June 22, 2004 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 was one of the most enjoyable and addictive Xbox games of last year. A tactical first-person shooter with squad-based management elements, the title dazzled gamers with for-the-time pretty graphics and a solid single-player campaign. But it was R6's atmospheric and highly entertaining online multiplayer mode, which was fully compatible with Xbox Live, that earned it a high 9.3 rating and an Editors' Choice Award by IGN's Xbox team.

Fast forward. A PlayStation 2 port of the game, complete with a functional, but dumbed down online mode and a similarly lesser single-player experience, is out. And now a GameCube version has followed suit with more sacrifices made. The Nintendo version of Rainbow Six 3 has ejected what was the big draw of the Xbox original: the online functionality. It's kind of like taking the meat out of the hamburger. What's left is a single-player-emphasized shooter that's still intriguing and fun, if a little clunky, but nonetheless only a fraction of what it might have been.

• Tactical first-person shooter
• Original story: An all-new storyline consisting of 15 challenging missions
• Control Ding Chavez and lead a tactical anti-terrorist unit deployed to carry out tasks for the US government
• One elite team, four tough members, each with a specific look and personality
• Multiplayer: Team up with a friend in intense split-screen co-operative missions
• High production values: Watch the story and characters come alive in high-quality cinematics that immerse the player in the world of Team Rainbow
• Runs in progressive scan on GameCube
• Supports Dolby Pro Logic II on GameCube
• Requires 17 data blocks for saves

Rainbow Six 3 is a thinking man's first-person shooter with an emphasis on realism. Players can therefore not run out into a wide-open area, guns blazing, and expect to walk away the victor. The enemy will respond and in this game even minimal amounts of gunfire can be deadly. This simple truth intensifies the element of danger and the importance of each move in a given situation. And it's this strategic layer, which operates dynamically with the standard gunplay, that helps separate Rainbow Six 3 from the crop field of regular first-person shooters on the market.

The GameCube version of Rainbow Six 3 features the same overall presentation as the Xbox original, which is a good thing. Menus are easy to navigate and fitted to match the high-tech theme of the game. It's an atmospheric setup sparked by a decidedly compressed, but still acceptable full-motion video sequence that explains the intriguing storyline for the single-player campaign to follow. (Most of the FMVs in the game show noticeable artifacting.) As always, Ubisoft's sense of style is impressive. The company's FMV sequences cinematically showcase a terrorist plot and simultaneously introduces the lethal Rainbow unit deployed to dispose of the enemy threat.

And then it's off to mission training. This is a requirement because the control options in Rainbow Six 3 are far more complex than the standard first-person shooter and players will need to be lessoned in the art of becoming a tactical squad leader.

Rainbow Six 3 GCN is unfortunately hampered by disappointingly long load times. Menus take forever to load. Levels take even longer. And there are mid-level loads, too, which were of course not in the Xbox original. These loads are bothersome mainly because they break players from the experience, disrupting the flow.

The port's single-player campaign consists of some 15 missions spread out across a wide range of different terrains, compounds, warehouses, and more. The variety of levels, each with unique obstacles and challenges, is refreshing. Gamers will as leader of their squad travel through an Alpine Village in Switzerland, and into an Oil Refinery, an Island, a Ship Yard, an Office Complex, and all the way into the heart of Alcatraz, a Meat Packing Facility, a Penthouse and even an Airport.

Players who shot their way through the Xbox version of the title will notice immediate level changes in the GameCube incarnation. Some architectural modifications have been introduced. Some areas are slightly smaller in scale. A wall that featured a door in the Xbox original might be door-less in the GameCube build. And of course there are some technical differences, which we'll get to shortly. But overall the levels and functionality are largely the same between the two versions -- a plus when we consider that the PlayStation 2 build of R63 featured doors that did not actually animate or open.

Rainbow Six 3 GCN controls well and features some lofty, satisfying challenges, and it's these two facts that make the game fun, plain and simple. Like the Xbox and PS2 versions before it, players maneuver their squad leader using a dual-analog setup: one stick to strafe and move and the other to aim. The A button intuitively takes on a number of action roles, from opening doors to giving commands to computer-controlled team members. There are a commendable number of options at players' fingertips. Players can order their squad to secure hostages, to kick open doors and hurl explosives or flash grenades into a room, to cover an area, to disarm bombs, and to work with the squad leader for timed attacks using a Zulu subset of commands. Determining the best course of action in a situation is almost as entertaining as executing the action.