Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield

"Overrated"

I am an AVID fps shooter. I know a good game when I see one, and I know what a bad game is like. Unlike the other reviewers, I have played HOURS and HOURS of this game (lets say 6 hours per day on the first week.) I haven't played the original RainbowSix so this means I am in no way biased towards the game. SO, without further ado, here is the entire review with good and bad points.

Graphics: Ah, the visual appearance of a game (What Linkin Park would call ''the core of the gut.'') This game uses the ut2k3 (or unreal warfare) engine and uses it decently although this version of the engine is an OLDER, BETA version (which is differnet from the FINISHED, ut2k3 version). However, I must say the graphics are wonderful. THere is a wonderful attention to detail. Textures are nicely done, particles are nice, chracter models are extremely detailed. Howerver, when compared to ut2k3's graphics, this game is less sharp and more blurry.

Effects: The effects in this game range from explosive to sub-par. The effects of a frag grenade are totally wonderful - the explosions are very convincing. The other grenades - like Smoke grenade, flashbangs and Gas grenades are also very convincing are provide plenty of eye-candy. Windows shatter when shot, bullet holes decorate surfaces when shot - this is all very good but sadly, good things must always end. In this game, the effects of a person being shot is pretty subpar. Little ''blood splatters'' appear in the air when bullets contact a players body... and then they instantly dissappear. THink of it like Half Life or Counter-STrike's blood effects... except in RvS (RainbowSix3:Raven-Shield) there are no blood stains on walls. There are also no blood pools, no bloody foot prints, no blood trails and a sickeningly small amount of gore. Player corpses seem to be invulnerable to fire/explosions (unlike ut2k3) and man, at least make grenades shootable. As of the time of writing, shooting grenades provoke absolutely NO effects. (Not even bullet holes.) However, my most major complaint comes from the contorted death animations. It seems that the instant transition from life to death creates a dangerous, chemical effect that renders the human spine to rubber density - corpses in game could bend their body's 360 degrees backwards so their heads are touching their toes (without lifting their feet.)

Sound: One of the saving graces of the game. THe sound in the game is spectacular, the sounds of weapons seem to be quite accurate to the real life models.

Gameplay: This is the part that customers interested in buying this game should listen to. Once again, I repeat myself - unlike the other major gaming corporations, I don't give a review based on 2-3 hours of play. I base my reviews on weeks to months of play. I am fully aware of the flaws of this game, which, I must say; are difficult to detect in the beginning but these surface after the 40 hour mark.

This game is DEDICATED to realism. Realism is the key. Realism is the backbone of games of such a genre. Thus, realism should be as accurately portrayed as possible in this ''tactical simulation'' FPS game. Unfortunately, the game fails to do. NOt only that, the game also fails to provide a meaningful and FUN gaming environment - it gets dull really, really fast. Lets talk about the realism issues first. The animations (which I have mentioned above) are horrendous, and I find it almost impossible to suspend my disbelief. For one second, I'm a elite operative in TEAM RAINBOW, hastily pummeling terrorists then I see the contorted death animations... and suddenly, I'm a 14 year old boy, sitting infront of a computer. Then of course, there is the lack of gore. THere is not ONE single way to simulate this. I don't see any bits of gibs flying, even if I throw 6 frag grenades at any given person. THis could be argued that UBI (the game's producers) are trying to simulate a more ''professional'' and ''tactical'' and ''elite'' approach, thus, gore has been reduced. I accept this explanation, but still, there is a severe lack of blood. IT seems to be that I'm shooting operatives with 1 litre of blood left in their bodies. Minuscule blood splats appear in the air and then magically dissappear. THere isn't even a trace of blood on the floor. Wounded operatives don't bleed - ther are no blood trails, no blood pools if I empty 100 bullets with my m249 at a terrorist at close range and no grisly effects for headshots. But the most appaling feature in the game must be the damage system. Each player in the game starts off with a so called ''health meter.'' In the game, its a simple circle. White represents health, transparent represents no health. Everytime you are injured, one half of the circle dissapears. Over simplified? Some may argue that 2 bullets are sufficient for killing somebody - I agree with that - only problem is a person who is shot by a m82a1 (.50 call bullet) or a Draganov takes the same amount of damage as person who falls 4 feet. C'mon! A person falling 4 feet won't even be INJURED (probably the worse that could happen is a sprained ankle). It gets ridiculous when faling twice from said height could kill an ''elite counter-terrorist operative trained to the limits of human capability.'' More bad things are to come - Leg shots make you move slower but don't do anything else otherwise, arm shots make a player limp, there is no stamina bar, EVERY SINGLE thing is bullet proof except for doors and windows, guns have no ''stopping power'', players move at 0.25 km/hour and there are weird occurences where players are surviving headshots. Now that the realism issues are put aside, lets examine the actual firefight gameplay issues. The combat system is woefully subpar. And this is mostly caused my ONe thing, and ony ONE thing and that is the reticle system. The reticle system is seriously m3553d. At a stationary position, you could shoot virtually anthing, even at long range. This means I could ''snipe'' with my mp5 as good as an AUG or any other sniper rifle. THe only difference is I don't need the zoom and I could fire full automatic I could see more around me. At close ranges, the reticle system gets unreliable - 10 mp5 9mm bullets are enough to kill anybody. Yet sometimes it doesn't. Even at a crouched position. But that's fine, one can blame the relatively low power of the mp5 and 9mm bullets. THe most fatal flaw however, is the walk/run/strafe accuracy. It gets frustrating when I strafe out and go full automatic wiht my m249 accross a corridor and hit nothing. Especially when the target is only a mere 3 metres away. Apart from that, the game heavily taxes aiming. Weapon sway is enormous. Moving your crosshair will make it substantially larger. In other words, this game is discouraging aiming. ANd aiming is skill. And most satisfaction comes from killing an enemy with YOUR OWN aiming. And satisfaction = fun. All in all, an actual firefight progresses far too fast and it seems that it isn't that skills that allowed you to defeat the enemy - rather it is the flukly, unreliable aiming system that gave you a tidbit of chance. THen of course, there are many other minor issues like the use of stealth is virtually non-existent since walking produces so MUCH noise - its like the interior of your clothing is made of sandpaper and you have lead put in your boots. Another issue are attachments (the silencer makes you do 0 damage, the CMAGS allow you to fill maps with lead and kill everything wihtout reloading), inaccurate shotgun effects and inaccurate recoil statistics.

Bugs: THIS game is so buggy that the MP side of the game is often unplayable (although there has been a patch released for this problem, though it seldom solves it.) From time to time, ubi.com login is impossible (THis game FORCES you to log on to ubi.com in order for online play) and even when this barrier has been broken through, CD KEY invalid errors and CRTICIAL ERRORs will plague your online experience. Its pathetic how ubi.com releases such products like this - oh wait, you can't call it a product - its like a $50 dollar BETA TESTING product.

Netcode: Horrendous. THere are problems such as ''trigger lag'' (when there is delay between the time the fire button is pressed and the actual firing occurs in game) on LOW PING (100) servers. Then again, the ingame PING display is actually wrong - its alot higher than the displayed.

Conclusion: </l> What could have been a great game is spoiled by lack of tuning, lack of polishing and lack of complexity/features. Seriously, do not buy this game or you will most likely burst a few blood vessels. Your best bet is to rent this game and give it a try. </l>

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/28/03, Updated 04/28/03