Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield

"More of the same, but when the same is this good who cares?"

Rainbow six games are something of an acquired taste. They frustrate you, they make you want to throw your monitor out of the window, but they are amazingly satisfying. There is something monumental about planning, and executing each mission in this game, which makes it such a joy to play.

Graphics:
The graphics on this game are top notch, obviously this will vary with the PC, but playing this on a GEFORCE 4 MX440 and a 2.0 GHZ pentium 4, it runs lovely and smooth. The textures are really nice, and help you to sink into the atmosphere of the whole experience.

Sounds:
The music is great, and really well put together, it is he sort of music which, you could make a soundtrack out of, and is very good for playing in the background. The gunshot noises rock, and you really can hear the difference in the meaty noise you get from a desert eagle, and the tinny, suppressed pop from a silenced MP5

Gameplay:
This is the one which you will love or hate as far as i am concerned, some people like to have lots of buttons and lots of options, like planning your whole mission out beforehand yourself. Other people don't. I for one, like to have plenty of options and buttons to play with so that you really feel in control, but it can get confusing sometimes. And i think this is a PC game at heart, The level of accuracy at such short reaction times is just not available from a stick on an XBOX or whatever, you need a mouse.

Story:
there really is not much story to this game, or at least none that is worth following. It is not really ''part'' of the game, it just serves to take you from one mission to the other. But what tere is, is true clancy stuff. Nasty terrorists are running riot, and rainbow, being the best of the best of the est, are going to take them out.

Multiplayer:
The multiplayer is good, but best when you play it over a LAN, few things beat running up the stairs to your mate to work out a vtal part of the mission, just before you crack open a room full of nasties. The teamwork aspect is great

Overall, if you liked any of the other rainbow six games, but it now. You can find it heap if you look hard. If you think you might like it, but it. You might just be surprised at how addictive it is.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/05/03