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"Not as Good As The Originals"

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 9
Date: September 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

"Rainbow Six 3:Black Arrow" is just a bigger version of the original. But the Online Multiplayer has bigger maps and a new gun. The story isn't bad, considering that it's a First-Person Shooter. The A.I. is a little bit smarter, but thats not saying much, plus there's only ONE new gun. And whats the point in having Retrievel in a Squad Based Tactical game. It gets really stupid, and there really is no point in making this game. Say what you want, "Black Arrow" isn't that great to me. I realized that it's just like the original, just bigger. "Halo 2" may have the same problem, but people want "Halo 2" to be alot like "Halo", just a little bit bigger.

Better levels, but cheaper enemies and even dumber teammates

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 36 / 39
Date: September 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because I was relatively satisfied with the first rainbow six 3 game on XBOX. This one for the most part does not disappoint, however there are a few flaws that make this game not worthy of a 5 star rating.

Black Arrow plays almost exactly like the first RS3 on XBOX. Even the characters are the same guys, you are Ding Chavez and your teammates are Dieter Weber, Eddie Price and Louis Louiselle. All of the weapons are the same except there is no .50 caliber sniper riffle, it has been replaced with a sniper rifle that uses 7.62mm shells which still gets the job done, but just doesn't have the powerful sound as the .50 cal. The first thing you will notice different about this game are the levels. Each level has been beautifully done complete with better lighting, graphics and attention to detail. Just imagine playing the levels in Splinter Cell 2 as a FPS. The storyline while a bit better than the first seems to jump around a lot, still lacks depth. The enemies are much smarter and will constantly throw grenades at you, call for backup and even rush you when they know you are reloading. This makes the game challenging and fun however the fine line between challenging and frustrating is often crossed in this game.

One thing you will immediately notice is that RS6:BA still uses the painfully annoying limited save system which I wish they get rid of. If you are playing veteran difficulty you are only allotted 2 saves per mission (you were given 3 in the previous game). You will often have to complete 2 tasks before your first save to help spread your saves out. This results in restarting levels over and over and over and over and over and over again, and I am not exaggerating one bit. Be prepared to restart levels anywhere from 20 - 25 times before you are familiar with the layout and cheap enemies hiding in impossible places and literally coming out of nowhere. While terrorists are smarter they are also very cheesy, I have noticed that the CPU randomly places enemies in different spots when you are not looking. I have actually seen a terrorists drop out of the sky on a balcony to try to get a cheesy kill on you. I have also noticed that if you have your team with you more terrorists will randomly appear than if you're by yourself. Levels are also filled with "trigger points" meaning that a room can be totally clear at one moment but if you cross a certain point, the room is filled with enemies magically appearing behind crates and coming out of doors and windows. The fun factor of this game is hurt greatly because of this. You spend entire missions creeping through trying to guess where the next enemy will randomly appear and trying to set off the trigger point and run for cover before you are shot up. Another thing I found very frustrating about this game is that certain terrorists never seem to die no matter how many times you shoot them, I have put at least 15 shells from an M16 into the back of a enemy and he still runs away like nothing hit him. On another occasion I have hit an enemy in the head two and three times and even saw blood splatter, but yet the enemy is still alive and fires back like nothing happened. I am sorry but even a grazed bullet to the head should a least stun you. As bad as all these things are, I think the most frustrating aspect of this game is the almost comical stupidity of your teammates. These guys are supposed to be the best however, they will die at a moments notice if you leave them alone for even a few seconds, you have to cover your own (...) and protect them because they are flat out idiots. You tell them to throw a grenade at a spot and instead of throwing the grenade from where they are standing, they will first run to the spot you tell them to throw the grenade, then throw it. Needless to say terrorists waiting around the corner usually kill them. You tell them to hold their position they wont stand where you tell them to, instead, these guys will just go to the nearest opening and give up the entire team's cover by firing at enemies. To make matters even worse, they will stand there and let the enemies pummel them with bullets. My 3 year old knows that if something is hurting him, he will most away from the source of the pain, however your dumb teammates will just complain "I'm hit!!" or "Taking fire!" while their life bar gets shorter and shorter. They will continue to stand there until the enemy is dead or he is dead. The latter usually is the outcome. Another thing that is funny is how three guys with automatic weapons have trouble even taking out one enemy. I have seen an enemy armed only with a pistol, wipe out my 3 teammates without taking one hit. The last words of my teammates as they fall to the ground are "Taking fire!!" As long as you don't depend on your teammates, you should be fine. I usually tell my team to hold while I go alone and clear out the area to make it "safe" for my team. Kind of defeats the purpose of a squad-based shooter, don't you think? To me it seems that your teammates are even dumber than they were in the previous RS. Combine the stupidity of your teammates with the fact that the voice recognition command system only works 80% of the time makes the teammate portion of this game the most frustrating.

