 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Ubisoft |
| Publisher: | Ubisoft | |
| Genre: | Demo | |
| ESRB: | Mature | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Hard Drive (downloadable content), Communicator (voice commands in Rainbow Six 3) | |
| Buy Now: |   |
I know, you're probably wondering why I would even bother to take the time to review a demo disc that was released several years ago and contains demos for "old" games and downloadable missions now available for free on Xbox Live. The simple reason is that there are virtually no reviews for this disc anywhere on the web, even though it can still be found in some stores and on eBay. Besides, you were interested enough to click the link to this page, right?
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Companion Disc was initially offered as a bonus to gamers who pre-ordered Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3, and has since been offered as a standalone game by many retailers stuck with extra copies. Meant to give eager Rainbow Six 3 fans something to play while waiting on that game (and pimp the rest of Ubisoft's Clancy line at the same time of course), it includes playable demos of Ghost Recon, Ghost Recon: Island Thunder (GRIT), Splinter Cell (yes, the original), and of course Rainbow Six 3. The disc also includes three downloadable missions for Splinter Cell and four maps for GRIT.
The Rainbow Six 3 demo takes place in the Alcatraz level, which is easily one of my personal favorites from that game. In that mission, the player breaks into Alcatraz to rescue a foreign dignitary taken hostage by terrorists. While it's still a lot of fun even today, the demo was obviously put together before the game was optimized as the framerate isn't as silky-smooth as it is in the full retail version. Nevertheless, it gives a good taste of what to expect from the game.
The Splinter Cell demo finds the player again sneaking into a prison, this time to locate two American operatives. This demo also has a slightly unpolished look compared to the final product, as well as some different text and dialog. The gameplay still holds up very well however, and the mission demoed here lets the player make good use of several of Sam's best moves in the game.
Finally, the demos of both Ghost Recon and Ghost Recon: Island Thunder are a little different in that they offer not only a single player mission but also one multiplayer map each. Gamers can play multiplayer in both co-op and adversarial modes, and on the whole each demo gives a good overview of everything both games have to offer. However, these two games are also the worst looking on the disc and feature the most "hardcore" combat (manage two teams, assign waypoints, one shot kills, etc.), so these will probably be the hardest for newbies to the Clancy franchise to get into.
As I mentioned, this disc also features several downloadable missions for Splinter Cell and GRIT. The Splinter Cell missions included are Kola Cell, Vselka Infiltration, and Vselka. Each of these are as polished as those found in the full retail version, and tie into the original game's storyline. The maps offered for GRIT include Aurora, Riverbed, Roadblock, and finally Tank. These are playable in the Firefight, Recon, and Defend modes, but sadly not as separate full missions. Overall, it's a solid set of downloadables worth a look for fans who can't download them over Xbox Live.
Bottom Line:
The usefulness of this disc has diminished quite a bit already. While both the Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six 3 demos will give new players a good idea of what to expect out of each series (sans the online support of course), the Ghost Recon demos bare little resemblance to what's found in Ghost Recon 2 & Summit Strike. Additionally, the retail versions of all four games featured here can be found so cheaply now (new or used) that spending a few bucks on this disc isn't quite as appealing as it used to be.
Still, for gamers trying to decide which Clancy franchise is right for them this serves as a good (and cheap) start. Also, the downloadables are good enough (particularly the excellent Splinter Cell missions) that they're worth a few bucks to Xbox Live-less gamers who already own the games.
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6.5 |
Posted: 2005-12-23 16:27:49PST