The last great Rainbow Six game is easily one of the best shooters ever made.

User Rating: 9.5 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear PC
Okay, so we all know about the Rainbow Six franchise: an elite counter-terrorist unit goes through brutally difficult tests of nerves, rescue operations, assassinations, and terrorist hunts all in the name of maintaining world order with an arsenal of the finest pieces of military hardware around. The realism of the games is what made the franchise great and which made a fresh take on an aging genre, but, more recently, in sequels of the said game, the realism of the series has been toned down to cater to the masses in the mainstream, making more recent trips into terrorist hunting less entertaining the previous iterations. The game that somehow got it almost completely right, however, was Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear.

First off, let me point out that this game is not perfect. There are obvious flaws with the command interface that can destroy a mission, the planning mode could be a little better, and the AI (of your buddies and the bad guys) can be at times downright awful. It is also not for everyone, as the game itself is violent, intense, and very serious, not to mention horrifyingly realistic. All of it can be overwhelming to take in as a new player (it sure was for me back in 2003 when I bought it). No game is perfect, and Rogue Spear, of course, is no exception.

However, those who take the time to play the game will discover that the game really grows on you and doesn't let go easily. The game proves to be very intense and is packed with replay value that continues to keep the game entertaining even after playing it for months on end, thanks to its multiplayer mode and its various other single player modes, like terrorist hunt and lone wolf. No matter how much you try, it is still a major shock to get a bullet in your back from an enemy sniper, to get a nearly botched raid, or to burst into a museum to slaughter heavily armed terrorists. Let me cut to the chase: it doesn't get old fast, and it's still a thrill to this day.

If you do pickup this game, don't forget to check out the expansions: they add even more gameplay value to Rogue Spear, in both adding more levels and game modes. I would easily recommend to all shooter fans and tactical strategy enthusiasts.