Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

"I can die peacefully now"

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

On this sunny Saturday of August 11, 2001, I sit down in a comfortable arm-chair and think a lot of my life, trying to decide if I should be happy of my life. I've lost a lot of blood as a consequence of taking 2 Magnum 357 bullets, one in my left leg and one - the deadly one - in my stomach. But I do not regret anything, I do not feel that this should not be happening and that it is not yet time for me to die. I no longer feel what most of you call 'emotions' ; I have forgotten about these things which make humans weak and which are only good to prevent you from being just as you wish. I have no family, and I will never have. This way, I am not afraid to say what I feel and to work for mysterious people whom I've never even met and never will now that I'm so close to dying. Love, pity, compassion, fear…I've never known all these things and I don't care. Maybe I did feel those at a time but these times seem so far away now and let the past to the past.

In 1981, I finally completed my studies and got a well-paid job which made me feel happy. My future seemed bright and I quickly got used to a routine in which I performed the same things at the same time each day without much thought. Until that day when I decided to take a vacation to visit Mexico. I took the opportunity to go see a friend who worked as ambassador and that was when I saw them for the first time. I remember all the details as if this happened just yesterday. I had chosen the wrong day to pay a visit to my friend. We were having a chat when suddenly, a dozen of men all dressed in black appeared from nowhere. In seconds, they had us all in a spot and how can I ever forget their looks. Cruel looks from men who earned a life by killing people and who didn't care about others' lives. People who would kill their mother for a dollar. When one of them pointed his gun at me, I completely freaked and tried to run away. Fear always makes you act stupid. What was I thinking, turning my back to two guns pointing ? Did I really expect to be able to get way in this gigantic room ? As he pulled the trigger, I turned round and heard the dreaded shot…

It was only seconds later that I realized that the blood on my clothes and all around me was not mine. I looked at the criminal and found him lying on the ground with blood gushing from his head. Immediately after that, I noticed shadows moving swiftly towards our kidnappers and quickly taking care of those. In seconds, they were all dead and the room was now full of men and these too were dressed in black with a noticeable difference : something hard to explain ; it was as if these men found the situation perfectly normal and everything about them showed they were at ease where they were while we were shaking like leaves and had just feared for our pityful lives. After taking care of everything, they took us to a safe place and a few days later, all had been forgotten. People never knew what happened and newspapers never learnt about that event. But, personally, I was obsessed by these men and tried to search for them. I discovered nothing during a year : these men didn't even have a life and their organisation seemed to be fake. People would just laugh at me after hearing my questions, they probably took me for an idiot. And I would probably have gone on with my frantic search but it was written somewhere that we would me again and that I would even be one of them. And it happened…

The Rainbow

A rainbow consists of all the colors of the spectrum. The Rainbow Six consists of people coming from a huge number of countries and together, these form a solid organisation where the difference in religion, race and culture doesn't matter. You must now control these men and women who have been trained to face the most dangerous situations and who manage to remain calm even when they're on the point of dying. These people who will never betray their superiors, who never feel fear and anxiety, and who have an incredible amount of courage will sacrifice their lives for the sake of justice and the world's stability.

Rainbow Six consists in fact of two different phases. First, there is a strategic part where you must think a lot and the missions themselves. You can play these Doom-like but don't count on this type of gaming too much after the first few levels or you won't go very far. Rainbow Six, is most importantly, a strategy game and in here, you'll find tactical strategy at its best. If you're thinking of a game where you just go ahead and shoot at your enemies and where only brute strength makes the difference, go play Doom or the likes of Unreal because Rainbow Six is nothing of the sort.

Awaiting orders !

The missions are very diversified and no two missions resemble to give you time to take a nap. You are asked to free hostages or to take hostages or you may be asked to kill some weirdo who won't just let you kill him without doing anything. The missions take place in different locations too from petrol platforms to amusement parks without forgetting the Amazon forests and even in Los Angeles or any over states for that matter. Depending on the objectives - one of those on the easy level, two on intermediate and three really tough ones on difficult - you need to choose your men and women who will take part in the mission. Your percentage of success relies directly on your choice of characters since they'll be doing everything. You can control up to four teams of four men and in each team, you need to choose one who'll be the leader and to whom you'll be giving your orders. This means that you'll be controlling only these leaders while the other ones will merely follow you and do what they have been assignated to perform before you finally decided it was time to show your superiors that you haven't been trained for years for nothing. Thus, the strategic part is essential since it determines how the others will behave throughout the mission.

Before the missions, you get a briefing and you can planify the actions and role played by each member of your teams. In doing so, you need to keep in mind the aptitudes of each man under your orders and never forget where they excel so that the missions run on smoothly. The map and briefing come really handy when you are asked to deploy your forces based upon the strategy you chose at the beginning. You won't be doing anything without a good strategy as your companions soon find themselves unable to cope with a situation and as they are taken down one after another without being able to do anything about it. The map enables you to spot with difficulty the locations of the terrorists and other people involved and even better, just by looking at the map, you know which objects can be used for that mission. The progression takes place very smoothly and you just have to use a few words.

