Raven Shield is the best of the best for tactical action. If The Sum of All Fears was too simplistic for you, and Counter Strike is too old and archaic, then Rainbow's the unit for you.
The next installment in the Rainbow Six series, Raven Shield follows the basic pattern of its predecessors close enough to remain true to the R6 name, all the while improving itself enough to adapt to the demands of a new generation of gamers who demand pretty graphics over everything else. The result will please graphic whores and gameplay enthusiasts alike, as Raven Shield delivers the goods in both areas.
Utilizing the latest Unreal Technology, Raven Shield doesn't look quite as good as UT2k3 or Unreal 2, but it comes very close, and is certainly the best looking tactical shooter on the market. Weapon effects, music, and speech all are very well implemented, and do an excellent job of inserting you into the world of an elite counter-terrorism team. The weapon effects, in particular, are spot on. Rainbow Six has never been lacking for presentation, and the third iteration of the series is no exception.
The series' gameplay has always been a bit cluttered and intimidating to newbies, but luckily, Raven Shield's new and improved interface makes it simple for new recruits to get into the action quickly, while still keeping the level of tactics and planning required at such a point that longtime fans will not feel that their beloved series has been diluted in the name of attracting the Quake crowd. Not that the Quake crowd would do well here anyway, since the engine is about as far Unreal's influence reaches – the one hit, one kill rule of Clancy games past seems to be even more strictly enforced here than in past titles. I've played most of the games in the R6 lineage, yet I was reduced to playing the campaign on the "recruit" level. Talk about your dishonorable discharges!
Despite my rusty skills – or lack thereof - gamers will soon discover that the most fun is to be had from Raven Shield's online component. Similar to Socom or Counter Strike, you go in, shoot people, rescue hostages, disarm bombs, and good times are had by all! Some weapons are better than others, true, but unlike CS, where an AWP is the only useful weapon, and (insert "action" FPS here), where the Shotgun and Rocket Launcher are the same, most weapons are fairly balanced, and your survival is based on your skill and cooperation between teammates.
Raven Shield looks pretty, has a streamlined interface that is similar in functionality to the excellent Ghost Recon, and is sure to win over more than a few converts from the camp of gamers that would take a railgun over a sniper rifle any day of the week. For those already sold on the "thinking man's shooter," Rainbow Six 3 is more of the same, tweaked for peak performance.
-George
Company Line
Command an elite, multinational squad of special operatives against a hidden terrorist foe. In Raven Shield, the third installment to the wildly popular Rainbow Six series, RAINBOW races against time to stop terror and unravel a mystery. In locations around the world, from London to the Caribbean to Rio de Janeiro, lead team RAINBOW in a desperate effort to battle a madman and foil his doomsday plot.
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