Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow (Xbox)

The most obvious new feature is the new single player campaign with ten new missions, many in new locations in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. These missions also include improved artificial intelligence for the bad guys (including the ability to call for back-up and use hostages as human shields) and there's a new split-screen co-operative mode that allows you to team up with a friend and two computer team mates.

Perhaps the most important additions though are in the online multiplayer mode, where Black Arrow will be one of the first games to utilise new Xbox Live 3.0 features such as user-created tournaments, instant messaging and clan statistics. Add in two new objective-based game modes, in the form of "capture the point" and "capture the flag", as well as new private team lobbies that see a return of sorts for the original Rainbow Six pre-mission planning interface, and you've got more new features than you find in most full-blown sequels. Which is far more than can be said for most similarly priced PC mission discs. --David Jenkins

The maps are very challenging, and the enemy AI has improved extremely, the bad guys now throw a lot of firebombs or RPG's and there are snipers in some of the scenarios. They even take hostages! I was very surprised when I faced one terrorist, wiht a hostage and shooting a gun at me! Man, that guy got so wasted!

The briefings are presented in a new way, much better in my opinion, but I still miss the planning side of things from the PC version.

These are the only distinctions from R6-3, everything else is the same, the weapons, our team reactions, everything. It would have been nice to have a few new weapons to play with, or new toys like the old heartbeat detector. Let's wait and see what R6-4 has to offer...

For those that are new at this series, start off with R6-3, the rest of us, expect much of the same, but with challengable maps.


Absolutely amazing   October 16, 2004
 8 out of 10 found this review helpful

When i first got this game, i was so excited. I immediately started up the game and the intro was awesome, but not as exciting as the original rainbow six 3 intro. The game's graphics are sublime. Every detail has been analysed and perfected to create an extremely realistic looking environment. Blood will spatter on the walls, bullet holes can be distinguished and so on. The gameplay is almost the same as the original rainbow six 3 game, you play as Ding Chavez and you lead your team into hostile environments. There are new weapons and they are as great as ever. The enemy AI is brilliant. They know when they are outnumbered and dont stand a chance against you and therefore they run to another cover. Multiplayer is as fantastic as ever, and improved as it is compatible with Live 3.0. There are new maps to be played and new kinds of aims, such as capture the flag. Altogether, this is one of the best games Ubisoft have created.

Sound - 9
Gameplay - 10
Graphics - 10
Storyline - 8


Good bang for ya buck... or pound if you like.   September 12, 2004
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

This game embodies everything that a tactical shooter should. Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow has very tight play mechanics that provide for a more anaesthetically pleasing experience than other squad based shooters on the Xbox. For example when your team is pinned down in a room the ensuring fire fight feels like a challenge and not as if your enemies are mere cardboard cut-outs to be knocked down at your leisure. The AI in these kinds of shooters normally isn't up to the task but Black Arrow's, while not being perfect, gets the job done quite well. I never brought the original Rainbow on the Xbox because I don't want to play online on a console. Happily two player split screen is supported in Black Arrow for all its missions however this comes at a price. The first is that the lovely detailed weapons are replaced by the reticule used in the earlier games in the series. And secondly, that neither player has a team at there disposal, which really detracts from the point of the game a little because who ever heard of a two man swat team. If it were not for the price tag my grievances about the two player mode would have forced me to give it a three, but seriously at the end of the day you're only paying 20 quid and it's still better than the competition.