Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 - daytrum - the technology guide for families

Publisher: Ubi Soft

Ages: Teens

Parental Advisory:
Violence

Terrorism is an ugly business and Ubi Soft's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 brings this despicable world to virtual life. It's a compelling game that is gritty, realistic and bloody.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 lets gamers command an elite, four-man international anti-terrorist squad. As a counterterrorist operative, players settle tense situations with force-rescuing hostages and neutralizing bad guys. And in this game, there's no room for negotiation. The game serves 14 missions against deadly, fairly intelligent foes in locations around the world, from Europe to the United States to South America, and there are single-player and multi-player modes.

In the challenging single-player mode, players are given a squad of characters to command. The command interface is quite intuitive-players simply select an object and issue a command, and the squad members offer options and perform the needed task. The game also offers limited saves during a mission which somewhat reduces the trial and error. Throughout, the game stresses realism. Characters can only accept a few bullets before going down and players have to crouch and sneak up on targets. Fortunately, players are given lots of firepower and grenades.

The game supports Voice Command technology so players may issue some 80 orders to their squads, like "Open and Frag" and "Breach and Clear." To use voice commands, players need the headset that comes with the Xbox Live Starter Kit. Gamers can team-up with up to three friends to play co-op missions, or go head-to-head on Xbox Live against 15 opponents. Here, the game offers five modes of play that are both cooperative and of the deathmatch, head-to-head variety.

Interestingly, the game offers system link support that can connect two Xboxes together, but there's no split-screen multi-player mode. We consider this to be a major mistake as a split-screen is the only cooperative multi-player option that is available in most households. After all, how many homes have two Xboxes? The game's designers clearly wanted to emphasize online play through the Xbox Live online service.

The graphics look great with first rate character animations and detailed environments. And the blood truly flies in this violent game.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 is a great squad-based shooter. The title offers good options that let gamers play together, but the omission of a split-screen mode means that many who want to play cooperatively can't. Definitely consider this shooter for mature gamers who already use the Xbox Live service. And for other players, it can still provide a compelling single-play experience.

11/10/03 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff

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