Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown

"If terrorists were this dumb, they wouldn't need a Rainbow squad to take them out"

Rainbow Six does not get any respect. Not that it deserves any; I am just pointing this out. Just the other day, I was playing Rainbow Six: Lockdown online when my teammates started talking about squad based shooters. “This game sucks.” That was the general consensus. Some started talking about how good the Socom series is and others mentioned Halo 2. Then I got bored and turned of my console to watch an episode of South Park. There's no doubt that this game doesn't compare to other great FPS or even other tactical squad based shooters because of its terrible A.I., confusing online interface, and uninspired level designs.

In the game you play with the typical squad of Rainbow buddies. Rainbow is an anti-terrorist organization seeking to well…take down terrorist. Your buddies are there to follow your commands and help you out. The problem is that they don't help all that much and they usually just die. It's extremely difficult to command them and there aren't enough commands in the first place. They can break down doors, peek around corners, follow you, and clear some areas. But that doesn't help you much and you don't need them to do anything to achieve victory. To put it simply, they're useless- utterly and completely useless. There A.I. is also terrible and they feel too computerized.

Enemies have many of the same A.I. problems that your squad has. If terrorist were this dumb they wouldn't need a Rainbow squad to take them out. They just don't feel human. There really is no other way of putting it. They don't hide, don't call for support, and don't act as a team against you. In sum, they are too artificial. The whole point of A.I. is to make them feel LESS artificial.

The First person graphics are pretty well done. The frame rates are high and the textures are smooth. Where the problem lies is in the level designs. They are very boring. There's nothing exciting or innovative about them. There are walls. There's grass. Don't get me wrong, I like walls and grass. But the levels need a little more details.

Sound effects are well done. The guns sound authentic and the grunts and moans from enemies and teammates is very well done. This all leads to more realism and a more atmospheric game, but the level designs still downplay it. The menu music is horrible. It's one of those songs that makes me feel like going to a mental institution. But it's not really important.

As a tactical shooter I did like how the pace the game goes. In many FPS, like Halo, it's all out kill or be killed. In Lockdown you do have to be careful at certain situations or you will be left vulnerable to some enemies. You must take things slowly and carefully if you want to make it through a large area full of enemies. Of course, your team doesn't help much, as already mentioned. So, it is basically up to you to be the one to save the day.

Finally, there's the online play. The Ps2 online interface needs a lot of work. The biggest problem I found was that you get sent back to the lobby after very round. This gets very frustrating. For example, lets say you get killed one minute into the game. You then have to wait for one side to win, which may take long if someone is being a chicken and “camping out” (hiding). After that, you get sent back to the lobby where it could take five to ten more minutes to play another round. In the meantime, some kid is playing with the ‘ready' button just to annoy everyone.

The flip side is that making squads is really fun. You get to name your squad, add players, and even design your own insignia. This insignia will show up next to the player's name when playing in a game. I found this feature to be very nice. The game does keep track of team rankings and player rankings but it is much too difficult to find yourself. Overall, the online play is average. There is nothing that sets it apart other than the innovative squad tags.

This game does have a lot of potential. But in the end it's just another tactical shooter with bad A.I., uninspired level designs, and useless teammates. If you don't have an online connection, then don't even touch this title. If you play online then it might be worth a rent. Even still, if you have both a Playstation 2 and an Xbox, get the Xbox version which ports better graphics and a better online interface.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/06