I have already beaten the game on veteran after having it for only a week, but I probally won't go back and play it on Elite, because the only difference between the different difficulties is the number of saves you get per level. Recruit you get 3, veteran you get 2 and elite you get 1. Not worth playing again on elite because of the maddening frustration factor.

I haven't played multiplayer on this game and don't plan to anytime soon. XBOX live is becoming filled with immature stupid kids and cheaters who ruin the experience. This review is based on the single player alone. Though the missions are done a lot better this time around, the constant need to have to restart missions, cheap enemies and stupid teammates, outweigh the improvements which is why this game gets the same 4 star rating that I gave the first RS.

Great solo campaign, but frustrating online bugs deceive me

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As you know, I gave a pretty harsh rating to Rainbow Six 3 due to its online bugs which are history now (Action Replay and Molotov Cocktails to name a few) and the decent at best menu music really disturbed my judgement of the game. What Black Arrow does is give us what wasn't available to us in RS3 (2 new online modes, lone rush, co-op) but it's those few online bugs that gives this game one star less than what it deserves.

Pros: 1. Lone Rush Mode (kill terrorists alone like Schwartzenegger!)

2. Co-op terrorist hunts and missions (play with a friend, and it's cordless too!)

3. New Multiplayer modes (Total Conquest has you control all three satellites for 20 seconds from the other team and Retrieval is like CTF, except with a cannister instead of a flag, same objective though)

4. Xbox Live 3.0 is fully utilized (clan support, voice messaging, and clan competitions!)

5. New menu music (it actually rocks!)

6. Improved AI and sound (terrorists actually put emphasis in being shot or spotting you)

Cons: 1. Online Bugs. I will just explain these bugs to you. As I said before, these bugs were the only reason that I gave this game a 4-star instead of a 5-star. Trust me, the online in whole is a good experience, but it is these bugs that taint the image of the game. Here are the bugs that you will encounter in your online quest.

One, The AOL-ism when you enter a game. Once you enter a game, you go through the loading screens, map loading, and so on. And then you get through into a game you hear people on the speakers or headset, you hear music,... but all of a sudden, the music and chatter stops, and after 1-3 seconds, you see an play screen with no movement except for the loading circle on the bottom. About 5 seconds later, I found myself sitting in the main menu. Not only that, but it also boots you from the Xbox live service and you have to reconnect to the Live service! I have discovered that I can rarely get into a game when they are actually playing. I must wait until the game goes back into the waiting lobby before I can join it! Hopefully, Ubisoft will release a patch to fix this up (Apparently, there are always online bugs with the Ubisoft games. RS3 (Action Replay), SC-PT (quit and don't lose points and game is not ranked), and this game to be specific. What are the online testers doing?)

