ubisofts latest Tom Clancy military FPS, Rainbow Six 3, is simply the best to date. Gameplay wise Rainbow Six 3 (R63) plays like a typical FPS. There are two big things that excell this Rainbow over the others. 1) The AI for your squad is much better this time around. The squad members are very good about cover themselves and setting up perimeter covers. 2) The orders you give your squad are very accurate to military monuvers. I also love the ZULU tatics making it posible to storm rooms from two different doors at the same time. Other things I really enjoyed about this Rainbow Is the weopon selection. There are alot of primary and secondary weopons to choose from and also a good selection of grenades to aid you. If you enjoy the Ghost Recon games then you will love Rainbow Six 3. The only thing missing from R63 is smarter AI for the terrorist, though not push overs they are not the sharpest tools in the shed at times. Over all Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 is a very realistic FPS and a thrill to play. This is a MUST BUY!! for X-box owners.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Rainbow Six 3 (Tom Clancy's) - Xbox
I took a while to purchase this game, due to the fact the last game that got "good" overall reviews on here, turned out to suck (Unreal Championship). I must say I really did enjoy this game.Basically in RS6. You assume the role of Ding Chavez, the leader of a 4 man strike team. You complete various missions that deal mainley with eliminating terrorists and saving hostages.
When you first start this game, you will see that it is very similar in appearance to Splinter Cell. This game effectively uses the aspects that made Splinter Cell so great. The lighting effects are spectacular. You can often look at shadows to see where your enemies are which is very helpful. UBI Soft has again done an excellent job with the graphics in this game. The levels almost look life-like.
The sound in this game is good and way above average. If you have your XBOX hooked up to a home theatre system, then turn it up a bit to get the full effect of the various types of weapons. One thing I did like about the sound though is that different guns make very distinct noises. I especially love the sound of the .50 caliber sniper rifle and the USAS Automatic shotgun. The sounds of the cities and towns you are in are pretty cool as well. For example if you are outside in a town you can hear cars and kids playing in the street. If you are in a bar in New Orleans, you can hear Jazz music playing through the speakers.
The gameplay is also above average even though it could have been much better. One VERY cool feature of this game is the fact that you can command your team using your actual voice if you have the XBOX communicator headset. You can give your team commands like opening doors, covering, throwing grenades etc etc. I am really suprised on how well the voice recognition worked. I was expecting me to have to set up something to actually "train" the game to learn my voice and in fact spent about an half hour looking for an option to do that, but it does not exist. The game does an OK job in recognizing your voice, which is pretty amazing in my opinion. I have a deep voice but the game did a pretty good job in recognizing my commands. Sometimes however, the game misunderstands what you say and does something entirely different or does not understand it at all and does nothing. Of course if you want, you can always use the controller to give commands, but it is not as much fun as voice. The only time I gave commands from the controller is when I ABSOLUTELY needed my team to do something because my life depended on it. One thing that was missing from the gameplay is actually giving individual team members commands. If you asked them to do something, then the whole team did it together, which is kind of corny. So if you want your team to split up, then it would just be two groups; you by yourself and the other 3 team members together.
The story line behind the single player campaign is just average. While each level is impressively done, the story line behind it is not. There is not too much depth in the story line and the final mission was bit of a dissapointment.
I would have liked to see a bit more stategy involved the single player campaign mainley ordering individual team memebers. Another thing that I did not like about the game is the fact you only get three saves per level. In splinter cell, you get an automatic save when you reach a certain checkpoint, however in RS6 you are given three TOTAL saves per mission to use at anytime. If you use your 3 saves just to get by one part of the mission, then you must complete the rest of the mission without dying. A strategy I used was to save after an objective was complete. Usually a mission has 2 or 3 objectives so this worked out nicely, eventhough I occasionally ended up playing a portion over and over again. Another "unrealistic" but probally nessacary feature is that if your team members became "incapaciated" in a mission, they will be back up on their feet in the very next mission. I take "incapaciated" to mean "dead", so that is kind of unrealistic but I can see why it as done that way. In my missions if any of my team members died, then I would just reload from my last save point, to keep the game realistic.
XBOX live on this game is the best part of the game. My favorite game and only game I play on Xbox live is Terroist Hunt, were basically you have a squad of 4 actual human players going through different levels eliminating terroists. It is very fun and you can easily play for hours at a time if you don't watch the clock. You can of course also give orders or take orders from your human teammates. You can also play the single player campaign online where your computer squad is replaces with real players. Other games on XBOX live include "deathmatch" type games, which I don't really play that much. For the most part, the people on XBOX live who play RS6 are very cool and mature and not some snotty nose kid who doesn't know what their doing or just come online to act childish just to get attention. I have met a couple who fit in the latter category, but that is it.
Overall I am very impressed with this game. It could have used a bit more strategy in the single player campaign, and also the storyline lacks depth. but other than this, this game is a solid 4. Definetely worth checking out.
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