View source for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (video game)

{{About|the first game in the Rainbow Six video game series|for the series|Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six|the novel with the same name|Rainbow Six (novel)}}
{{Leadtooshort|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
|image = [[File:Rb6box.jpg|250px]]
|developer = [[Red Storm Entertainment]]
|publisher = [[Ubisoft|Red Storm Entertainment]]
|series = ''[[Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six]]''
|engine =
|platforms = [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Nintendo 64]], [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], [[Mac OS]], [[Game Boy Color]], [[Dreamcast]], [[PlayStation Network]]
|released = {{collapsible list|title=August 21, 1998|'''Windows'''<br>{{vgrelease|NA|August 21, 1998|EU|October 1998}}'''Nintendo 64'''<br>{{vgrelease|NA|November 17, 1999|EU|December 1999}}'''PlayStation'''<br>{{vgrelease|NA|November 23, 1999|EU|November 1999}}'''Mac OS'''<br>{{vgrelease|NA|December 8, 1999}}'''Game Boy Color'''<br>{{vgrelease|NA|April 3, 2000|EU|November 10, 2000}}'''Dreamcast'''<br>{{vgrelease|NA|May 9, 2000|EU|February 2, 2001}}'''PlayStation Network'''<br>{{vgrelease|PAL|June 5, 2008|NA|May 21, 2009}}}}
|genre = [[Tactical shooter]]
|modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]], [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
|designer = Brian Upton
|composer = [[Bill Brown (composer)|Bill Brown]]
}}

'''''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six''''' is a [[tactical shooter]] [[video game]] and the first in the [[Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six|''Rainbow Six'' series]]. It was developed and published by [[Red Storm Entertainment]] for the [[Personal computer|PC]]. It was later ported to [[Mac OS]], [[Nintendo 64|Nintendo 64]], [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], [[Dreamcast]] and [[Game Boy Color]]. An expansion pack, ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch'', was released on January 31, 1999. The PC version is available for purchase on [[GOG.com]], while the PlayStation version is now available for download from the [[PlayStation Store]].

==Gameplay==
''Rainbow Six'' is a [[tactical shooter]], which focuses more on stealth and tactics than on sheer firepower, exploring the lethality of a single bullet. To add to the realism, all in-game characters, [[Terrorism|terrorists]], [[hostage]]s and Rainbow operatives, can be wounded or dispatched in just fractions of a second with only one or two bullets. Tools such as thicker body armor, automatic rifles, and grenades have little value before the player grows accustomed to the gameplay.

Before each mission is a planning stage, during which the player is given a briefing, and then chooses the operatives to be involved in the mission, their weapons, equipment and uniform/camouflage. In earlier games, the player pre-established orders and waypoints during this step. The planning stage determined elements such as the path the AI-controlled squads would follow during the mission, as well as where they will deploy devices such as [[flashbang]]s or [[door breaching]] charges.

Successful missions often last just minutes, but may require dozens of repetitions and planning changes (many more for beginners). During gameplay, the player controls only one team member directly, and can see stats for that member and all units on the [[Heads-Up Display]]. 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.

The game forms a campaign that is a series of scenarios, with the plot being advanced in the mission briefing of each scenario. Any casualties that occur during a mission are permanent, so the deceased cannot be used in future missions. Consequently, 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.

Unlike the other versions, the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] version actually showed the gun being held in the player's hands.

==Plot==
Rainbow Six is set in the year 1999 and 2000. Rainbow is a newly created multinational counter-terrorism unit, composed of elite soldiers from [[NATO]] countries, formed to address the growing problem of international terrorism. The organization's director is John Clark, and the team leader is Ding Chavez. The term "Rainbow Six" refers to the director of the organization, John Clark.

Soon after its inauguration, Rainbow finds itself responding to a series of seemingly unrelated terrorist attacks by the Phoenix Group, a radical [[Eco-terrorism|eco-terrorist]] organization. Throughout its investigation, Rainbow is assisted and advised by John Brightling, chairman of the powerful [[biotechnology]] corporation Horizon Inc.

However, Rainbow eventually learns that the Phoenix Group is actually a front for Horizon Inc itself. Brightling's company is developing a highly contagious strain of the [[Ebola virus]] called "Brahma", adapted from a strain killing Central African cattle(called "Ebola Shiva" in the novel) with the ability to kill every human being on the planet. In order to protect "mother nature", John Brightling is planning to kill most of the human race, sparing only Brightling's chosen few, who will re-emerge and rebuild the planet into a scientific and environmentally-friendly utopia. To achieve this goal, he has used the scattered terrorist attacks to create fear of terrorism, which he then exploited in order to get a security contract for his own private security firm at the [[Olympic Games]]. Brightling's plan is for his "security personnel" to unleash the virus at the games, spreading it to all the countries of the world.

Rainbow succeeds in preventing the release of the virus at the Olympics, and Brightling and his collaborators retreat to their Horizon Ark facility in the Brazilian jungle, from which they had originally planned to weather out the global holocaust. Rainbow infiltrates the facility, killing all of Brightling's collaborators and capturing Brightling himself.

