Wednesday 14-Jan-2004 4:13 PM Tom Clancy's squad of elite bad-asses hit the PlayStation 2 Rainbow Six 3 has already appeared to some acclaim on the PC and Xbox, and now Ubisoft's terrorist-thwarting sim is making its debut on PlayStation 2. So how does the Tom Clancy-licensed, squad-based tactical shooter shape up?
Start a single-player game and it's like Apocalypse Now without the mosquitos, your 'copter's rotor blades whirling as you and your crack team of Rainbows (there's nothing funny about it) mete out full metal jacketed justice to any enemy foolish enough to obstruct you.
Before you embark on your noble mission there's an options screen to wade through. Here, in keeping with other versions of the game, you can make adjustments to team personnel, weaponry and so forth, though on the demo level we played we couldn't actually make any choices and were stuck with the default options. Ho hum.
Listen to your commanding officer's twaddle and then it's time for the fireworks; you begin in a presumably once picturesque old city down Croatia way, where a valuable informant has been exposed and is currently facing a grisly fate. Get in there and help him, soldier.
This opening level really is quite an idyllic sight, with a nicely realised sunset effect bleeding across the screen and balmy palm trees giving your location a pleasant, holiday location feel that lasts right up until that moment when you let rip with your assault rifle. Which isn't long coming.
A quick sample of the controls lets you order your team to remain behind or cover you, whilst night and thermal vision views can also be adopted - very fetching. You can use the D-pad to tilt slightly to the left or right, or else crouch should you feel the need to take a cautious approach rather than bowling in Rambo-style (which may be fun but is usually short-lived).
The PS2's graphical limitations means this isn't as visually impressive as other iterations of the game, but nonetheless Rainbow Six 3 is a handsome enough proposition in its own right and certainly one of the better-looking shooters on Sony's black slab.
Venturing around the corner from the relative calm of an alleyway into a full-blown firefight, your apple pie-eating buddies taking on a merciless cadre of fanatics whilst the dramatic music score swells around you is eminently persuasive. Importantly for this kind of game, the aiming mechanism is well implemented; it would seem that Ubisoft has come up with another classy title.
In fact, if this opening level is a taste of things to come, Tom Clancy - and shooter fans in general - will be well satisfied. You can check the intro movie and footage from the game in action below.
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