Today we are starting a new series where we look back at the Rainbow Six series. It might blow your mind when you realize that this series has been around since 1998!
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998) Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PC, Sega DreamcastThe first game to really make Tom Clancy a big deal in the world of video games (as he had been in other media) was the original Rainbow Six game. The game was first released on PC and then was ported to console via the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and then a little later, the Sega Dreamcast.
It has been reported that for this game, Tom Clancy wanted a shooter that was more tactical based and required the player to think before they would shoot. The Rainbow team is an elite counter terrorism unit that is sent into various places to bring down a target and save hostages. For the time the story was pretty in depth, but these days it is probably seen as a bit simplistic.
It was the strategic gameplay that hooked many people. A mission can be completed in mere minutes, but this mission may have to be replayed over and over again. There is a lot of trial and error in Rainbow Six as the player tries to figure out what is the best way to go about completing a mission. Watching all your planning work out and the mission be successful is a great feeling.
At the time of the release the PC version was reviewed pretty well, but this kind of game was not something console gamers were used to and as a result, the console versions were not reviewed as well. Especially the Dreamcast version which many reviewers at the time said was a lazy port.
While it may seem basic by today’s standard, the original Rainbow Six is a real landmark video game and if you are interested in checking it out. The PlayStation version an actually be downloaded from the PlayStation Store.
Here we go again as we look at the next installment in the Rainbow Six series.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 (2003/2004) Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCubeRainbow Six was no stranger to console having appeared on PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast. But this would be the series’ first entry on this generation of console. The game was originally released on the Xbox before making an appearance on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube the following year.
While this version is called Rainbow Six 3, you will notice the subtitle is missing. That is because the console versions are completely different to the PC. There is no complex planning of missions before you do them like in the PC version (which is one of the major things about the Rainbow Six series) and in general, the game has a much more action feel to it. The story was also very different to what the PC version offered. The rainbow team is sent to South America to investigate a series of terrorist attacks and soon finds out that it is the president of Venezuela who is behind them.
Players now only control one character, Ding Chavez who is the field commander of the Rainbow team. You can still dish out orders to the rest of the team, but you only have direct control of the one character. In general, this is a much more streamlined Rainbow Six experience. But while this sounds bad, Rainbow Six 3 on console is actually a very fun game in its own right, especially the Xbox version which got great reviews at the time. The PlayStation and GameCube versions of the game did not get quite as high review scores at the time.
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