You and your 3 man team have been flown to the Caribbean. Not for a vacation but for some serious issues regarding a hostile situation. One of the great houses that are located in this region and owned by the prestigious has been taken over by a terrorist group. It is your job as leader of a small unit of 4 to neutralise the threat and reclaim the property. Armed with an assortment of guns and grenades your team is dropped off by van at the metal main gates.

Entering the narrow stone driveway which lays host to a small boat covered in a beige cloth outside two large garage doors you look around. The driveway is lined with extravagant lampposts and palm trees which sway in tandem with the light Caribbean breeze. The birds sing their daily rituals as a light aircraft can be heard passing overhead. This burst of noise is over as quick as it has begun until the only sounds audible are the chattering of many birds once more. However in the distance the sound of a woman singing can be heard. Her aria sounding somber yet warming all the same.

The Caribbean air blows across your face as the midday sunshine glaring in the sky illuminates everything in a hazy glow. Its swelteringly hot as you survey the huge house that lies ahead. “Team hold positions” you order into your headset. Without hesitation the 3 men take up positions around the walls and boat, effectively seeking cover from inanimate objects and peering towards a nearby set of steps that lead to some points of entry into the house. The guys in your squad are the best and are there for you, watching your back and looking intensely ahead for any signs of movement, guns trained and ready. Crouching low, the loud thud of your boots reverberate off the enclosed walls as you swiftly move up the stony pathway to the steps. On your right there are huge arched windows that have curtains drawn to shade the interior from the intense daytime heat. As you reach the top of the set of stairs your eyes are averted to a corpse. In a stark contrast to the seeming tranquility that surrounds it, the dead body already attracting numerous flies and almost looking peaceful alongside the accompanying aria that the woman is singing. Being cautious you order your team to regroup. “Right with you sir” crackles in your earpiece followed by the patter of boots on stone. “Team hold positions” you order. Moving slowly and extremely cautiously you take a closer look. The body may reveal some clues as to what firearms the terrorists are carrying.

Lying in a thin layer of crimson blood, a sight you have seen many times before presents itself. the body of a man in his late 30’s , probably a security guard for the house, lies face down. You can still smell the stench of death as the man’s cold stare gazes eternally at nothing. The body is pretty fresh despite the activity of the flies which gather around the gunshot wounds and opened mouth. A lot of the blood has evaporated into the air due to the heat yet the stains remain on the baking stone floor. You take note that this was a fairly recent killing and what looks like .45 caliber round wounds. Moving on the reminder that the terrorists will stop at nothing until their demands are met lingers in your thoughts.

Looking ahead, there are another set of steps leading to the corner of the rear side of the house. You pause momentarily, planning your next move with precision. Pointing to some nearby trees by the wall that surrounds the house you order your team to move and take up positions there. Staying put yet maintaining your sights dead ahead you observe your men as they shuffle into action. Upon reaching the crest of the steps your men are greeted with the familiar sound of automatic gunfire from the right hand side and out of your own view. “Were under fire” screams one of your team mates as the earpiece almost deafens you. Returning silenced automatic fire the men easily dispatch this lone assailant whose sporadic fire misses the team completely. In a calm tone one of your team announces “Threat neutralized”. The team continue their orders then lie in wait amongst the shade from the trees.

Moving up the steps your self there is what looks like a utility door. Beyond this point is the abyss of the unknown, your point of entry into the maze like rooms of this great house. With your team’s eyes firmly fixed on this doorway from their vantage point , you decide to take point. Moving closer to the door and remaining crouched your heart races as you ready yourself to open the door from the side so as not to expose yourself to anyone who waits beyond it. Turning the handle and opening it gently so that it is slightly ajar the hinges burst into a frenzy of rubbing metal. This sound obviously alerting someone inside as you hear a voice shout out loud. Quickly backing off with your UMP 45 fixed on the door the sound of approaching footsteps is heard beyond, getting closer and closer. The door immediately swings open as a suited man armed with an automatic pistol bursts into the open, guns a blazing. However before he even steps a couple of feet your team begin their chorus of silenced fire. A well place shot pierces the gunman’s head causing his body to fly backwards as the blood sprays the doorway behind him causing an unsightly mosaic of blood , tissue and bone fragments. Two other bullets have also entered through his chest and neck, the gunman’s arms flail wildly as his body is forced back. Almost in slow motion the gunman falls against the side of the open door joining his own bloodstains, then slumps like a rag doll with his head tilted to one side. With the pistol still in his hand the body leans to one side and lays there motionless on the stone ground, he is truly dead, “Tango Down”. With your point of entry secure and the danger about to heighten the mission is about to begin.

Rainbow Six 3 is yet another Clancy endorsed game for Xbox. Following in the footsteps of Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon from Red Storm Entertainment and published by UbiSoft. The onus here is on infiltration, neutralisation and rescue with perhaps a little bit of bomb disposal thrown in for good measure. You the player take control of Ding Chavez, the four man unit’s commander as you fly the globe diffusing a number of hostile situations. Armed with a wide assortment of modern day weapons and communications it up to Ding and the team to succeed where others simply could not. Welcome to Rainbow Six .

Gameplay:
Rainbow Six 3 is a tense action orientated first person shooter with a definite slant towards realism as opposed to all out gung ho “no brainer” type combat. This is reflected not only with the mission set up but also the locations that the missions are played . Gone are the wide open spaces of Ghost Recon , which are replaced with more urban environments such as houses, facilities, office blocks and many more. This lends itself to unique close quarter situations whereby opening a door too hastily could result in death. As with Ghost Recon a hit in the wrong place will mean instant death for you or any of your 3 team mates. However a life bar is on screen at all times to give an indication of non fatal wounds.