==Development==
[[Red Storm Entertainment]] (founded by author [[Tom Clancy]]) had originally planned to do a special operations game featuring first-person action, and a team of operators rescuing hostages and taking out terrorists. Their first concept was modeled after the [[FBI]] [[Hostage Rescue Team]]. Later they decided to make the concept more international, as HRT would only operate in the United States, and renamed it "Black Ops" and incorporated operators from all over the world. It was then they found that Clancy was writing a book about terrorism and a special team to combat it, so they rewrote some of the missions to fit within the book plot and Clancy shared his research with the game development team. The book was ''[[Rainbow Six (novel)|Rainbow Six]]'' so the game was renamed ''Rainbow Six''. However, by the time they finished the game, the book was not yet finished. Thus, the plot of the game does not completely match the plot of the book.<ref name="gamasutra01">{{cite web| url = http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000121/upton_01.htm| date = January 21, 2000| accessdate = August 6, 2007| title = Postmortem: Redstorm's Rainbow Six| publisher = [[Gamasutra]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010804114957/http://gamasutra.com/features/20000121/upton_01.htm |archivedate=4 August 2001}}</ref>

==Release==
{{expand section|date=October 2014}}

===''Eagle Watch''===
''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch'' was released on January 31, 1999 as an [[expansion pack]] 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. The expansion was packaged with the original game as ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Gold Pack Edition'' in 1999.

==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
| width = 26m
| GR = (PC) 81.81%<ref name=GRPC>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/199034-tom-clancys-rainbow-six/index.html|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for PC|publisher=[[GameRankings]]|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(N64) 73.71%<ref name=GRN64>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/n64/198400-tom-clancys-rainbow-six/index.html|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for Nintendo 64|publisher=GameRankings|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(DC) 72.28%<ref name=GRDC>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/dreamcast/198398-tom-clancys-rainbow-six/index.html|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for Dreamcast|publisher=GameRankings|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(GBC) 53.83%<ref name=GRGBC>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/gbc/198399-tom-clancys-rainbow-six/index.html|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for Game Boy Color|publisher=GameRankings|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PS) 48.07%<ref name=GRPS>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/ps/198401-tom-clancys-rainbow-six/index.html|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for PlayStation|publisher=GameRankings|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| MC = (PC) 85/100<ref name=MC>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/tom-clancys-rainbow-six|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for PC Reviews|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| Allgame = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=14111&tab=review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (PC) - Review|last=Suciu|first=Peter|publisher=[[AllGame]]|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=18665&tab=review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (DC) - Review|last=Simpson|first=Chris|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(Mac & N64) {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=22499&tab=review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Mac) - Review|last=Ottoson|first=Joe|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=19911&tab=review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (N64) - Review|last=Scoleri III|first=Joseph|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PS & GBC) {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=20406&tab=review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (PS) - Review|last=Kanarick|first=Mark|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=21275&tab=review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (GBC) - Review|last=Huey|first=Christian|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| EGM = (N64) 7.62/10<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (N64)|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|year=1999}}</ref><br />(DC) 7.33/10<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (DC)|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|year=2000}}</ref><br />(PS) 3.8/10<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (PS)|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|year=1999}}</ref>
| GI = (N64) 8/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gameinformer.com/reviews/review_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4958|title=Rainbow Six - Nintendo 64|last=McNamara|first=Andy|date=February 29, 2000|publisher=''[[Game Informer]]''|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001119022900/http://www.gameinformer.com/reviews/review_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4958|archivedate=November 19, 2000|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PS) 6.75/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gameinformer.com/reviews/review_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4782|title=Rainbow Six - PlayStation|last=McNamara|first=Andy|date=February 29, 2000|publisher=''Game Informer''|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001207041300/http://www.gameinformer.com/reviews/review_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4782|archivedate=December 7, 2000|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| GamePro = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/reviews/754.shtml|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Review for PC on GamePro.com|last=Olafson|first=Peter|year=1998|publisher=''[[GamePro]]''|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219000730/http://gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/reviews/754.shtml|archivedate=February 19, 2005|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/n64/games/reviews/3542.shtml|title=Rainbow 6 Review for N64 on GamePro.com|author=The Freshman|year=1999|publisher=''GamePro''|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050211212955/http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/n64/games/reviews/3542.shtml|archivedate=February 11, 2005|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PS) {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamepro.com/sony/psx/games/reviews/3527.shtml|title=Rainbow 6 Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com|author=The D-Pad Destroyer|date=December 8, 1999|publisher=''GamePro''|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204131438/http://www.gamepro.com/sony/psx/games/reviews/3527.shtml|archivedate=February 4, 2005|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| GameRev = A−<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/rainbow-six|title=Rainbow Six Review (PC)|author=Johnny B.|date=September 1998|publisher=[[Game Revolution]]|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| GSpot = (DC) 8.1/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rainbow-six-dc-review/1900-2582418/|title=Rainbow Six DC Review|last=Wolpaw|first=Erik|date=June 5, 2000|publisher=[[GameSpot]]|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PC) 8/10<ref name="reception"/><br />(GBC) 7.4/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rainbow-six-review/1900-2565306/|title=Rainbow Six Review (GBC)|last=Provo|first=Frank|date=May 1, 2000|publisher=GameSpot|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(N64) 7.1/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rainbow-six-review/1900-2545051/|title=Rainbow Six Review (N64)|last=Nutt|first=Christian|date=October 12, 1999|publisher=GameSpot|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PS) 3.7/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rainbow-six-review/1900-2549002/|title=Rainbow Six Review (PS)|last=Nutt|first=Christian|date=October 8, 1999|publisher=GameSpot|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| GSpy = 3.5/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planetdreamcast.com/games/reviews/rainbowsix/|title=Rainbow Six|author=Subskin|date=April 22, 2000|publisher=[[GameSpy|PlanetDreamcast]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131133337/http://www.planetdreamcast.com/games/reviews/rainbowsix/ |archivedate=January 31, 2009|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| IGN = (PC) 9.4/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/09/09/rainbow-six-9|title=Rainbow Six (PC)|last=Ward|first=Trent C.|date=September 8, 1998|publisher=[[IGN]]|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(N64) 8.5/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/1999/11/25/rainbow-six-4|title=Rainbow Six (N64)|last=Boulding|first=Aaron|date=November 24, 1999|publisher=IGN|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(DC) 8/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/20/tom-clancys-rainbow-six-review|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (DC)|last=Dunham|first=Jeremy|date=May 19, 2000|publisher=IGN|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(GBC) 5/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/04/15/rainbow-six|title=Rainbow Six (GBC)|last=Harris|first=Craig|date=April 14, 2000|publisher=IGN|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref><br />(PS) 3.8/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/01/04/rainbow-six-7|title=Rainbow Six (PS)|last=White|first=Matt|date=January 3, 2000|publisher=IGN|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| NP = (N64) 7.9/10<ref>{{cite journal|title=Rainbow Six (N64)|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|volume=127|date=December 1999|page=157}}</ref><br />(GBC) 6.9/10<ref>{{cite journal|title=Rainbow Six (GBC)|magazine=Nintendo Power|volume=130|date=March 2000}}</ref>
| OPM = {{Rating|1|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six|year=1999|magazine=[[Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine]]}}</ref>
| PCGUS = 93%<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/74.html|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six|last=Vaughn|first=Tom|date=October 1998|page=198|magazine=[[PC Gamer]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000303223247/http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/74.html|archivedate=March 3, 2000|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
| rev1 = ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]''
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/games/reviews/rainbowsix.html|title=Interactive Clancy|last=Bottorff|first=James|year=1998|newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001113730/http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/games/reviews/rainbowsix.html|archivedate=October 1, 2007|deadurl=yes|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref>
}}{{expand section|date=October 2014}}

