Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield.

Red Storm Entertainment has taken the Tom Clancy idea and really pushed it nearly to the limits.  I’ve played all the earlier releases and have found them all to be excellent in all regards.  Rogue Spear has been the favorite so far, thanks to a very flexible kit system and a very wide variety of weapons.  Expansion Packs and Mod Packs you can download off the internet have pushed this game to the top. 

For playing with people together over a LAN, it’s the best there is.  I think it smokes Counter Strike to the point that it makes C.S. look silly.  And then came Ghost Recon.  It takes this Squad Based FPS genre to the next level… Lots of improvements to things like Graphics, Physics, Realism, and the Mission Planning.  The engagements are at longer ranges, sniping becomes very important, and you have to hit the enemy HARD.   It feels like Red Storm Entertainment (RSE from here on if I mention them again) has taken a step backwards with this one.  But a Small Step.  Rainbow Six is more of a Police action than a Military action.  Instead of a squad of elite soldiers, you have a pack of patrolmen. 

The AI has been beefed up from Rogue Spear, but it seems like RSE just tossed out all the advancements from Ghost Recon.  Even the game engine its self.  Yes, it has great looking graphics, but it’s based on the Unreal Tournament engine.  Sure, a great game engine… but why the side step away from Ghost?   One thing this has over Ghost is going back to the original kit system.  Very nice.  But it also went back to the older and slower method of mission planning… and putting everything back inside.  Your maps are again, tiny.  They look great, so you can at first over look the small size… but one map is just a house for example.  Not the hood… not the street… just the house.  And you can’t even go all the way around it.  Sure, it’s a big house… but it’s a fucked up big house laid out in a manner completely unlike a real house of it’s type.   Still… small as they may be, they did a good job of map making I guess. 

All the maps are challenging.  There are few safe spots, or easy areas you can just run through.  No way.  In fact, running is generally not a good idea.  You can get hurt if you rush.    And when I say hurt, I mean you can easily get riddled with a burst of 5.56MM from an L85A1 rifle. 

This is a game where you take your time… think things out… and proceed with caution.    Like I said before, the AI has been beefed up… for the badguys and for your team… but they can still act like a bunch of freaking morons.  At least this time they are quicker to fire at a badguy, and will get out of your way when you try to get past them. 

One thing… when I said the physics has been improved… not when it comes to the badguys.  This is a fault that I don’t like.  When you shoot a badguy and kill dead before he hits the ground… he should fall naturally.  Not fold over backwards like a limp noodle with no spinal cord.  I mean, yeah, I shot the guy in the head, but I didn’t pull his bones out.  It’s creepy the first time you see it, and then just retarded the next few times.  

The UT engine gives us two things… One is incredible graphics that are stunning.  The other is a gun.  Unlike Rogue Spear, when you when you pick up a gun – you can actually see the gun held out in front of you.  You still have the floating recticle thing out there… but the gun your holding is very realistically rendered. 

The only weapon that looks like crap is the FN P90… but I never use that gun anyways.  It seems to have a pretty good selection of weapons, but a basic selection with some odd duck choices thrown in.  Like the Skorpion machine pistol.  Try it out, you will like it.  With a suppressor, it’s very quiet and works well.  It’s not very powerful, so give your target a few extra rounds.  It’s also not suitable for long range work… Just like the real deal.  One of the best SMG’s in the game is the Steyr TMP.  With a suppressor, you can write your name with it.  Oh, and you really want a suppressor.  Without one, bad guys can and will come running.  So be ready for that. 

If you notice the AK’s damage potential, you get the feeling the AK-47 is a favorite of the makers.  Justified, but glaringly so.  I like that… because I like the AK.  If I’m playing multiplayer… I’m packing an AK.  But this doesn’t mean that the AK is necessarily the best rifle in the game.  I think it’s a toss up between the G36K and the L85A1.  Reason being is that you have a built in scope. With rifles, you can add one accessory.  Scope. High Capacity Magazines (Beta C Mag mainly), or a suppressor.  These two rifles have the scope built in so you can toss on the suppressor for free.  The only other weapon like this is the MP5 SD variant… because it has a suppressor built in so you can scope it for free. 

My only real complaint about the weapons selection is the handguns.  How many Desert Eagles do you really see in the hands of someone in uniform, and not in a movie?  Me?  Never.  I’ve never seen one in service or on duty anywhere.  I have seen Browning Hi-Powers, 1911’s, SIG P220’s, CZ-75’s and others… but these guns are not an option.  But hey, you can have a Desert Eagle .50!  (sheesh)   

I’d like to see some weapons mod packs available… The modders do a better job of realistic weapons than RSE.  Something that was lacking in Ghost Recon.    Some things that were done very well, the grenades… the Smoke and the Flash Bang are awesome.  Very potent tactical tools.  If your playing multiplayer… spray through the smoke screen because someone is on the other side using it… better yet, toss a frag grenade.  I think Raven Shield is a solid game with a lot of potential after the mod makers get rolling on it.  I’m looking for the NATO 3 Mod Pack makers to get a hold of this.  They had the best Rogue Spear package…

Anyways… one thing I would have liked to see RSE do, is to step back off the floating magic aim point and use iron sights like you have to use in Operation Flashpoint.  That added a rich layer of realism to the game.   Also the use of freaking HUGE maps and vehicles.  If you could mix these together… you would have the PERFECT shooter game.  Perfection isn’t here yet, but Raven Shield is again a step closer.

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