''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' is a
tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games aim to simulate realistic combat through slower-paced and punishing gameplay. This makes tactics, planning, ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
and the first entry in the
''Rainbow Six'' series. It was developed and published by
Red Storm Entertainment
Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and studio of Ubisoft based in Cary, North Carolina. Founded in November 1996 between author Tom Clancy, manager Doug Littlejohns, and software development company Virtus Corpo ...
in 1998 for
Microsoft Windows. It was ported to
Mac OS
Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc.
In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded " ...
,
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
,
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
,
Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
, and
Dreamcast
The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...
. Based on the
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have ...
novel of the same name, the game follows Rainbow, an international
counterterrorist organization, and the conspiracy they unravel following a seemingly random spike in terrorism.
In
single-player
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...
, the player advances through a series of scenarios by playing missions in a campaign. Every mission initializes with a briefing stage, allowing the player to choose their equipment, coordinate their attacks, and advance the plot. Throughout each mission the player directly controls one team member, and can take control of any living operative. However, any casualties cannot be used in future missions unless the mission is reset. In
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
, the game pits two teams of players against each other in order to complete objectives depending on the game mode.
''Rainbow Six''s PC versions received positive reviews from critics, praised for its audio and immersive feeling, despite being a very difficult game. However, the console versions received lower ratings. In its first year of release it sold over 200,000 copies, accounting to $8.86 million in revenue. ''Rainbow Six'' is considered a milestone in
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
s and greatly developed the
tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games aim to simulate realistic combat through slower-paced and punishing gameplay. This makes tactics, planning, ...
genre.
An expansion pack, ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch'', was released on January 31, 1999. The
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
version of the game was one of 20 games preloaded on the
PlayStation Classic
The PlayStation Classic is a dedicated video game console by Sony Interactive Entertainment that emulates games originally released on its 1994 PlayStation console. It was announced in September 2018 at the Tokyo Game Show, and released on Dec ...
(excluding Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong), released on December 3, 2018.
Gameplay
''Rainbow Six'' is a
tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games aim to simulate realistic combat through slower-paced and punishing gameplay. This makes tactics, planning, ...
, in which characters are affected by realistic elements and can be killed in a single bullet; therefore, wise tactics are encouraged to complete missions. ''Rainbow Six'' focuses more on stealth and planning than on sheer firepower.
Before each mission is a planning stage, where which the player is given a briefing, chooses the Rainbow operatives to be involved in the mission, and selects their weapons, equipment, and uniform. The operatives are divided into five
classes based on their skill specializations: Assault, Demolitions, Electronics, Recon, and Sniper.
In the planning stage, the player is shown a map of the
area of operations In U.S. armed forces parlance, an area of operations (AO) is an operational area defined by the force commander for land, air, and naval forces conduct of combat and non-combat activities. Areas of operations do not typically encompass the entire ...
to set team orders and movement waypoints. The planning stage determines elements such as the path the AI-controlled teams follow during the mission, and where they will deploy equipment such as
flashbangs or
door breaching
Door breaching is a process used by military, police, or emergency services to force open closed or locked doors. A wide range of methods are available depending on the door's opening direction (inward or outward), construction materials, etc., ...
charges.
The game follows a campaign of 16 missions, with the plot being advanced in the mission briefing of each. Successful missions often last just minutes, but may require dozens of repetitions and planning changes to account for failures, new plans, or simply faster or more streamlined completion. During gameplay, the player controls one operative directly, and can see stats for that operative and all units on the
HUD
Hud or HUD may refer to:
Entertainment
* Hud (1963 film), ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman
* Hud (1986 film), ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film
* HUD (TV program), ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadi ...
. Teams not under player control follow the orders given to them in the planning stage. The player can take control of any living operative at will, making them the leader.
Any casualties that occur during a mission are permanent, so deceased Rainbow operatives cannot be used in future missions. Many players replay missions that are technically successful merely to reduce the number of casualties.