In the campaign mode the missions usually have scripted events for players to tackle. However such is the nature of the game it allows for individual style. Whether players are rescuing hostages or disarming a series of bombs the player has a complete choice as to how the team deals with the presented scenario. The missions are varied and tense and offer plenty of replay value. There are also 3 levels of difficulty to choose from offering a high challenge for those of you more experienced with the game. Other modes are included as well such as Terrorist hunt, which allows players to return to maps completed in campaign mode filled with randomly placed terrorists. The aim being to clear the entire map of all threats. Again offering plenty of replay value.

Moving silently and with extreme caution are the main features here as you take command of Ding Chavez only (controlling Ding is easy, using the standard Xbox first person shooter control set up). The options that you have at your disposal are the complete control of what your team mates are doing. Order them to open doors then clear rooms, move to various locations to set up ambushes, scout ahead defuse bombs and then some. There are a number of options available creating a real sense of being part of an elite unit. These commands are simple to execute either with a pop up menu which in fact feels very fluid or better still via voice commands using a headset. Touted as one of the main features, the voice command works surprisingly well thus allowing the player to issue commands on the fly. It will take most players a little while to get used to because if words are spoken too fast or not pronounced clearly enough then the player will have to repeat orders. My only real complaint here is that the “Zulu” command seems problematic at best. Zulu being a command which acts as a go code, allowing players to co-ordinate multiple entries into rooms (you through one door and your team through another). However you can still accomplish this order by pressing the white button on your controller. Another neat feature is the fact that your team mates and commanders responses will come via the headset only (if you set it that way in the options menu). This does add that extra sense of “being there” and is a nice touch.

Before the mission starts you are given a briefing from your commanding officer who remains in contact via radio. Once the briefing is complete it is up to the player to decide what weapons are going to be used. The computer will choose them automatically unless they are changed to your own preferences by the player. There are four slots available which allow for a primary weapon, secondary weapon and two slots for various types of grenades. The primary weapons on offer are vast and their differences subtle, especially amongst the assault rifles. It takes a little bit of investigation to decide which ones are more effective than others, depending on the situation. Sniper rifles are also on offer but are reserved for those of you who wish to remain behind as opposed to being point man (up front).There are a number of pistols both automatic and silenced which add that little more choice for your soldier’s set up especially if you opt for sniper rifles as a primary or noisy assault rifles where stealth is required . The grenades on offer are very useful in combat coming in a wide variety of types including the counter terrorists favourite, flashbangs and fragmentation grenades to name a few. Once you become familiar with each type then you will be spending little time in this screen. The weapons for your three team mates will select automatically so as to speed up the before mission process. However should the player decide to opt for silenced weapons then your team will use them as well. The mission planning as seen in most Rainbow Six titles has been ditched to allow players to get into the game as quickly as possible. Personally I wish they could have included some sort of planning however I can see that due to the nature of the on the fly command scheme and linear maps that its inclusion would not be so effective.

Graphics:
Graphically Rainbow Six 3 is a big improvement over Ghost Recon, with some excellent lighting and shadow effects used. The inclusion of the thermal vision as seen in Splinter Cell looks very good as are the heat effects from those enemies who have been set on fire from incendiary devices . Your weapon is on screen at all times and looks realistic (its inclusion pleasing those of you who complained about Ghost Recon’s lack of on screen weapon). The character models are quite good, yet perhaps not as detailed as they could be. Also dead bodies have a habit of disappearing when you look away from them, which is a shame but not something that will affect your enjoyment of the game. The locations are pretty spectacular and are rendered very well although some being less pleasing than others.

Sound:
The sound used is also very complimentary to the game play with a whole host of ambient sounds used to recreate the various environments your team is place in. The weapons fire sounds meaty as do the exploding grenades. These had me jumping out of my skin when catching me by surprise (perhaps due to having the sound played loud via some hefty speakers). Terrorists will also speak in their native tongues which all adds to the realistic nature of the game. Music is pretty much non existent and rightly so as the sound of approaching footsteps can mean the difference between life and death here.

Longevity:
Rainbow Six 3 also has two multi player modes which include system link and of course Xbox Live support. Playing through missions with online or friends at home is excellent and of the highest standard. For those of you who own Live will be able to play on dedicated servers for up to 16 players in the death match game types . The co -op modes (my favourite) are also very exhilarating and are set up for four players to get to grips with. Each player having one life only thus making players more cautious and encouraging team tactics. Some lag is present in a few games (due to poor connections from hosts) but so far I have not encountered too much. A neat feature yet pointless is that when someone talks their on screen character’s lips will move as well. I would rate the online play highly as there are enough players to get some good games on the go. Stats are also included for those who are interested. Downloadable content is supported as well with one map being available from launch. Coupled with the replay value of the offline game overall Rainbow Six 3 will keep players interested for quite some time.

Round Up:
Rainbow Six 3 is an excellent package overall with some great gaming moments. With its more accessible approach to suit all types of gamer I think it all works well. There is enough depth for the more experienced gamer and enough ease for the casual gamer too, which is a good move by the developers. With its wide variety of choice and of course the voice commands this is a benchmark game for the system for both Clancy fans and non fans alike. As a rental title I am sure players would be upset to take it back when the time came as it calls out for multiple play and really should be part of any gamers collection of great games. Calling all arm chair counter terrorists, your time has come. Get it now.

Pros:

• Voice command feature
  
• Lots of weapons
  
• Tense gameplay
  
• multiplayer
  
• Downloadable Content
  
  

  Cons:
  

  • linear maps
    
  • No planning
    
  • Control only one character
    
  • Scripted events