Rainbow Six 3

Nick calls in back-up and engages Clancy's latest subterfuge.

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I love kicking terrorist ass as much as the next man - probably a little more, in fact. I mean, let's face it, terrorists are scumbags whichever way you cut it. Look at the evidence. One, they assign themselves confusing and lengthy acronyms. ETA, IRA, ASALA (The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia - seriously), etc. Whatever their worthy cause is, however many stripes on their raggedy flag, I don't give a monkeys. What terrorists really need is a catchy name, to really appeal to the masses. They need marketing men - now there's a pair of professions with crossover possibilities. If Al-Qaeda called itself 'The Beardy Boys' or 'The Mad Mullahs' they'd get more attention, or maybe even sponsorship. Anyway, terrorists are also scumbags because they invented balaclavas. I remember being forced to wear a balaclava as a kid. My mother would insist on forcing it over my unwilling head on my way to school. It was bad enough to have to smell my own breath, unable to escape harmlessly into the air as it normally does, but my fellow Glaswegian youth were unforgiving of anyone wearing unusual clothing of any kind. So, in summary, terrorists of any denomination deserve whatever they get, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series has over the years offered many the chance to vent their spleens at a variety of over-zealous terror mongers.

I, however, always had my reservations with these games. I never really immersed myself in the mission planning, preferring to go with the default plan or else lone-ranger it through the level. As a result, much of the series appeal was lost to me, and the first person aspect of the Rainbow Six series was always imperfect. The AI was a bit dodgy, and the series only ever had functional graphics. Yet plenty of gamers and reviewers alike loved the series, and it was generally regarded as one of the best tactical shooter series around. Ubisoft, however, wanted more and Rainbow Six 3 is something of a departure for the games.

The most obvious and significant change is the removal of the planning sections. The pre-mission stage has been simplified with all extraneous features removed. There is no longer any need to tinker with 500 configurations of grenade and ammo before embarking on a mission. It's go, go, go - and in my opinion is all the better for it. Some will mourn the loss of the extra choice, but on the whole it should not be missed. The missions still comprise the same permutations of kill the terrorists, defuse the bombs and rescue the hostages. It's standard stuff, and Ubisoft have this down to a T. It is the quality of the implementation, however, that stands out and deserves praise. The story is also pretty drab - the usual assortment of dubious characters from the usual nations dreaming up some scheme to interfere with oil production. It does the job.

The action provided in Rainbow Six 3, however, is certainly anything but drab. The player controls a small team of operatives - occasionally going it alone but usually with a couple of homies - and after the perfunctory briefing it's off to down some tangos. The combat is difficult at first and remains challenging throughout, but what is really rewarding is that you will notice improvement in your tactical positioning as you progress, and by the end of the game you will be using your team mates to full advantage rather than just an extra couple of guns pointing in the same direction. It is this teamwork and cooperation with the AI that is RS3's stand out feature.