G.I. Joe is back

Like I said earlier, you will be controlling only one man once the action part pops up. You only control the leaders from the four teams and you can switch between these whenever you want. But keep in mind that you cannot modify the strategy while you are on the field. The other men and women will get on with their role and you cannot make them do something else during the mission. Don't go about thinking that this game is just about moving forward and shooting or you're in for a very cruel disappointment and you'll soon feel pretty stupid as all your men die almost at the same time. The key to success is to be discrete while being quick. Use your precious weapons from the usual pistols to the rifles and all your items like master keys to take hold of everything and prevent the terrorists from being aware of your presence. Don't let them know you're here and if they do know, just kill them without giving him enough time to signal your presence to his fellows.

The graphics are clear and realist and the 3D objects and environments are superb. Moreover, the game doesn't require a particularly powerful PC and anybody can play it and enjoy clear details and terrific colors. The characters are perfect and their animation is terribly realistic, whether they're still fit or they're wobbling as a result of a bullet in their legs. And even though you may find your screen packed with men and women, both from your organization and the villains, the animation remains smooth and the game seldom slows down. I particularly like the atmosphere which comes directly from those terrific movies and you will never have time to take your eyes off the screen in Rainbow Six. You'll be amazed as you see about eight of your men trying their best to hide in the obscurity of a wall, each holding a gun, and as they swiftly disarm the villains and take control of the situation. The light effects such as the sun reflecting in the window and blocking your view is admirable and the doors shine out well in those terrific walls.

The sound effects are awesome. BANG ! This is the last thing you've heard before falling down and lying in a pool of blood. The gun firing is as realistic as can be and while the characters don't talk very much, just by the intense atmosphere reigning, it isn't difficult to guess how they're feeling. The audio is a give-away in certain situations - it changes to let you know something important is going to happen - but that doesn't prevent you from eating dirt as a terrorist comes flying at you to put an end to your mission. I even found myself sweating during the last missions and I should probably warn you that this game is not for those who have weak hearts or this may very well be your last game. Just consider how it is when your team leader is walking around quietly in the hope of stumbling across a weary terrorist and instead, a couple of those show up behind you and start unloading their rifles on your back laughing like maniacs.

There are a few bugs throughout the game but nothing important on the whole and they don't hamper the gameplay. The enemies' AI are, for once, actually balanced at they'll beat the hell out of you at the higher levels. Don't just go on and think that it'll be a piece of cake, these guys will show you that you're wrong in a very fashionable way, i.e. your death, nothing less. And your heart will keep on pounding and making a deafening sound to your eyes while sweat blurs your vision as you reach the final stages of the game. Besides, even if you complete the easy level, you'll be tempted to try out the more difficult ones just for the sake of testing your skills. I've played a lot of PC games in every category possible since I'm lucky enough to have just one for gaming and another one for other stuff (like typing this review). Rainbow Six shines out of the lot for the feelings it provides and because it's the single game that I kept on playing for a whole year. No other game can provide you such emotions and you'll find yourself so engrossed that you'll just forget about your real life and start thinking you're truly one of those men who you'll be admiring as you reach the end of the game.

Even a hut will seem huge to you as you try to figure where your ennemis may be hidden and better take Timothy Harley with you to take advantage of his assault skills. Your super team consisting of yourself, an Australian, a French and an English will keep its cool at all times and will prove that they're indeed the best when it comes to infiltration. And for those of you who are still wondering if the game is in any way similar to Doom apart from the view, I'll just say that your teams need to be wonderfully organized to succeed. Just a fraction of a second too early and it's all over for all of your men. You will have eternity to wonder what went wrong but do not even think about it, Rainbow Six won't accept someone like you in another life because you are not good enough.

Tom Clancy : In a book, the story is always linear. All you will do is follow the plot from point A to point B. Even if the book is interesting, you cannot change anything and the ending is always the same. In a game, the point A is set and it is up to the player to make it up to point B. Games enable them to create their own story and to write their own ending.

Rainbow Six is the best game you can get on PC and one of my favorites game. It is awesome in every possible field with top-notch graphics, awesome sound effects and easy-to-grasp controls. Besides, I won't be telling you anything new with this review because you must have already heard of this game considering how successful it has been since its release. A must-buy for everyone ! And do not decide right now that you won't get it because you have a strong dislike for the genre. Who knows ? Maybe Rainbow Six is the game that will make you change your mind…

Tom Clancy : There currently exists an organization which has been created by a bunch of governments after studying the project for years. This organization would be able to cope with all types of situations anywhere and would be discreet and quick at the same time. The team would also be useful to solve some embarassing situations such as the recent problems at Teheran and other problems with the Japanese embassy in Peru.

And now, although I'm on the point of dying after a last mission, I felt it my duty to tell you about this wonderful organization which has solved so many problems and which has saved the life of many innocents. You have never heard of them before, you have never seen any of them but the world owes them much ! So, next time, you see a masked man all in black followed by 3 other men blocking the way of terrorists, be sure to thank them all.

Long live Rainbow Six !

Thank you, Tom Clancy !
Thank you, Take 2 Interactive

(Quotes of the interview of Tom Clancy following the release of the game taken from the official Rainbow Six website.)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/01, Updated 11/09/02