Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Lockdown

[MusicManiac]

 

 

You knew it was bound to happen. When you make so many great games they are bound to peak out at some point. Let's be honest, almost every Tom Clancy game that UbiSoft has put out has been pretty much on the awesome side of good. I would still contend that the original Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 for the Xbox is one of the most fun 1st person shooters I play online. And yes, I still play it. And a lot of people still play it online. It was one of the most played Xbox Live games out there for some time. And it spawned ports over to the Playstation 2 and GameCube which didn't do so well. Next came the first real sequel for the Xbox called Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow.

 

The game made some nice additions but kept it's base formula that made R6 so solid. Well, Team Rainbow returns once again for another misssion, and UbiSoft's Redstorm studio once again brings their expertise to the Xbox for their latest Tom Clancy shooter; Rainbow Six: Lockdown. New story, new weapons, new gameplay. The first two are great as always. But some of the new gameplay features just seem to add more than is necessary. I understand that you always want to find ways to improve your game series. But I am starting to realize that there is only so much you can do before you really hit the peak. That still leaves Lockdown as another solid Rainbow Six game, but it just doesn't quite pack the punch that the previous two games do. Ok, let's get into it

 

 

 

 

Story

For those that are unfamiliar with the series, let's start by re-introducing you to the team. Team Rainbow is an international anti-terrorist force led by veteran American Commander Ding Chavez. He is the best their is, and his team is known throughout the world. They are some of the world's best commandos, and it shows. Their heroics have been documented time and again as when the situation is dire, they call in Ding and his crew to take care of business. But things are a little more interesting for Rainbow. This time the stakes are much higher, and the story is actually a bit darker. Red Storm decided on Lockdown to bring much more of a storyline element to the series than they ever have. This time it's not just being sent around the world to mop up different situations. This time, Ding and his team are the targets.

 

 

 

 

If you have played either of the last two Rainbow Six games for the Xbox, or in limited fashion the Playstation 2 or GameCube version, then you will have no problem getting into this new game. As far as major gameplay goes, it's pretty much identical to previous versions of the game. In fact, I was able to pick up the gamepad immediately and get right into things. For those of you who for some reason didn't get the previous game, let me catch you up. In every mission, or before you start an online game, you can pick the weapony for your character. In the single player missions you can also pick from a variety of sweet weapons for your already assembled team. However, you will only control Ding Chavez when you get into the game, with a couple of exceptions which I'll get to in a minute or two. With movements, you have very nice control over your character. You can adjust your sensitivity of the analog sticks to get the touch and feel you want. But that's not all you have to learn. You can peek around corners, and crouch down to hide behind objects. You can't go prone onto the ground, which was cool in Ghost Recon and I do wish you could do here. And as I mentioned when you walk to an object an icon for it appears. With doors, you have the option of opening it yourself, but you can also do a "fluid open or close" where with the d-pad you quietly open the door.

 

 

 

Now of course, if you don't want to use the comm, you can use the controller to point towards an object and click with a button. Holding down a button will bring up a small menu of commands. It's not as fun as talking into the mic, but it works just the same. Besides, if you use the communicator, all the talk between your team and HQ will go through it, and that's just cool.

 

 

Anyhow, all of the good multiplayer games are back, Team Survival, Sharpshooter, Retrieval, Conquest, etc: Just with new maps. It's actually a good thing that they did the PEC mode otherwise I'd be complaining that this game could just be a map pack for Black Arrow. But Red Storm really did a nice job adding something somewhat meaningful to the online game.

Next stop for the Rainbow Team has to be Xbox 360. Ghost Recon is already there, so it's the natural progression.

 

 

4 out of 5 pimps...