Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 is the sixth installment of the Rainbow Six series of video games, developed and published by Ubisoft. It is a console version spin-off of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, featuring the same game engine, models, textures, and artwork but has a significantly different plot, game mechanics, and gameplay.
It was released in 2003 and 2004 for the Xbox and was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. Its popularity led to the subsequent development of a sequel, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, which was released in 2004.
Plot[]
The console version of Rainbow Six 3 features similar mission locations and layouts to the PC version, but an entirely different plot. Rainbow responds to a series of terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in South America, apparently being conducted by Islamic terrorists sponsored by Saudi Arabia. However, the true mastermind behind the attacks is actually the newly elected President of Venezuela, Juan Crespo. Crespo managed to get elected by advocating a strong anti-terror platform and exploiting the fear caused by the terrorist attacks (which he himself orchestrated). Crespo's plan is to discredit Saudi Arabia, then cut off the Venezuelan supply of oil to the United States, creating an oil crisis and driving up the price of oil, which he would then sell to the US on the black market at highly inflated prices.
Rainbow manages to foil Crespo's plans (including a VX nerve gas attack on the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans), and ultimately assassinates President Crespo himself. Rainbow then arranges for the international media to credit the terrorists with causing Crespo's death.
Missions[]
- Training - United Kingdom, 01.10.2007 / 09:35 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Alpine Village - Switzerland, 10.15.2007 / 21:12 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Mountain Highway - Switzerland, 10.16.2007 / 01:20 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Oil Refinery - Dutch Caribbean,10.29.2007 / 19:35 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Island Estate - Dutch Caribbean, 11.04.2007 / 10:55 Hours (Chavez, Weber)
- Shipyard - Venezuela, 11.10.2007 / 16:40 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Crespo Foundation - Canada, 11.20.2007 / 14:10 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Old City - Croatia, 12.02.2007 / 07:10 Hours (Chavez, Price)
- Trieste - Italy, 12.22.2007 / 03:58 Hours (Chavez, Price)
- Alcatraz - San Francisco, 12.20.2007 / 14:40 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Import/Export - Venezuela, 01.09.2008 / 12:05 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Penthouse - Venezuela, 01.28.2008 / 13:30 Hours (Chavez)
- Meat Plant - Venezuela, 02.02.2008 / 03:58 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Garage - New Orleans, 02.04.2008 / 08:35 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle)
- Parade - New Orleans, 02.04.2008 / 23:38 Hours (Chavez, Loiselle, Price, Weber)
- Airport - Venezuela, 02.12.2008 / 17:55 Hours (Chavez)
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Gameplay[]
The gameplay in the console version of Rainbow Six 3 is somewhat different from that of the PC version.
Unlike the PC version, the console version does not feature a mission planning stage, or the ability to control multiple characters. Players take the role of Rainbow field commander Ding Chavez, and lead a single fireteam consisting of 3 AI-controlled teammates through each of the game's missions. Orders can be issued to the teammates using either an in-game menu, or through voice-commands via the Xbox Live headset. To compensate for the decreased control players have over their squad, the squad AI has been improved, with squadmates being able to automatically duck behind objects or assume covering positions within an area.
The action is also slightly more forgiving in the console version than in the PC version. The player and his teammates each have a "health bar" consisting of 4 units of health, which must be completely depleted before that Rainbow operative is incapacitated. In the console versions, it is possible for the player to sustain several bullet hits before dying, as opposed to dying after only 1 or 2 hits as in the PC version.
Maps[]
- TrainYard
- Scharins
- Parkade
- CloseQuarter
- Carnival
- Meat factory
- Garage
The Scharins map has been superseded by Scharins_V2 as of April 29, 2004. The level had some minor map changes, presumably the result of bugs found after the Microsoft certification process. As of this time, all levels are available for free.
Development[]
Rainbow Six 3 was initially ported to Microsoft's Xbox console to take advantage of the Xbox Live online functionality. The Xbox version was developed by Ubisoft-Montreal. The game would later be ported to Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube in early 2004 by developer Ubisoft-Shanghai. Since the Nintendo GameCube didn't support online play for the game, it lacks perhaps the most vital part of the game that made the Xbox version such a success and is therefore limited to a mere 2 players for multiplayer. Although both games are titled Rainbow Six 3, this version is not subtitled Raven Shield and contains somewhat different content. For instance, the multiplayer maps in the console and PC versions are different, with some appearing only in the consoles versions, others in the PC version, and so on.
The Xbox version of the game features downloadable content in the form of additional levels for users with access to the Xbox Live service. All of the expansion levels are intended for use in the online multiplayer mode.
Gallery[]
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