Review By

Gene Park 8.0 RATING

After revolutionizing the first-person shooter genre, Tom Clancy's tactical shooter series now has its third installment, Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, or "Operation Enduring Appeal" if you will. Keeping everything that was good and bad in the previous installments, "Raven Shield" is a marked improvement for the series, while still satisfying the cult-like expectations of the fans.

The Rainbow Six series marked the introduction of the tactical shooter simulation, no doubt very similar to the training simulations the U.S. Army has. Anyone familiar with the console-based SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs will know the basics. Eight operatives are controllable, with infiltration and elimination being the basic goals of the game. Before each mission, you can plan out each detail, very similar to the planning stages of a military attack. Players get a rough draft of the map, and they must plan the operatives' exact paths and actions. And, in an attempt to mimic real life combat, one well-placed shot could be fatal. The one-shot kills put an entirely new dynamic to the art of hunting in a videogame, and are the key to defining the tactical shooter.

In addition to planning your soldiers' routes, you can also equip them with their gear, with each weapon having specific characteristics like accuracy and power. These descriptions directly influence your performance in the field and are particularly tantalizing when one thinks about the mods that may become or already are available. The game becomes a gun lover's silicon wet dream. And now that the option to see your gun on-screen is available, your favorite sidearm or rifle can be viewed in meticulously detailed 3D glory.

Because of the one-shot dynamic, another central element to tactical combat is the level design, and once again Rainbow Six delivers in spades. The levels are open-ended and contain buildings and complexes with several points of entry. Each of them are multi-tiered to keep the player swerving around, making sure his or her back is covered (because your team's artificial intelligence is somewhat lacking, but more on that later). There are plenty of natural and logical objects and obstructions that provide cover. The atmosphere is generally moody, and I can honestly say that the Rainbow Six series is the only one to consistently startle me out of my seat.

Part of that embarrassing but immersive experience is the level of detail put into these games, particularly this third installment. Adapting the Unreal engine, the game is significantly faster than the previous installments, and the graphics have been updated to this generation, considering Rogue Spear was released four years ago. The textures are rich and highly detailed. Unfortunately, since Tom Clany's Splinter Cell raised the bar for lighting, the trick light textures on the walls are there only for eye candy. At least the night vision goggles work well in some of the game's many darker rooms, particularly in the multiplayer maps.

Another graphical trick that doesn't work as well as it should is the 'ragdoll' physics system. It's no doubt one of the more compelling innovations of recent years, replacing the established 'death animation.' Once a combatant is shot, the 3D model loses its 'soul' and falls to the ground in accordance to the physics engine. But in Raven Shield, not only do the enemies slowly fall as if they've turned into paper, but they crumple into awkward positions not unlike human pretzels.

The goggles aren't the only new toys available to players. The heartbeat sensor enables players to indicate heartbeats through the walls. This definitely adds a sense of strategy in managing your gear, as well as knowing when it's a good time to pull out your firearm. In that sense, the game is unintentionally the most 'survival horror' game I've ever played. Tear gas grenades and gas masks don't add that much to the overall experience, but the dangerous gas is definitely a factor you might want to consider in the planning stages.

What really stood out for me though, and what usually does in multiplayer games, was the multiplayer. Although having experienced this type of videogame combat online with SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, it's an entirely different experience in first person. In the cooperative and team deathmatch modes, the price of death is raised because you have to sit out for the rest of the round once you bite the bullet. Players can run through one of the many creative, albeit smaller, multiplayer maps, or run through the single player levels in a cooperative match.

The main drawback for the series has been the shoddy artificial intelligence given to both your team members and the enemies, and the AI in this game isn't a marked improvement. Teammates still are stubborn enough to get in your way and barely ever take cover when being shot at. That's when the multiplayer should be the obvious choice over the single player experience.

I personally have experienced this kind of infiltration and evasive tactics on a much smaller scale through my high school experience in the JROTC. With some jungle-stomping experience under my belt, I'm able to appreciate the more subtle moments of what makes a delicious tactical combat experience. There's nothing more involving than the hundred-yard stare, scanning the entire environment and brush for some kind of movement, determining whether it's a threat or a friendly, taking aim and pulling the trigger. If there's any argument against videogames being a waste of brain energy, I can only begin to compare moments described above to hitting a baseball. Thy both demand thoughtful analysis of the decision, split-second decision making and precise actions jammed into mere moments.

Some may question why I decided to score this game a full point higher than SOCOM without even talking about Raven Shield's socio-political ramifications. However, Rainbow Six resonates much stronger than Sony's otherwise noble hand at tactical combat. Not only is the game not held back because of certain console-based restrictions (controllers, options available, graphics, etc.), but the game seems to be less about nationalism and more about the dedication and strife anti-terrorist groups must experience. While there certainly is a healthy amount of patting America on its back (and certain elements directly influenced by world events, like not having an airplane level like the previous games), all is forgotten once you begin playing the game. Against legions of enemies with hundreds of bullets and the potential to end your videogaming with a sharp thud, the name of the game is survival.

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