Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown Hands-On - Rainbow Returns to the PC
Forget about last year's console versions; Rainbow Six: Lockdown for the PC appears to be a completely different game, indeed.
Though it started out on the PC, the Rainbow Six series has become especially popular on the consoles. This has become a point of concern for PC gamers who fear that the series, known for its ruthlessly brutal and realistic tactical combat, will mutate into just another console shooter. Last year's Rainbow Six: Lockdown for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube did nothing to alleviate those fears, as we were introduced to a "hip" new generation of Rainbow commandos who were too cool to even bother with wearing helmets in combat. After all, helmets would just cover up their cool cornrows (PC fans everywhere wailed in anguish over that detail). So you could imagine our complete surprise when we recently loaded up an early PC version of Lockdown and discovered that this isn't a mere port. Red Storm is giving us a new version of Lockdown built directly for the PC, while also getting rid of all the silly elements found in the console versions. Throw in the spiffy new graphics engine, and suddenly we're looking at a potential faithful heir to the PC franchise.
Like the previous games in the series, Lockdown puts you in charge of the elite Rainbow counterterrorist team, a NATO unit tasked with stopping the bad guys and rescuing hostages in high-risk missions. Lockdown will feature 16 missions set in exotic locales around the world, from the Dutch parliament to the South African capitol, and you'll slowly uncover yet another nefarious conspiracy to unleash global havoc. Thankfully, you've got a lot of firepower at your disposal, as you have a huge arsenal of weapons and equipment to choose from, as well as a team of elite commandos to lead into battle.
Still, we should note that the PC version of Lockdown isn't quite Rainbow Six as you may know it. First, the trademark mission planning that the series is known for is gone. Now, after you outfit your team from the extensive array of weapons and equipment options (at least that remains untouched), you launch directly into the mission. You no longer have the ability to plan out your team's attack, and while most players generally skipped this phase, it was one of the things that made Rainbow Six different from virtually every other shooter on the market. Also, the multiple-squad format of previous Rainbow Six games is gone. Instead of leading several teams into combat and being able to jump between them, you'll lead a single team of four elite operatives who follow you around and follow your orders.
It's immediately clear upon entering the first mission that this is a vastly different game from the console versions of Lockdown. Though the locales are the same (the first mission starts in South Africa, just like the console versions), the levels and environments are much bigger and much more detailed than those found in the console versions. There's no mistaking this is a PC game and not a port, especially after you see the fancy graphical effects, such as heat blur and dreamy water reflections, as well as the high quality of the graphics in general. Some textures are incredibly sharp, and there are lots of little things in the environment to knock over, thanks to the game's physics engine. We immediately got caught in a firefight with several terrorists in a parking lot, and it was a lot of fun to shoot out car windows and watch the rag-doll physics in effect. Just unload a few pieces of lead into a bad guy, and his body will recoil like it should. Sometimes they just slump to the ground. Other times, they'll get knocked back. The location damage also helps the death animations; you can shoot a guy's leg out from under him and he'll tumble to the ground believably. And, thankfully, none of the awkward death contortions from Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (the last PC Rainbow Six game) have appeared thus far.
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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown Review
Lockdown for the PC is more tactical than the console versions and definitely a lot of fun, but it's still got a noticeable arcade flavor.
- Feb 16, 2006
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- Ubisoft
- Red Storm Ent. , Ubisoft Montreal
- Modern Tactical Shooter
- Release: Feb 16, 2006
- ESRB: Mature
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