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Developer: Red Storm Entertainment
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Shooter
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 14 Mar 06
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- It's bound to happen sooner or later. Critical Hour serves up an uninspired gameplay and dull visuals, which had all the signs of a rushed title.
Overview
Who hasn't heard of Tom Clancy? What gamer has not heard of Rainbow Six? If you haven't heard of either of the two questions, then you might not understand the review below, but for those who have you know that Tom Clancy has made quite a name for himself in the gaming industry. The initial boost for the name in the industry was when Ubi Soft brought out the Rainbow Six franchise, which has made for some of the best tactical shooting on the consoles and PC. Now the team over at Ubi Soft is back at it again in the latest Rainbow Six game, Critical Hour for the Microsoft Xbox. So how does the latest installment fair? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
So for those of you who are wondering what Rainbow Six games are all about, well first off you have to know who Tom Clancy is. He is a brilliant novelist who has written some of the best political thrillers of our time. So Ubi Soft quite a few years ago decided to make a video game based off of these thrillers and was very successful. The Rainbow Six series in general has been a squad based shooter that takes you through many great stories and sequences that have made the series very popular. A lot of people are very curious however, how the series will continue on and are wondering how Critical Hour would fair.
You once again take the role of Ding Chavez a very tough guy who takes control of a four man team in which you will have to command into battle through out the game. For those who have played a game in the series before, you will already be very familiar with what to expect from Critical Hour. I don't think the game will throw any surprises out at you with its story. For those that have been involved in the series, before you will find this political action plot to be more of the same. In fact, I did feel a bit of let down from the story, as it just never got you involved like ones in the past.
So let's talk about Critical Hour as a game which at its core is just really a standard Rainbow Six experience. In fact, there is really nothing new nor exciting to be talked about in this part of the game. You setup the missions like you would normally do with a very simple setup system. Following that you are placed into the game, which just feels so uninspired. Throughout the whole experience I just felt myself wanting something more from this game. The controls work but you get that feeling like they could have done a lot more in this category. With the story just being moderate you really feel like the gameplay should hold the game up, but unfortunately that is just not the case.
Throughout the whole single player experience, I felt myself wanting more from this game. The single player mode is very short and really just felt uninspired. I am not sure, if this series is just not bringing in the fans like it once was, but this outing did not help the series case. There is some multiplayer in the game, all of which we have seen before. There is some co-op, which I enjoyed and up to 16 players on Xbox Live, which also works out nicely. In the end, however I really am usually a huge fan of the single player experiences and that was just not present in Critical Hour.
Graphics
Visually just as the gameplay felt uninspired, the graphics feel about the same. For those who have played the previous two games on the Xbox, you already know what this game is going to look like because it doesn't necessarily make any improvements to the formula. It is a shame because you can see that the character models could use some touching up and the environments do lack some detail. The game does do well in the frame rate, but overall it is just an average looking game.
Fun Factor
I usually am a huge fan of any game that comes out of the Rainbow Six franchise, but unfortunately this game just felt rushed and uninspired. I was really just disappointed when the single player came to an end because it left so much to be desired. If you have played a game in the series, you have already experiences what this game has to offer, which to say the least is disappointing. The multiplayer is good, but like I mentioned earlier, it doesn't have a whole lot of depth or horsepower behind it, which leaves this game to being not overly enjoyable.
Overall
It is a shame to have to put down a game like this, because it comes from a series that I have enjoyed so much. But Critical Hour seems like it is time for Ubi Soft to realize that they need to really take this series to the next level. If you are a fan of the series, then you might find some to enjoy in this game, but it is definitely not one that is going to "wow" you.
- Gameplay
6.0 - Graphics
6.0 - Fun Factor
5.0 - Overall
6.0
