Rainbow Six: Lockdown ships

Ubisoft's latest installment in the squad-based tactical shooter Rainbow Six series has shipped to retail, but the title is making its way there with a pace as deliberate as its gameplay. Gamers can expect the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Rainbow Six: Lockdown to hit shelves on Thursday.

This console-exclusive installment of the popular PC-native series introduces a few new wrinkles to the series formula, including a story mode that features bioterrorists with a personal axe to grind against the Rainbow counterterrorism team, a redesigned interface, a new sniper character, and exclusive new multiplayer modes for the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game.

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Red Storm Entertainment, Lockdown has suffered multiple delays since the game's original announcement last November. A GameCube edition is scheduled to ship later this month, with a PC version expected in 2006.