Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
North American Windows cover art
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Composer(s)	Bill Brown
Engine	Unreal Engine 2.0
Version	1.60 (December 3, 2004) [1]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Mac OS X, Mobile phone, PS2, GameCube
Release date(s)	March 18, 2003 Windows NA March 18, 2003 EU March 21, 2003 Xbox NA October 29, 2003 EU November 7, 2003 Macintosh NA December 19, 2003 EU October 31, 2003 Mobile January 12, 2004 PlayStation 2 NA March 24, 2004 EU March 26, 2004 GameCube NA June 16, 2004 EU June 25, 2004
Genre(s)	Tactical shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ELSPA: 15+ ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 12+
Media/distribution	CD (2), Nintendo optical disc
System requirements Windows 98 or higher, 800MHz processor, 128MB RAM (XP: 256MB RAM), 32MB VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible, DirectX 8.1 compatible sound device, DirectX v.8.1 or higher, 16x CD-ROM or faster, 2GB free space, mouse

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield is a computer game developed and published by Ubisoft and released on March 18, 2003. The Rainbow Six video game series is based on Tom Clancy's best-selling novel of the same name.

Based on the Unreal Engine 2.0, Raven Shield is a tactical shooter with realistic properties. Raven Shield moved toward mainstream first-person shooters like Counter-Strike, adapting various features absent in previous versions. These included the ability to see one's weapon while in first-person view, many new weapons and upgrades (including larger magazines and sights), and a redesigned multiplayer.

A console version (featuring the same basic game engine, models, textures, and artwork, but with significantly different game mechanics, gameplay, storyline and features), Rainbow Six 3, was developed for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube video game consoles. A port was also released on Mac OS X on December 19, 2003. Due to the console version's success on the Xbox and the popularity of its subscription-based online multiplayer service, Xbox Live, an Xbox-exclusive semi-sequel was released in 2004 titled Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow. The next full game in the Rainbow Six series, Rainbow Six: Lockdown, was released in 2006.

PC version

Plot

Raven Shield's story begins in 1945, as two members of the Nazi-sponsored Ustaše regime in the Independent State of Croatia manage to escape the country with huge amounts of Holocaust-era loot just before Allied troops move into the capital. Sixty years later, in 2005, elite multinational counter-terrorism task-force Rainbow finds itself investigating a series of attacks by Neo-Fascist terrorists against South American oil interests and European financial institutions.

Rainbow eventually traces the source of the attacks to Argentina, where Argentinian billionaire businessman Nikola Gospic and far-right Presidential candidate Alvero Guitierrez are implicated. Rainbow learns that Gospic is an escaped Ustashe official, one of the two men shown escaping with Holocaust loot in the game's opening cutscene. Dying of liver cancer, Gospic plans to leave the world one last legacy of hate from the Second World War by using his vast wealth to resurrect global Fascism. To this end, Gospic has acquired a large amount of chemical weapons, including VX nerve gas and blister gas.

Gospic, through his ownership of a meat-packing plant, intends to contaminate large quantities of beef with VX, then ship the contaminated beef to dozens of countries across the world. Rainbow foils his scheme by raiding the meat-packing plant and confiscating the VX gas. Gospic then attempts to attack Rio De Janeiro with a blister gas bomb hidden inside a parade float in the Festa Junina parade. Rainbow launches a final raid on Gospic's operation, foiling Gospic's plan to attack the parade, and killing Gospic himself.

Afterwards, John Clark interrogates the captured Guitierrez and learns the full details of Gospic's plot. Gospic's plan was to kill hundreds of thousands of people in South America, creating an economic crisis and causing the price of South American oilfields to plummet. Gospic's heirs would then buy up the oilfields using Gospic's wealth, and use the massive oil proceeds to finance a new international Fascist movement.

Gospic was financing Guitierrez's presidential campaign, in exchange for political protection from Guitierrez. Guitierrez explains that Gospic was a raven picking the bones of an old war, and that Guitierrez would be his shield until his children were ready to fly. However, Guitierrez admits that since Gospic is now dead and he himself is going to jail, none of that matters anymore; Rainbow has won.

Expansions

Athena Sword

Cover Art for RS3: Athena Sword on PC

Athena Sword is the first expansion for the PC version of Raven Shield. Athena Sword expands on the original by adding eight new missions, five new multiplayer missions, three new multiplayer gamemodes, and seven new weapons. Athena Sword was developed by Ubisoft-Milan and released on March 9, 2004. A Mac port was released on November 23, 2004. Athena Sword was packaged with the original game as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Gold Edition in 2004.

The story of Athena Sword begins in 2007, two years after last wave of terrorist attacks. Team Rainbow neutralized the terrorist threat and captured Gutierrez, but the threat is not over yet as there are still remnants of his terrorist group. The remaining cell stil has some chemical weapons, making them very dangerous threat.
When the terrorist cell strikes in the Castle in Milan and takes hostages Team Rainbow is immediately brought onto the scene to deal with the threat. The terrorist hunt is then continued along the Mediterranean coast. The last terrorist action is to be set in Athens, Greece, where the remaining terrorists plan to launch a chemical attack. Team Rainbow launches the operation Athena Sword and manages to prevent the attack.

The final cut scene shows the prison guard who brings a newspaper to Gutierrez where he reads the news about prevented terrorist attack in Greece. On the last page he finds a small piece of paper with a message "It's over" and with Clark's signature. Two days later he is found hanged in his cell.

Iron Wrath

Iron Wrath is the second expansion for the PC version of Raven Shield. It was in production for almost 2 years before Ubisoft decided to release it as a free download on June 9, 2005 to FilePlanet subscribers. Developed by Ubisoft-Casablanca, this latest expansion features a 7-mission campaign, 3 classic missions, 8 new multiplayer maps, 6 new weapons, as well as 5 new multiplayer game modes. In October 2008, the CD-key activation server was taken offline, suspending the multiplayer features of Iron Wrath.

Gold Edition

A compilation title consisting of Raven Shield and Athena Sword.

Complete

A compilation title consisting of Raven Shield, Athena Sword and Iron Wrath on DVD.

Console versions

Cover Art for Rainbow Six 3 on the Xbox

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 was later be ported to the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube in early 2004 by developer Ubisoft Shanghai. The Nintendo GameCube version does not take advantage of the Gamecube's online capabilities, and is therefore limited to two 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 console versions, others in the PC version.

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.

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 three 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. This, however, suffered from slight misunderstandings between similar phrases such as "Open frag and clear" and "open flash and clear," and vice-versa. 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. The player and his teammates each have a "health bar" consisting of four units of health, which must be depleted before that Rainbow operative is incapacitated. In the console versions, it is possible for the player to sustain several bullet hits before dying.

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 US 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, and ultimately assassinates President Crespo himself. Rainbow then arranges for the international media to credit the terrorists with causing Crespo's death.

Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow

Black Arrow is a semi-sequel to the console version of Rainbow Six 3. Still titled Rainbow Six 3, Black Arrow was developed and published by Ubisoft and released for the Xbox on August 5, 2004. Like Rainbow Six 3, Black Arrow was created to take advantage of Microsoft's popular Xbox Live online service. Along with two new online game modes; Total Conquest, Retrieval and a new offline mode Lone Rush, changes were also implemented into Black Arrow from the original Rainbow six 3. A noticeable change was made to combat the unfair advantages of "lean walking." This change still allows the player to lean but is unable to move until they return to the original standing straight posture.

References

1. ^ http://www.ubi.com/US/Downloads/Info.aspx?dlId=56

External links

• Rainbow Six official website