Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials Review - VGLN.com PC Reviews

Red Storm delivers the ultimate "stand alone" package for the rabid Rainbow Six fan, with more counter-terrorist material than a Navy SEAL training course.

Rainbow Six fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Covert Ops Essentials. After 5 months of enticing pictures, developer's FAQs, and a fully launched website months earlier, Gaming Cove editors were ready to see what Red Storm had spent their entire summer creating. We thought, "This had better be good," considering that the likelihood of a completely new Rainbow Six game within the next 12 months was very remote. There had to be something to tide Rainbow Six fans over until Red Storm decided to go back and completely overhaul its franchise title, "next generation" style (read about Red Storm's plans on the new Rainbow by clicking here). Well, we here at The Cove are proud to announce that this will not only keep you budding Counter-Terrorist busy until the next incarnation of the series, but it might teach you a thing or two about the real life counterpart to the counter-terrorist game you love so much.

First off, don't think of Covert Ops as a completely new, fully fledged, Rainbow Six sequel. It wasn't marketed as such, nor was it priced as such ($29.99 at most major retail chains as of this writing). Think Rogue Spear Deluxe, wait, that was Urban Ops. Think Rogue Spear 2.5, no, don't even think Rogue Spear. What Covert Ops is meant to be is a "Counter-terrorist, interactive, multimedia primer" that happens to come with 9 new levels for you to "test out" what you may have learned from the interactive training experience. A virtual Counter-Terrorism school, if you will.

Covert Ops is a two disc package. Disc one is the "Training Disc", while Disc two is the Mission Disc. We'll take a look at disc one first since it's the most unique part of the game. Although I enjoyed the new maps and missions, I really think the bread and butter of this offering belongs to the interactive training package. This is perhaps the most in-depth look at counter-terrorism that I or anyone has ever seen. It's absolutely overwhelming. The whole thing comes across like a text book.

From the types of weapons, details of historical operations, and even info on numerous CT groups across the globe, this trainer has it all. One of the editors called it "The Encarta Encyclopedia of Counter-Terrorism", that is probably not too far off a description of what the interactive trainer offers, information wise. This data isn't here without a purpose however. In a nutshell, the trainer is putting you, the player, in the shoes of an incoming cadet, who's just jumping at the chance to put some terrorist scum into their place, but in real life, before you can get your trigger happy hands on an MP5, you have to go through a series of test. This, the trainer simulates well. The information you learn from reading through a topic such as "Historical Operations" for example, must be learned and more importantly applied in some very tough, objective, multiple choice test. Passing a test gains you a certificate of completion, and even medals depending on how well you do on the material. Don't score well, and you may be sent back to boot camp, son.

The whole thing is quite convincing with quotes and advice from real life CT Operatives. Various types of media help make the whole thing a visual and audio experience, from real pictures of various weapons to ambient military drums in the background. The writing for the various topics is top-notch as well, with theory from experts and practical applications in the real world (if that's your type of thing). Here's a short excerpt from the "Ranged Weapons" topic; "A CT operative needs a heavy bullet that will take down the terrorist with as few shots as possible, without harming any innocent bystanders. This requires a large diameter bullet with relatively low velocity. A slower, large-diameter round will transfer all of its energy to its target rather than passing through it." If that doesn't bring out the NRA member in you, than I don't know what will !

Graphically, the whole training disc is simple, but clean. The menu is marked with buttons or nodes (rotating 3D sphere that has "nodes" all around, that you can click to get to a topic) that bring you to different parts of training. It's not going to push your 3D graphics card to its limit, but then again, it wasn't meant to. To the mission disc shall we ?

