A good game that gets rid of the bad flavor of Lockdown (well, sort of).

User Rating: 7.7 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Critical Hour XBOX
By rapaleeman | Review Date:
There is no need to reinvent the horse and tell everyone what Rainbow 6 is all about. Critical Hour is like playing a harder and slower version of Lockdown. Let's not kid ourselves, Lockdown was a decent game, just not a Rainbow Six game. The gameplay here is slower, more methodical, and more tense. The inclusion of the tactical map is good, since you can no longer take 10 bullets before the game over screen. One hit and you are usually below half health, so that has been fixed. The control is basically the same as Lockdown, though shooting seems to be more accurate and the enemies are now better shots. The AI has been fixed for the enemies, mostly. They still do some stupid things, but mostly are ready and waiting for your team. They also react to you killing their friends and will take up positions.

With all the good that the gameplay brings back, there are some bad things. First up, the textures in the game have gotten worse. Doors and some walls look like crap, and the team is odd looking. I'm not talking about their uniforms which is a good throwback, but the lack of polygons is noticable, though the animations and their transitions have been worked on. Not quite Splinter Cell quality, but pretty close. The online mode is identical to Lockdown. I never played online very much anyway, but it was odd to see the same online mode. Finally, it is only seven missions long. A good player can get through these missions in about 4 hours, but I love the fact that they are old missions from the previous Rainbows. I can remember each one of these since I am a Rainbow junky, and the differences that have been "reimagined" are nifty to sa the least. The enemies are now on patrol and the levels are not quite as linear as they were (read: multiple entry points, more routes to the goal, more stealth required).

In the end, if you love Rainbow 6 (3 or BA), then buy it. It's only $30 and the seven missions are good. If you are new to the series, pick up R63 or BA, they are cheaper and longer games. Don't buy this for online play as it is the same as Lockdown.

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