Online multiplayer gaming was popular on the
Mplayer.com and
Zone.com services and for a time featured a thriving competitive clan based community with numerous independent ladder style leagues.
Most versions do not show the player's weapon in the first-person, view instead only showing the
crosshair
A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscop ...
and lower HUD. The only exception to this is the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
version, which displays the player's weapon being held in their hands.
The
Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
version of the game has radically different gameplay due to the platform's technical limitations. The gameplay is slowed and simplified, friendly fire is removed, and the 3D graphics from other releases are replaced by a 2D top-down perspective.
Plot
''Rainbow Six'' is set from 1996 to 2000. Rainbow is a secret international counterterrorist organization, composed of elite soldiers from
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
,
Australia,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, formed to address the growing problem of international terrorism. The organization's director is
John Clark John Clark may refer to:
Entertainment
*John Clark or Signor Brocolini (1841–1906), Irish-born American operatic singer and actor
* John Clark (actor) (born 1932), English actor and theatre director
*John Clark (American actor) (1933–2011), ...
, and the team leader is Domingo Chavez. The term "Rainbow Six" refers to Clark's codename.
Soon after its formation, Rainbow responds to a series of seemingly unrelated terrorist attacks by the Phoenix Group, a radical
eco-terrorist
Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence ...
organization. Throughout their investigation, Rainbow is assisted and advised by John Brightling, chairman of the powerful
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
corporation Horizon Inc., whose facilities are frequently targeted by Phoenix; Anne Lang, the American
Science Advisor to the President
The Science Advisor to the President is an individual charged with providing advisory opinions and analysis on science and technology matters to the President of the United States. The first Science Advisor, Vannevar Bush, chairman of the Office of ...
and an acquaintance of Brightling; and Catherine Winston, a biological expert working with Horizon, who is rescued by Rainbow following an attack in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
.
Following an assault on a Phoenix compound in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
that uncovers evidence they are committing
unethical human experimentation
Unethical human experimentation is human experimentation that violates the principles of medical ethics. Such practices have included denying patients the right to informed consent, using pseudoscientific frameworks such as race science, and tor ...
(the fallout of which results in the U.S. government temporarily banning Rainbow from operating on American soil), Rainbow learns that the Phoenix Group is actually a front for Horizon itself. Horizon is developing a highly contagious strain of the
Ebola virus
''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus '' Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and o ...
called "
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp ...
". Viewing humanity as an environmentally-destructive "disease", Brightling plans to exterminate almost all of the human race using Brahma, sparing only Brightling's chosen few, who will rebuild the planet into a scientific environmentally-friendly utopia. To achieve this goal, he has used the scattered terrorist attacks to create a heightened fear of terrorism, which he is exploiting to gain a security contract for his own private security firm, Global Security, at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
in
Sydney. Global Security's personnel, led by William Hendrickson, will then release Brahma at the Olympics, spreading the virus across the world when the athletes and spectators return home.
After gathering intelligence and rescuing Winston from a last-ditch attempt to silence her, Rainbow captures Lang and Hendrickson and prevents the release of Brahma at the
Olympic Village
An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Aft ...
, foiling Horizon's plans. Brightling and his collaborators flee to their Horizon Ark facility in the
Amazon rainforest, from which they had originally planned to weather out the global holocaust. Rainbow assaults the Ark, kills or apprehends Brightling's collaborators, and takes Brightling into custody.
Development
The concept of the game that would become ''Rainbow Six'' came from a series of early concepts Red Storm Entertainment had conceived following the company's formation in 1996. Selected from a hundred concepts, the initial concept, titled ''HRT'', followed the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
Hostage Rescue Team
The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is the elite tactical unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The HRT was formed to provide a full-time federal law enforcement tactical capability to respond to major terrorist incidents throughout the ...
rescuing hostages from criminals and terrorists. As the concept grew, Red Storm expanded the scope of the game, adding covert operations and a more international setting, and the concept was renamed to ''Black Ops''.