Two, Spawn Camping. UUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!! This problem is basically a problem with the newer online modes, where another team gets through to their spawn and just shoots everyone on the other team that respawns. Not only does it agitate the team that is getting spawn killed, but it takes the fun out of the game as well (I expected a challenge, not to just shoot people respawning!). I'll admit it to you, I have spawn killed before (did not initiate it, but joined in the process) and it is only fun to do for about 30 seconds to a minute, then it just gets boring. Either because you get sick of it, or the other team just quit or stopped respawning. And the attacking team has the advantage as well since you cannot move for a half second where they just shoot you and you, yes, die. Once again, where are the online testers on this sort of thing. Shouldnt Ubisoft have put up barriers on spawns or a time limit for being in the opponents spawn area (10 seconds tops) but no, We have to suffer until Ubisoft puts out a patch to stop this madness.

Three, you quit and your stats do not count for the game. It's self-explanitory. quit and the game will not count for or against you, it's not as bad as splinter cell where a player quit and the game didn't count, but it still irks me that this hasn't been fixed for a game that has been released AFTER Splinter Cell.

Final Verdict: I would still buy this game, since many people will abandon RS3 for the expansion pack, and besides, if you look past the online bugs, it is a very good game. and it's only $40. Good price for the game.

Black Arrow continues in the vein of Rainbow Six 3

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you like first person shooter (FPS) games, then you should appreciate this one. Black Arrow is simply another chapter of Rainbow Six 3, and uses the same mechanics and even the same characters like Ding Chavez, Eddie Price, and so on. The graphics and sounds are really good, and the weapons are realistic too. The game is challenging, and enemies must be killed with head shots (or chest shots, at least).

My biggest complaint with the mechaics of the game is its sluggish feel. Sometimes, it feels as if your character is running in sand, especially when the enemies are firing on you. You can walk off ledges and "jump down", usually at the expense of a life bar, but you still cannot leap up onto anything. I would like to see this aspect added to later versions of the Rainbow Six 3 line since this is possible in many other FPS games. Additionally, your character often gets hung-up on objects in the environment. That means that you can get stuck on a chair that you are trying to walk past, or your gun barrel can block you from passing through a doorway. Also, it takes too long to throw a grenade as you must stop, select it from a weapon menu, and then throw it. All these steps are too tedious and clunky in the heat of battle.

However, this game shines on XBOX Live. I admit that I am a complete addict and have spent far too many hours online gaming into the wee hours of the morning. The maturity level of many of the players online leaves something to be desired, and I have been more than irritated at the occasional foul-mouthed junior high kid talking trash to anyone within earshot, but one quickly learns to build up a thick skin to these minor detractions. The XBOX Live version is so fun because it is challenging and exciting. The game keeps score and posts the results of the match in the "lobbby" at the end. It is very competitive and entertaining to see how one did when the dust settles. It even tracks players' cumulative statistics and ranks them. I honed my skills on Sharpshooter, a free-for-all where everyone is against everyone else. It took a while for me to realize that a head shot is the best way to eliminate a target; speed is important but does not always determine who wins. I then learned to appreciate the other matches such as Total Conquest and Retrieval. You can even create your own team, or clan or crew, as it is sometimes referred to as, and you can design a logo, motto, and brief description. A player's crew is designated by a four letter word or group of symbols in front of the name, and you can set up and challenge other clans by going to a website called "TeamCompete.com" or by just inviting another crew to a match.

In short, while not perfect mechanically, this game rocks! It is extremely challenging, and is a blast to play on XBOX Live. Go out and buy or rent a copy today; you won't be disappointed.

Good Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: April 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love to play first person shooters and this is a goodie. It is not much different from the last installment....I do miss the .50 cal sniper rifle. This one has a 2 player option for the campaign missions...very nice addition. The baddies are the mostly the same spots, but if you restart a level...it does change terrorist positions...which increases the frustration level but it also increases the replay level immensely. Halo and other fps makers...take note please try to increase the replay value of your shooters....possibly a random placement of troops when a level is replayed or restarted. A very nice game all in all.

