Rainbow Six Preview

Great! At last someone has bothered to bring this amazing PC/Console game out on the Gameboy Colour. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, just in case you don't know, is basically a game where you play the part of an elite anti-terrorism task force who have been brought in to sort out the criminal element in today's society. Here's the official blurb on the game:

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a classic Clancy-style story where you lead an elite multinational task force battling international terrorism in highly realistic settings. Game play is organized around a series of missions in which you must plan and execute precise assaults on terrorist installations. As your mission advances, you will uncover a larger and more sinister conspiracy, where the fate of the world hangs in the balance. And unlike other games, if you make a mistake, you're gone--because in the real world, one shot counts.

To carry out a mission, the player must lead a crack team of skilled specialists through a planned operation using an overhead model of the target area. Once satisfied with their strategy, the player then takes charge of the assault.

Developed by Crawfish Interactive, Rainbow Six Gameboy Colour creates the best of both strategy and team oriented action game play. With 16 different missions in real world locations, the variety of gameplay is extensive.

So carefully select your team and even more carefully, conceive your plan. Remember, one shot kills and if you die, the game isn't over the world is.

Cool stuff huh? Unlike the larger gaming platforms Rainbow Six on the GBC is based on more of a 'top down' look rather than the 3D that hardened Rainbow Sixers are used to. Although it does say that 1 person mode is incorporated into the game, but I will believe that when I see it. If this is so, it could prove to be quite a breakthrough game for the GBC. Anyone who has played through the game on other platforms will also be pleased to hear that Crawfish Interactive haven't skimped on the levels either, all 16 of the games levels have been included into this version. If you are expecting this previously unknown game development company, (unknown to me anyway!), to not give Rainbow Six it's full dues in the conversion to GBC, well. The various members of the Crawfish Interactive Team already have games such as Final Fantasy VII, Mortal Kombat 2, Bust-a-Move 2, 3 and 4 proudly under their belts, so I shouldn't be too worried about that. (See, not only are my previews a jolly good read, they are also educational too! Great value!)

Other good features associated with this game consist of things such as, the inclusion of all of the PC version's weapons and utilities, Sniper mode, and the Night Vision Goggles for improved stealth in night-time missions. PLUS! (this is as usual my fav. added extra), Rainbow Six uses a battery inside the game cartridge for saved games, maybe the game developers are at last thinking of the poor game players instead of their pockets! Also this game should utilise the GBC's hardware to the fullest, although exactly how much better this game will be due to that fact remains to be seen.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six definitely looks like yet another great game coming out soon for the GBC. It only seems a pity that the very best games have been so long in coming, and just as the Gameboy Advance is looming over the horizon. Hopefully game developers will take the initiative and start making some real killer games for the GBA sooner rather than later. Rainbow Six is estimated to be out sometime this April. As soon as we get a copy you will be able to see it here at games xtreme, so don't forget to check it out!