It all started with Wolfenstein 3D, a game that took the gaming community by storm with its unique blend of mazes to negotiate and testosterone induced action. That same formula was further perfected by Doom and then of course Quake, which had as much gore as any of the famous Romero zombie movies (Night of, Dawn of and Day of the Dead). But in all the frenzy that has followed these shooters there has been one thing truly lacking, a more serious realism based shooter.

This aint Cape Canaveral...

This past year has seen more of the same Quake follow ons with games such as SiN, Shogo and more recently Half-Life, all following the same formula of action over realism. But this same year we’ve witnessed a small company from North Carolina rise above the crowd and not only redefine the standard of the action shooter but create a whole new genre in the process; realistic strategic shooters.

Wanna play nice when my boyz in black come calling? I think not, go join your friend!

Redstorm Entertainment made its mark on the gaming community and altered our way of thinking with their hyper realistic counter terrorist sim Rainbow Six. Proving that shooters CAN have realism and gamers want that in a game, Rainbow Six is the biggest break in first person shooter genre to come along since the first Wolfenstein and I feel it is most definitely THE shooter of the year.

While many gamers have been charmed and wooed by Half-Life with its blend of action and plot in an action based shooter, I personally feel Rainbow Six beats it hands down. Half-Life has stayed the course of action shooters and has you fighting aliens from another dimension and allows a gamer to take multiple hits and regenerate those lost hit points at magic health stations.

Tango Down!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Half-Life but it has gone the same route as Quake has gone for me; once beaten I never play it again save for multiplayer when I want some quick thought free action. My multiplayer experiences with HL have been less than stellar as lag slows gameplay down to a crawl at times, further pulling HL down from the excellent multiplayer in R6. Rainbow Six has broken free of that action standard with a realism based system in which one shot does kill, while also challenging your mind as much as your reflexes with their perfectly balanced mix of action and tactical planning.

Redstorm not only decided to do a realism based shooter but grabbed the bull by the horns and tackled one of the most difficult of all real world military operations to simulate: counter terrorism. Obviously judging from the constant posting in the forums on the Redstorm web site, I am not alone in my enthusiasm for this mind blowing and highly addictive shooter.

Within months after the successful, initial release of Rainbow Six Redstorm has already finished a mission pack entitled Eagle Watch which will give fans of the original game even more challenges to face in single player mode as well as more multiplayer maps in which to wreak havoc.

Click to continue . . .

After playing the final of Eagle Watch for a couple of weeks now I’ve got to say that this is a very solid expansion to the original, adding 5 new real world areas to play in, which include the Buran space shuttle test site, the Taj Mahal, the Forbidden City in China, the famous clock tower Big Ben and finally the U.S. Capitol Building.

Furthermore, a couple of new training maps are added, my favorite being the City Street Hunt that looks to be as much fun in multiplayer as it is in single player. This mission pack will nicely tide we Rainbow Six fans over until we can get our hands on the sequel to this highly unique and realistic series.

An Indian seperatist gets... separated 

We’re once again treated to a neat little intro video of Rainbow in action, all taken from gameplay as was the first then it’s off to the missions themselves. The first mission has you called in to stop a terrorist takeover of the Russian space shuttle Buran. Moving through the dimly lit hallways of the shuttle launch complex and winding your way up to the shuttle itself taking down tangos as you go, there’s some very good action in this mission. Rainbow is again called up next to face down an Indian seperatist group’s takeover of the Taj Mahal where they’ve taken hostages and planted a bomb they threaten to detonate if their demands of a formation of a separate Sikh state are not met.

Escorting Precious Cargo...

Both of these missions are actually rather easy compared to the next one you’ll face in Britain where a vicious splinter group if IRA terrorists called NOMAR have taken over the British Houses of Parliament. They’ve planted a bomb and have taken hostages into the clocktower of Big Ben, if their demands are not met by midnight they will set off the bomb killing everyone inside and destroying this historic landmark. While the SAS could do the job the British government has called on Rainbow in an effort to stop any further troubles by using domestic forces.

The reason I felt this was a tougher mission than the last is not only due to the number of tangos you will face but the terrain you’ll be fighting on. With many rooms to clear in this large level you’ll also be forced to deal with the additional obstacle of tangos on multiple levels in the same room, as a lot of these rooms have balcony areas. These terrorists are tough and deadly (being highly motivated and experienced IRA fighters), a firefight with them is over quickly and they are lethally accurate.

Large multi-level rooms in BHOP

Proper use of overwatch and coordinating room entries are paramount to your teams survival, there’s no ‘John Wayning’ it here if you want to get all of your team out alive. To make matters even more difficult is the need to travel up several flights of stairs to the Big Ben clock tower, each is heavily guarded by tangos that don’t want to let you by so easily. You will get a great appreciation for the term CQB in these hallways as here it is truly Close Quarters Battle!

Continue to part two...