Right off the back, like peeling a scab right away to cut down on the crying and whining, the mission disc is admittedly THIN. Okay, I know it wasn't meant to be a fully fledged sequel, but nine new maps like these is like serving someone a spoonful of ice cream, then taking the carton away. What is here, however, is sure to tickle the Rainbow Six map lover out there. The maps again have you going all over the world once again, to Northern Bolivia to extract a Bolivian General, to the Arctic to find a rogue Russian Satellite, and back to North Dakota to play hardball on U.S turf. The other maps include a grocery store, a hospital emergency room, and a trailer park, with the complete hillbilly treatment including; a 1950s Chevy in the front yard with all the engine parts scattered across the lawn, and cheap 50 cent beer strewn all over the place. "Look der paw, it be dem darn city folk !" While your out there busting a cap into Cletus, the missions expect you to make full use of your interactive training from disc one. These missions need it too, they are amazingly hard, on the veteran and elite levels. Even on recruit, the game gives the Rainbow Six die hard a run for his money. In one map, snipers are scattered throughout thick jungle brush and seeing them before they see you is almost impossible. You must play the sneak around, and flank maneuver to survive in those scenarios. Which brings me to my next point. The gameplay in Covert Ops has thankfully been well preserved. Although there's nothing radically new, you won't get a big complaint here. I pose this question, "Why fix something that isn't broke ?", to be cliché. However, some may be disappointed to find that no new gadgets or weaponry has been added from Rogue Spear, and essentially, the mission disc portion of Covert Ops may seem like "expansion pack light". Added to the fact that Red Storm has taken measures to prevent modifications to Covert Ops maps of any kind (map files are not readily available on disc), the internet community, which relishes in the fact that they could create whole new campaigns (the campaign included is only 3 maps long, with 6 training maps) with previous installments of the series, will definitely find the lack of new maps and modification ability glaring omissions.

The A.I seems slightly improved from previous installments, and the A.I snipers are absolutely lethal. I once had a team run under a waterfall in Bolivia to prevent any direct line of sight to my agents. As soon as they left the cover of the waterfall, two shots rang, and two CT Operatives fell. It was gruesome. The game also comes with a custom mission maker mode. Taking any of the 9 maps, you can say what type of mission you want (Recon, Defend, Lone Wolf) and then you'll have objectives for that map. Each map can be customized to 6 different types of missions ranging from Recon to Hostage Rescue. That gives a possible 54 missions from the 9 maps. This helps make up for the thin amount of maps, but we would've liked more (take note Red Storm !). If you manage to successfully carry out a mission, you can, depending on difficulty level, earn a medal for completion. Bronze for recruit level, Silver for veteran, and Gold for elite. Another addition to the game is in the Lone Wolf mode. Previously, you could only have 30 terrorist in Rogue Spear. Now you can have a mouth watering 50 tangos to assert your au-thora-ta upon. Just make sure you bring enough ammo.

Visually, the missions disc is more or less Rogue Spear/Urban Operations. The sound and music are ultimately the same as those two titles as well. Nothing wrong there, as both of the aforementioned titles had excellent sound and music down to the foot steps, machine gun rattle, and terrorist screams. However one wonders if more could have been added. Not a big gripe, just an admitted nit-pick from a Rainbow Six player and fan. Also, Rainbow Six has never been a title for the accelerator monkey, it's just not that type of game. The graphics serve their purpose and run smoothly on an average system, with rarely any major graphical glitches, except the occasional clipping.

In the end, Covert Ops is a unique fit in the Rainbow Six franchise. Although it lacks the maps, and major retrofits in the weapons and graphics arena, it wasn't meant as fully fledged upgrade, rather a step in another direction for Rainbow Six fans. "The Rainbow franchise is all about giving players a first-hand counter-terrorist (CT) experience" to quote a recent FAQ sent to The Gaming Cove. The interactive trainer itself might be sold alone by other developers as a fully packaged deal, but Red Storm did put it together with a mission map disc (albeit thin) and all things considered, it's a great addition to any Rainbow Six fans collection for the price and the content. Covert Ops is unique, but solid. Happy hunting.

--- Jolex Del Pilar, VGLN Warlord

	Gameplay: [8.5] Same, tried and tested Rainbow Six Gameplay. Interactive training is fantastic. Lack of maps, and other upgrades is a minor, but noticeable point.
	Graphics: [8.0] They serve the purpose and are clean and relatively glitch free. Interactive trainer menu is clean, and innovative.
	Sound: [8.5] Same sound and music from Rogue Spear and Covert Ops in the mission portions. Sparse but more than adequate ambient music in the trainer.
	Presentation: [9.5] Fantastic presentation values. The Trainer is an Encyclopedia for CT enthusiast. The first of its kind on the market.
	Replay Value: [7.5] While Rogue Spear and Rainbow six had excellent multiplayer modes, the lack of maps here may hinder the variety and lasting appeal of the game, in single and multiplayer modes. Once test are done, you pretty much don't need to test again in training mode.
	Global Score: [8.1] An excellent package for the CT enthusiast, but might leave many of the more action orientated Rainbow fans wanting more. Solid overall.

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