Red Storm CEO Doug Littlejohns, a former
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
submarine commander and a close friend of Clancy, did not want to develop an arcade shooter with "mindless violence", but also did not want a "boring" slow-paced strategy game, so the game was designed to focus on realism and action, with a strong emphasis on planning and strategy.
The concept of ''Rainbow Six'', both the game and the novel, came from a discussion between
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have ...
and Littlejohns during a Red Storm company outing in 1996, when Littlejohns mentioned the ''HRT'' concept. When Clancy mentioned that he was writing his own novel about a hostage rescue team, their conversation led to Littlejohns noting the protracted diplomatic delays in authorizing a foreign counterterrorist unit's deployment overseas, and he suggested the concept of a permanent counterterrorist unit that already had authorization to deploy internationally. The name "Rainbow" came from the term "
Rainbow nation
Rainbow Nation is a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa after South Africa's first fully democratic election in 1994.
The phrase was elaborated upon by President Nelson Mandela in his first month of o ...
", coined by
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...
to describe post-
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
under
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
's presidency. "Six" came from the American rank code for
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
(O-6); though John Clark would more accurately be described as a
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
(O-8) in the novel, "Rainbow Six" read better than "Rainbow Eight". Lead game designer Brian Upton objected to the addition of "Six", believing having a number at the end of the title would affect a potential sequel, but he was overruled.
Following the game's development doctrine of realism, lead level designer John Sonedecker designed each level to be as accurate and realistic to real-world architecture as possible, noting that the presence of unusual design elements seen in other less-realistic shooters, such as unnecessarily large doorways or building layouts seemingly designed for combat, would ruin the player's immersion and affect gameplay.
The development team had access to counterterrorism experts, military trainers, and technical consultants, and used their advice to ensure realism and streamline development by cutting elements deemed unrealistic or unnecessary, such as jumping. These
technical advisors also provided
motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
for character animations.
By 1997, the game was very behind on schedule, and the developers started
crunching. Many developers slept in a spare room of the office.
Clancy's involvement in the development process was "minimal", only sending Red Storm an early manuscript of the novel to work plot details into the game (hence why the game's plot has different characters and a slightly different storyline).
Clancy would insist the developers add features his experts claimed were realistic, such as the fictional heartbeat sensor used in the novel that functions as a
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
-like equipment item in-game.
In November 1997, the developers realized the game was becoming too demanding, only having single-digit
frame rate
Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images ( frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also ...
s on high-end devices, so a massive two-month overhaul was ordered.
Despite these setbacks, development managed to progress relatively smoothly, and a gameplay demonstration at
E3 1998 that accidentally displayed AI teammates rescuing hostages by themselves boosted the game's publicity ahead of release.
The game's
box art
Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a PC or console game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic. Today, most phy ...
, featuring a Rainbow operative armed with a
Heckler & Koch USP
The USP (''Universelle Selbstladepistole'' or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns.
History
Design work on a new family of p ...
, was not created for the game and is actually a modified image of
Heckler & Koch USA sales executive John T. Meyer. The original image was used to promote the American launch of the HK USP in 1993. Heckler & Koch permitted the use of the image for the game and sent firearms instructors to provide motion capture.
The
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
,
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
,
Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
, and
Dreamcast
The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...
releases of the game were each developed by separate companies.
Release
''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' was released for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
on August 21, 1998 in North America and October 1998 in Europe. The other releases of the game were released gradually over several months between late 1998 and early 2001; the final release of the game, the Dreamcast version, was released on May 9, 2000 in North America and February 2, 2001 in Europe. The game was published by Red Storm Entertainment in North America and
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.
The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal ...
in Europe.
Several weeks prior to the game's release, early copies of the game were leaked onto
online piracy websites. The users that uploaded the game files reportedly "took credit for 'cracking' a game with no copy protection in it", angering the developers; network programmer Dave Weinstein recalled going on a profanity-laden diatribe in the office, only to be pulled aside by Littlejohns for his volume, having been heard from three offices away.
