Game Review - by Jean-Paul Gagnon
Rainbow Six, the game that went through the world of first person shooters last year, has come to the PlayStation. And at least this reviewer must ask the burning question, "Why?" The best part about Rainbow Six for the computer was that you could team up with like minded anti-terrorists to bust some heads online. You can't do this with the playstation, nor can you add all the various plugins and patches which the PC version was able to make use of. It isn't a bad game by any definition of the term but it is a game that didn't really need to make the translation to the console et.

Storyline:
Rainbow Six is a convert group of anti-terrorist commandos, created by the United Nations to defend freedom wherever it is troubled by Freedom Fighters around the globe...or something like that. Players command a group of commandos to go and… well kill stuff and save hostages and stuff. Not really all that cerebral, it's basically the same as any of a dozen other FPShooters just with a little bit of faux current events thrown in to make the game seem "Current."

Features:
Makes excellent use of the Dual Shock analog controller, in fact you can't really play efficiently unless you have one. Luckily everyone who buys this game probably already has one, right? Anyway, the choice of weapons and equipment is very thorough and realistic. Tom Clancy really knew what he was doing when he designed this game...Licensed I meant licensed this game. Even though the uniforms the characters wear all look the same to me I've been assured that they are all uniquely different, they changed the camo pattern… woohoo!

Gameplay:
I was rather disappointed in this area. While you can control almost all aspects of the mission from weapons choices to deployment of characters, there doesn't seem to be much point because a single character can in most cases fulfill the mission objectives all by his lonesome. In addition to this there is the problem of movement. It's kind of awkward at times. I mean seriously, the movement is not good on this game. Some may like it because it gives an extra challenge trying to move around the limitations of the game engine, but it is not for me.

Graphics:
The graphics are fine, nothing to write home about but pretty good looking nonetheless. The opening movie actually looks like real news footage of a hostage situation, but of course they are mostly grainy and with characters that jump around more than the camera in the Blair Witch project, but that's beside the point. The graphics are fine. I don't like them but what do I know? For a game that is trying to be so realistic I'm surprised at the way that the bodies just disappear when you shoot them.

Sound FX:
Well the sounds of guns aren't bad and the music is appropriate, but it can't overcome the other failings of the game. The music isn't really memorable by any stretch of the imagination, but it is kind of spooky. The music starts and stops on its own at odd points in the gameplay. I really can't understand why the radio gives me short snippets of conversation for no reason while I'm walking around shooting stuff, but I'm sure the game designers had their reasons.

Overall:
It has it's et niche, but even they must be disappointed. It's close to being what it set out to be but it just isn't there yet. Tom Clancy is happy, but he's getting paid. My suggestion is to keep writing books and squeezing out movies like Patriot Games: that's where his talents lie. Play it if you must, but if you really need to, it's probably better to do it on the PC because the PlayStation version just isn't there.