Remember, If You Die, The Game Isn't Over. The World Is.

Best tagline ever in a computer game.

I bought Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six roughly one year ago, after playing the demo and reading a lot of rave reviews for it. For those unfamiliar with the game, Rainbow Six is branded an "Action-Strategy game." It's a first person shooter (though a third person view is also optional, a la Jedi Knight), with minimal emphasis on "shooting." Instead, the game's emphasis is on stealth, and knowing how to think your way through a situation rather than simply blasting your way through it. While this largely innovative gameplay style earns Rainbow Six several points right there, the game itself is far from perfect...

Gameplay The thing Rainbow Six definitely has going for it is its originality. I have played very few (if any) games quite like it. Rather than jumping right into the game and blasting hordes of zombies or Russians, Rainbow Six's single player missions begin with simple newsbriefings and objectives, then goes straight into the planning stage. You assemble a squad of one to eight different people, each of which can be assigned his/her own team (i.e. red team, blue team, etc). Depending on the mission, you can outfit your teammates with different clothing, different weaponry, and different accessories. For example, in some of the more stealth-oriented missions, it would be wise to assign a heartbeat sensor, so that your team can detect any terrorists roaming on the other side of a wall or how many feat away from you. In the more stealth-based missions, it would also be wise to equip a weak, silenced weapon or even no weapon at all! On the other hand, there are several missions where the objective is to simply kill off each and every terrorist in a specific area. So you will most likely want to pack as sturdy yet silent a gun as possible.

Once you've selected and outfitted your teammates, you are given a map of the play area and must plot your teams' paths. All the important landmarks are placed on the map, and depending on the difficulty you've chosen, the terrorists are there too and in their usual spots. The trick is to pay close attention to the level's structure and be sure to carefully plot your teams' routes, so that you do not cut to the Mission Failed screen. For example, in the more stealth based missions, it's best to try to simply avoid the terrorists as much as you can. Especially since in this game, just one or two shots will kill you (there's no "health bar" nor unfair advantage over enemies like in other FPS's).

Rainbow Six came VERY, VERY close to getting a 5-star rating from me. Unfortunately, several gameplay issues and bugs (more on those later) hinder it. First and most importantly, your computer teammates are just plain stupid. Even with the upgrade patch, it's not unlikely for them to get stuck in a wall and have no idea where to go next. Even worse, the poor AI routines can sabotage the mission itself. Don't be surprised if you fail a mission because your teammates were too stupid to avoid this terrorist or walk around that wall.

Otherwise, the gameplay itself is excellent. Although I would've liked to see a little more interactivity in the environments (The missions are very linear, so there's little room for exploration or to even test out different gizmos), the controls are very responsive, and work beautifully for the game.

Graphics The graphics in Rainbow Six are pretty good, but nothing to shout about. The environments are well designed, but a little barren in places. The characters look pretty good, but their walking animations are totally retarded. On the other hand, being that Rainbow Six is a game about realism, there's no need for flashy graphics or mindblowing explosions.

Sound Rainbow Six's sound design is outstanding. The voice samples are well spoken, as are your teammates' occasional chatter. Gun shots sound perfectly realistic. And the music during gameplay is very minimalistic, usually off the slow militaristic variety, so it never distracts you during play.

Bugs/Glitches Aside from the gameplay issues, here's the other key area that kept Rainbow Six from perfection. The first time I tried to install it, I actually had to wait two or three minutes for the CD to run the installation program, and this is on a 32x CD rom drive. The game would frequently crash to windows during gameplay, especially in the training missions. There were a lot of sound glitches where, on my Soundblaster AWE64, voice samples and music would constantly skip. And I had a couple occasions where I myself would get stuck in a wall, or even a grassy knoll. Did the testers overlook these or did they even care?

Overall Despite its flaws, Rainbow Six is a great game. I'd recommend it to anybody looking for a nice break from the usual FPS mold, as well as strategy fans looking for an FPS that finally makes you think a little. Just be sure you have the patience to wade through a few bugs and AI glitches.