''Rainbow Six'' was met with mostly positive reviews on PC. However, the console versions received average to negative response upon release. [[GameRankings]] gave it a score of 81.81% for the PC version;<ref name=GRPC/> 73.71% for the Nintendo 64 version;<ref name=GRN64/> 72.28% for the Dreamcast version;<ref name=GRDC/> 53.83% for the Game Boy Color version;<ref name=GRGBC/> and 48.07% for the PlayStation version.<ref name=GRPS/> [[Metacritic]] gave only the PC version a score of 85 out of 100.<ref name=MC/>

[[GameSpot]] 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."<ref name="reception">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/tom-clancys-rainbow-six-review/1900-2532683/|title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Review (PC)|last=Dunkin|first=Alan|date=September 9, 1998|publisher=GameSpot|accessdate=July 23, 2014}}</ref> In 2001-2002, ''Rainbow Six'' and ''[[Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear]]'' together sold 450,000 copies.<ref name="sales 2001-2002">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/91838/Acquisitions_Propel_Ubi_Soft_Sales_Up_72.php|title=Acquisitions Propel Ubi Soft Sales Up 72%|work=[[Gamasutra]]|accessdate=July 2, 2012|date=November 5, 2001}}</ref> In 1998, CNN working in partnership with Games.Net named Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six as one of the "Top 25 game downloads of 1998".<ref>http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/04/topgames.idg/</ref>{{clear}}.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Rainbow Six}}
* [http://www.rainbowsixgame.com/ ''Rainbow Six'' official website]
* {{moby game|id=/tom-clancys-rainbow-six|name=''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six''}}
* {{moby game|id=/dreamcast/tom-clancys-rainbow-six_|name=''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' (Dreamcast)}}
* {{moby game|id=/gameboy-color/tom-clancys-rainbow-six__|name=''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' (Game Boy Color)}}

{{Tom Clancy games}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow Six, Tom Clancy's}}
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[[Category:Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six games|* 01]]
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[[Category:Tom Clancy games]]