Fun, well-balanced, polished. Even an old-school PC gamer appreciates it although it’s a very different game than the PC
R6 BA is essentially the XBOX equivalent to an expansion pack. Although technically it is a stand-alone game, it’s more or less exactly the same game-play and mechanics as Rainbow Six 3. For that reason alone, it can’t be considered particularly revolutionary or innovative in and of itself. That being said, the elements from R63 that it inherits are solid; why fix what isn’t broken?
Comparing this game to previous titles in the franchise like Ravenshield and Rogue Spear probably isn’t fair because the PC and XBOX platforms are very different, however, for an old school PC gamer like myself it’s important to note the differences. The PC R6 games are different that R63/Black Arrow in three significant, but interrelated ways.
First and foremost the PC R6 games were to a large extent non-linear. There were virtually unlimited ways in which to accomplish the mission and usually the objectives could be met in any order. Black Arrow like R63 before it is very much on rails. You only get one objective at a time and you move through the map from one engagement to another following one boxed-in path. To be fair, there is a little bit of variation with small alternate paths here and there, usually leading to an engagement.
Second, the PC R6 games all had multiple teams to maneuver around. R6 and Rogue Spear had four teams, Ravenshield was limited to three. This allowed for a wide array of tactics to be used – you could have team supporting team; you could enter a room from multiple locations with different teams at the same time; you could even have one team working to complete one objective while another was working on a different objective completely. R63 and Black Arrow have the operative you play plus three squadies – that’s it. You can order the squadies to perform actions independent of your operative which is the core tactical element of the game, but your options are much more limited.
The third major difference is that the PC R6 games featured a mission planning phase that facilitated maneuvering independent teams through the non-linear scenario. Some gamers liked this feature more than others. I thought this was the major feature that made the series stand out. Black Arrow is linear and there is a single team of operatives, so mission planning is not required. To replace it, R63/Black Arrow has an on-the-fly orders interface that’s pretty slick. Ravenshield also had a similar system that was IMHO a very welcome addition to the game-play.
The net effect of these differences is that the PC R6 games are as much tactical strategy games are they are tactical shooters whereas R63/Black Arrow are shooters first, tactics second. Strategy is pretty much off the radar.
Failing to look at Black Arrow for what it is instead of what it isn’t is, of course, missing the point. It’s a top notch FPS.
One of the things I love about the franchise is the level of immersion. The environments, scenarios, weapons, and back-story are all very plausible. I wouldn’t call any game “realistic” in an absolute sense but relative to just about any other computer game series; these games have many realistic elements that make it easy to get caught up in them. Black Arrow lives up to the Rainbow Six standard in this regard. Adding to the immersion is the great music and sound effects that we’ve come to expect from Tom Clancy games. Again, top-notch.
The game-play mechanics and controls are very natural. As much as I love my PC keyboard and mouse, I was instictively able to get used to doing things with the XBOX controller . I was particularly impressed with the aiming mechanic once I got used to it.
Graphically, the game is good but it does have a slightly cartoonish look that I find common to many Unreal based games. Some of the models look too smooth and some of the colours are a bit oversaturated for my taste but all and all it’s far from being an eye-sore.
The enemy AI isn’t terrible but you can tell it’s pretty scripted at some parts. I was a little disappointed at times that the tangos didn’t seem to react much to me blowing away their buddies. There are more than a couple of spots where I was able to systematically pick guys off at my leisure when a more aggressive response could have made it more interesting. The enemy AI in Ghost Recon 2 – another Tom Clancy XBOX game - felt a little smarter to me.
The teammate AI isn’t that great at times either. There are many spots where I order them to go sit in a safe corner so I can go deal with a choke-point alone. To be fair however, they aren’t totally useless. They aren’t bad at entering a room and clearing it most of the time. I particularly like using them to enter one door as I enter another. The on the fly command system I mentioned earlier is cool.
Overall, Black Arrow is a great game. It pays homage to it’s PC predecessors but it is much more oriented to action rather than detailed planning. Personally, I would like to see future R6 XBOX games continue on this vein, while the PC versions focus more on tactical simulation.