After the release of the game, Tom Clancy offered to sign copies of the game for Red Storm employees. Several members of the development team were frustrated by this, as Clancy was relatively uninvolved in development, yet offered signed copies as if it was his product.
''Eagle Watch''
''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch'' was released on January 31, 1999 as an
expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or a ...
to the original game. It adds five new missions, four new operatives, three new weapons, and new multiplayer modes. The new missions take place in the year 2001 and are a series of scenarios unrelated to each other or the original game, following Rainbow's high-profile operations in landmark locations across the world, such as the
''Buran'' spaceplane
A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes te ...
in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, the
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, and the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrific ...
in
China. The expansion was packaged with the original game as ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Gold Pack Edition'' in 1999.
Reception
In the United States, ''Rainbow Six''s Windows release sold 218,183 copies during 1998. These sales accounted for $8.86 million in revenue that year.
The computer version's ''Gold Edition'' release sold another 321,340 copies in the United States during 1999, and was the country's 12th best-selling computer game that year.
According to ''
Gamasutra
''Game Developer'', known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021, is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine '' Gam ...
'', ''Rainbow Six'' and ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear'' together sold 450,000 copies "during the first half of the 2001/2002 fiscal year".
''
Next Generation
Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to:
Publications and literature
* ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company
* Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'' reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "In the end, ''Rainbow Six'' takes small steps into new territory, succeeding admirably. A brave attempt at something new and an overall fun experience."
''Rainbow Six'' was met with mostly positive reviews on PC. However, the console versions received lower ratings upon release.
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
gave it a score of 82% for the PC version;
74% for the Nintendo 64 version;
73% for the Dreamcast version;
54% for the Game Boy Color version;
and 48% for the PlayStation version.
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gave only the PC version a score of 85 out of 100.
''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' described the PC version as "actually a pretty good game, albeit very hard and extremely frustrating", and its "audio cues, background sounds, and other various noises are also represented very well; the immersive feeling of ''Rainbow Six'' is perhaps one of the best seen in a game."
CNN, working in partnership with Games.Net, named ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' as one of the "Top 25 game downloads of 1998".
Mike Wolf reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game for ''
Next Generation
Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to:
Publications and literature
* ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company
* Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'', rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "A fantastic game with some significant flaws, ''Rainbow Six'' is worth playing, but it's not a must-have."
Garrett Kenyon reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for ''
Next Generation
Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to:
Publications and literature
* ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company
* Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'', rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "An impressive PC translation that Dreamcast owners should certainly consider owning."
The
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
nominated ''Rainbow Six'' for its 1998 "Action Game of the Year" award, although the game lost to ''
Half-Life
Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable at ...
''.
''Rainbow Six'' was a finalist for ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...
''s 1998 "Best Action" award, which ultimately went to ''
Battlezone''. The editors wrote that ''Rainbow Six'' "deftly mixed strategic planning with nail-biting action as it brought the world of counterterrorist operations to life."
''
PC Gamer US
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...
'' named ''Rainbow Six'' the best action game of 1998.
References
External links
''Rainbow Six'' official website*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow Six, Tom Clancy's
1998 video games
Cooperative video games
Dreamcast games
First-person shooters
Game Boy Color games
Classic Mac OS games
Multiplayer online games
Nintendo 64 games
PlayStation (console) games
PlayStation Network games
* 01
Tactical shooter video games
Take-Two Interactive games
Tom Clancy games
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Ubisoft games
Video games based on novels
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Bill Brown
Video games set in 1999
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Video games set in Belgium
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Video games set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Video games set in Hungary
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Video games set in Sydney
Video games set in the United Kingdom
Video games set in Virginia
Video games set in Washington, D.C.
Video games with expansion packs
Windows games
Crawfish Interactive games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Pipe Dream Interactive games
Red Storm Entertainment games