New Review Posted: Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow

[Daniel Weissenberger]

I continue the all-sequel week, looking at the eighth game in the Rainbow Six franchise, Black Arrow:

"All I've ever asked is for First Person Shooters to be more realistic. By the release of Duke Nukem 3D I was sick and tired of the conventions of the genre. Shooting people dozens of times without incurring a single flinch, apocalyptic explosions that left my enemies unmarked and with full faculties until a single shot from a tiny pistol did that critical last hit point of damage and they exploded in the distinctive, gruesome, and incredibly familiar shower of guts marked the end of their lives. Running over boxes of ammunition to reload without taking a break from firing, stepping on a plate of food to patch up bullet wounds… these couldn't die off quickly enough for me. I was understandably pleased when the Rainbow Six series appeared, offering one-hit kills, realistic weapons, locations and ammunition limitations, and yet I never really loved the series as much as I felt I should have. Until now, that is."

The rest of the review is right here: http://www.gamecritics.com/review/rainbow6ba/main.php

[Mike Doolittle]

Good game, good review. I might have rated it slightly higher for its online play, but the single player is indeed a little short. This is just an expansion pack disguised as a sequel.

On a "Dude!" note, Xbox Platinum Hits is putting out a 3-in-1 for $40 that includes the first Rainbow Six 3, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. That's a damn fine deal.

I'm really itching to get on Ghost Recon 2 and see how it compares.

[Hypatia93]

Good review, Danny. I guess I can't say anything about the length of the game, b/c I've not yet finished it. It does seem a bit difficult for me on normal, though. And the online play is fun, too; it was the only game I played on Live before getting Halo 2, and remarkably, I generally found some fairly nice folk to play with. One thing I don't like is that split screen is reserved for co-op play only, and with only one other at that. Also, when using system link, the versus play is only one per box. Shame on them.