Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown

"Maybe the best or the worst in the series"

When Rainbow Six 3 came out on the xbox not so long ago, I was a bit skeptical on the game since it turned away from my idea of Rainbow Six games. In my mind, I thought Rainbow Six was supposed to be like Rouge Spear or the original release. However, when I saw my friend play the game on his xbox, I was drawn into it. It has an awesome multiplayer, some awesome guns, and just a flat out cool approach to the game. I'm always for games that focus on realism rather than “shoot-run-then-heal.” I love the fact that Rainbow Six offers real life guns (like the M4, AK-47, M60, Desert Eagle, etc) and a realistic fighting simulation that you go through with your squad.

Lockdown seems to stray away from the traditional Rainbow Six series, but it is a good game nevertheless. The game seem to focus on face-paced action, quick shooting and a lot more that die-hard first-person-shooter (fps) fans crave. However, this comes with a price and that price is that people who are veterans of previous Rainbow Six games will be somewhat disappointed to the new “faster” game pace.

In all Rainbow Six games, you are briefed before each mission and Lockdown is no exception to that. Briefing contains three steps that are crucial before you step out to complete the mission. Step one consist of background information. For example, before each mission, you are told where you are going, who are the victims, and background of who did it. This isn't really critical to a successful mission, but it allows you to get a feel that you are actually being briefed for a mission. Step two consists of what the actual mission is about. All of Rainbow Six games contain only three types of mission: hostage rescue, removing all enemies (tangos), or escorting/protecting something or someone. The missions are fairly straightforward and some missions require multiple objectives like clear the area, and then rescue the hostages. Step three is what it is all about: the equipment setup screen. In this section you are allowed to pick weapons for yourself and your team. In Lockdown, one of the big bonuses is that you are allowed to choose weapons and equipments for your entire team, not just for yourself like in previous xbox's Rainbow Six games. However, one of the big problems with Lockdown is that you are limited to only a small amount of weapons and gadgets to choose from. Although this isn't a really big problem, I feel that it is a step back from previous versions. One of the biggest things I find is that you get some fancy gears to choose from. You have a lot of non-lethal weapons like stun grenades and so fort. Also, you get to pick a OICW, a futuristic weapons that seem to be the future for armies of the future. In order to get the OICW, you must have a high intel points to unlock, which you get by unlocking briefcases throughout the single player game. So it is a first for the Rainbow Six series to actually limit the use of weapons unlike in previous versions where you get to pick any weapon right from the start. Aside from the fancy guns, you get a sledge hammer that you can use to knock down doors quickly. I felt that this is a big plus since it is something I haven't seen yet in the series.

Let's get right into game play. I felt that the game played out nicely. It seems that this time around, it tries to focus on a storyline using cinematic scenes and voices. Although previous Rainbow Six games offer a storyline, it isn't really important to know as the game just goes mission-by-mission offering no real story line except a basic one. Another thing I notice right off is that the game offers some character plot. For example, on the first mission, the briefing man said to one of the squad member to control his temper this time around. It isn't much, but it is nice to see that characters are kept in mind when telling the story. One big plus to the story line is the fact that this time you get to see cut scenes in nearly every mission. It seems that the storyline here is a virus breakout that some terrorist group is trying to accomplish and it continues on throughout the rest of the game. It also seems that you get a fairly decent amount of squad talking while you are walking your way through the levels. In Rainbow Six 3 on the xbox, your squad mates actually make comments about the surroundings as you progress. Lockdown is no exception to this and it is nice to hear comments from your teammates. Sometimes the comments might be funny while others it will be informative like, “Watch the roofs” or something in that nature. It is always nice to hear your team talking as it adds realism and becomes a bit more believable that you are commanding a squad.

The very first thing you will notice when you control your main character is that you now see the world through a pair of tactical glasses. The glasses' outline is not that bad and it will not hinder your playthrough. You might notice it at first, but as you make progress through the game you will never even notice it. The one cool thing about the glasses is that when you get shot at, your glasses will actually break with bullet holes which add to some realism. The one thing that I cannot stand about the interface is that most of the guns seem like toys rather than the real thing. For example, the MP5/10 looks like the real thing, however, the G36C looks more like a toy gun rather than the real thing. This is what I would consider a major flaw since the aim of the Rainbow Six series is to produce a realistic weapons, guns, and tactics like those that real special ops use.

It gets worst when you look at the AI and team management. This isn't really a surprise to me since the AI in previous Rainbow Six series seems to be struck dumb. However, Lockdown seems to make the AI even dumber than usual. During any given mission, I would have to tell my squad to follow me because either they stopped at one location or they are going somewhere away from the battle. Also, it seems like the squad just walks where ever they want to without even thinking about it. For example, on one mission, I accidentally killed my teammate because he just walked right in front of me for no reason. Also, it seems that when you point the cursor somewhere, they just don't shoot anyone while they are walking. They just walk to the spot blindly and either gets killed in the process or they just don't provide any cover whatsoever. Aside from the unusually dumb teammates, the AI for the enemies is even dumber. It seems that you can walk into a room, and an enemy will just sit there until you turn around and see them. In some cases, they don't do anything except continuously run for cover getting killed. In previous Rainbow Six games, if you walk into a room without checking the corners, you would pay by either getting killed or seriously injured. Aside from the dumb AI and teammates, the rest of the world is fairly nice. The graphics are beautifully rendered in some locations and there isn't really a large “lag” in the system.

In conclusion, I give the game an overall score of 5/10 (mediocre). It isn't really up to the other Rainbow Six games, and it is below average. The game is only good if you are really a fan of the series and even then, you would be disappointed with the many changes. I guess the developers wanted to try something different and they just failed in the process. They had the right ideas, but just not the right implementation. I would say that they should have looked at the overall picture of the game compared to the rest of the series and see what made it so famous. This game seems to be a step back from the realistic approach and more to the “run-and-gun” type games like Halo or Half-Life.

Summary:
Pros:
+Cool graphics.
+You get some tactical glasses that look cool and react to damages.
+Get a sledge hammer to knock doors down.
+Get a heartbeat sensor that was in previous Rainbow Six games, but not the previous xbox games.
+Get some cool non-lethal weapons like stun grenades.
+Some impressive cutscenes.

Cons:
-Unusually dumb AI for both your squad and tangos (enemies).
-Some weapons look like toys rather than the real thing.
-Maps are divided up into “load points.”
-Step away from the traditional Rainbow Six games of realism and tactics.
-No sniper weapon except one you get sometimes when you "cover" your team in singleplayer.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/05