Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

"Rainbow Six for the N64 is a great rental, but I wouldn't buy it"

Rainbow Six for the N64 is a great rental, but I wouldn't buy it


By Doctor Seuss, doc_seuss@hotmail.com

Rainbow Six is an astonishly realistic game. It was based on a PC game which was based on the novel by Tom Clancy. Hardcore Goldeneye gamers will get a surprise when playing this game for the first time, as you can not just run into a room with guns blazing. You have to think strategically.

Gameplay: What? Think strategically? Yup, and man, some of these levels are hard. Your enemies will actually wait to shoot you, when they know they can get the perfect head shot. Unlike Goldeneye, where when an enemy sees you he will automatically start shooting, these terrorists will wait until they know they can take you out. It only takes one head shot to take you out, and there are no body armors, nor armor shards, nor med-kits to help you out. Before each mission, you can go through an optional planning phase where you set out a course leading you through the level. You must equip your men and assign them to teams. Once one of your men dies, he’s gone. Finis. The End. Adios. Sayonara. You get the picture. This game is incredibly intense as you never know who could be waiting around the corner.

Story: Basically, you’re the leader of a team of men in a secret anti-terrorist organization called Rainbow. You take orders, you get the job done. It’s kind of like a cross between Mission: Impossible’s MI team and a SWAT team. A terrorist group called the Phoenix Group is planning to release the Ebola virus on the crowds attending the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Well guess what? You get to stop ‘em.

Graphics: Good graphics for its time, and thank goodness they included a night vision mode, because you’re fighting at night or in dark conditions for a large portion of the game. The strange thing though is that when you stare at a light with the goggles on, in doesn’t blind you. For a game as brutally realistic as Rainbow Six one would think that the programmers would have thought of this. The bodies you leave in your wake will stay right where they are left, unless you change that in the game options mode.
GRAPHICS RATING: 8 OUT OF 10.

Control: You can choose what type of armor you get to wear during each mission, and this affects your speed. The controls react quickly and were to my liking. After playing this N64 version, I rented the Dreamcast version at a friend’s house. I found that the controls on the DC version were infinitely more complex but left you with more things to do. I prefer the simpleness of the N64.
CONTROL RATING: 10 OUT OF 10.

Music and SFX: Great music was not what the makers of the game had in mind when they produced this game. However, realistic sound effects make up for this. When you open or close a door...BOOM! a dramatic sound infests your ears and keeps you on your toes. This game is pretty freaky to play at 3 in the morning, as people can shoot at you without warning.
MUSIC AND SFX RATING: 5 OUT OF 10.

Difficulty: There is a certain level on this game that is insane. If you mess up in the slightest bit, BOOM you’re screwed. Mission failure. Rainbow 6 veterans know what level I’m talking about. It’s not that hard once you do it a few dozen times. Anyway, this game poses a realistic challenge. 1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest, I give this game an 8.
DIFFICULTY RATING: 8 OUT OF 10.

SUMMARY: Rainbow Six is a fun game to rent, but I wouldn’t suggest buying it. I beat it within the five days I had rented it. And I wasn’t playing it 24/7, either. It’s two player co-op capability is pretty fun; you actually have to synchronize your efforts. I’d pay a maximum of $20 for this game. I still think the DC version was more impressive, even with the near-impossible controls.
OVERALL RATING: 6 OUT OF 10.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/07/00, Updated 06/07/00