Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3

"Definately worth the price."

The Rainbow Six series has always been great and this game is no different. You play Ding Chavez, the leader of an elite Counter-Terrorist squad. This game sends you straight into the fray as you navigate your way through fourteen levels of action, but it doesn't stop there, There are many multi player levels with a lot of people playing. This game will keep you occupied for a very, very long time.

Single Player Gameplay: 9/10
The gameplay in this game is great, there are essentially no flaws the game. The difficulty ramp is excellent too. The first level is relatively short and fairly easy while the last level is very hard and could become very annoying. Your squad's artificial intelligence is great too. They are smart enough to take cover behind anything in the environment to avoid being shot at. However, there were some times when I found them stuck at a part of the map and I needed to go back and get them.

Multi-Player Gameplay: 10/10
The Multi-Player in Rainbow Six 3 is amazing. There are several levels to play and an outstanding amount of people to play with. You can have up to two teams of eight players fighting in maps ranging from a meat packing plant to an alpine village. There are five modes of play to choose from including:

Mission: Where you play a level from the single player campaign substituting your squad for other Xbox Live players.
Terrorist Hunt: About the same as Mission except Terrorists are placed in random places on the mission maps and there are no objectives to be completed.
Team Survival: Up to two teams of eight players fight against each other. When one team is wiped out, the surviving team is given the victory. This is the most popular multi-player mode.
Survival: Sixteen players are pitted against each other. There is no respawning. Last player standing wins.
Sharpshooter: Same as Survival except you must get a head shot to damage your opponent and you may continually respawn. The game ends when the time limit expires.

Story: 7/10Though not much of a story involved with this game, there is enough of one for you to understand why you are doing the missions you are in.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphical effects carried over from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell are phenomenal. The lighting is in real-time and the blood splatter effects are amazing. When you shoot things they often have an animation. For example if you shoot a fire extinguisher it will leak foam and if you were to shoot an oil barrel it would explode blowing flames everywhere.

Sounds: 9/10
The sound is also quite good. The voices in the game are clear and understandable. Ubi-Soft does a very good job on the lip-sinking on the characters. However, the best part of the game is the interactivity with your squad. You can speak orders into your headset and your squad will, for the most part, carry it out.

Play Time/Replayability: 10/10
The single player mode offers about 10 hours of gameplay at the most. The levels are long and you may need to take a few tries to do it on Elite alone. However, with the online multi-player you can expect hundreds of playtime from this game. There are still many people to play with, and many modes to play. Ubi-Soft also offers plenty of downloadable content free of charge.

Overall Score: 10/10
This game is definitely worth a trip to your local game store to buy. This game is even worth signing up for Xbox live for. If you are considering giving this as a gift, expect lots of hugs and kisses from the person you are giving it too. This is truly one of the Xbox's finest games. Not to be missed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/04