Tom Clancy.The next

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

All of the rainbow six games have great play and great multi player. Rainbow Six 3 is one of the best military shooters of all time if you don't compare it to ghost recon. Black Arrow's Xbox Live modes are pretty much as good as Rainbows (I won't go too far into detail). The maps I would say don't live up to what I was envisioning though. The graphics are better. If you like rainbow six you should buy this because it is great and cheap. The AI has been improved a little but could still use more improvement.
The campaign is a good difficulty until you get the top levels on the hardest mode. Then it is down right HARD. Yet still fun. You can use split screen co-op and live. Which are all pretty cool ones. All are pretty good. On Xbox you can play Team Survival, Retrieval, Total Conquest, Survival, hunt, and missions, which are pretty fun. You really can't go wrong when buying a Rainbow six game. All of the expansions are amazing. The game features several different modes online that are Team Survival, Survival, Sharpshooter, Retrieval, and Total Conquest. They are all great modes and there are many people that still play this game online. Clans are now a big part of the whole online. One of the better system in the RB63 series online.
I find it hard to be labeled as a sequel when the little improvements make it more so an expansion pack. Although the game is fun. It lacks the certain aspects that could have made it a Great sequel. They could have improved the AI. But the story was great. And I would recommend it for anyone who likes any of the Tom Clancy Games. Don't rent it for a week. Just go out and fork over 20 bucks and own. And I will see you on Xbox Live.

YAY...YAY

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game was pretty darn good! Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow is more than an expansion than a sequel, but with all the new maps and modes, it sure feels like one. The biggest and best thing about this game is its multiplayer aspect. There are like 24 maps to play along with a lot of different game modes. These modes consist of Sharpshooter, Terrorist Hunt, Mission, Survival, Team Survival, and two new modes, Total Conquest and Retrieval. All of these are each very fun, but the new ones are especially enjoyable. They all play very well on the new maps, and it seems that the new modes were planned very well according to the layout of those new maps. The maps are larger than previous Rainbow Six games, but they are all very nice and work well. The Retrieval mode is probably my favorite. It is pretty much one flag capture the flag, except instead of a flag there is a canister. Each time spawns on different ends of the map with the canister in the center. The whole point is to retrieve the canister and bring it to your drop area. When the time ends, whoever has the most scores wins. It is a really addicting game type, and along with Sharpshooter, it is probably my favorite.

Overall, this game is one of the most addicting online player games there has been. It's fast, it's fun, and although it can sometimes be challenging, it can keep people playing for hours on end. The graphics are very nice, the online modes are insane, and there are so many maps to choose from its crazy. The graphics could be a bit better, but instead of changing them a lot from Rainbow Six 3, they instead improved the game play, added modes and maps, and made the online experience truly addicting and fun!

Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game for anyone who likes spec-ops. Recommend for adults who like Splinter Cell and not children- this is NOT Halo, and I'm not talking High Altitude Low Open canopy. A game where babysitting is out of the question.

Great FPS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: August 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the greatest First-person shooter games I have ever encounted playing. For various reasons such as, non-stop computer AI situated throughout the whole mission. This develops a fast-paced game, which allows more action for the player because of more shooting involved.

The difference between this game and the Rainbow Six 3 original game, is that there is more weaponary available, more missions taking on different landscapes. The mission landscapes are a lot more intricate and well thought-out, than the original Rainbow Six 3. Other than that there are not many other changes made to this expansion.

The play is really fun. You control a team of 3 other members, while at the same time you also are able to fire with your guy. If you like the idea of controlling your teammates, such as the game Full Spectrum Warrior than this is somewhat similar. Lots of complaints are coming from Full Spectrum Warrior that there is no capability where you, yourself can fire a weapon. In Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, you are allowed to control teammates and are capable of firing just as well. So there is good variety.

The graphics are not anything very special. You won't care about the graphics much because of how much fun and excitement you are putting forth into the game. The graphics are decent, but nothing over the edge such as maybe Full Spectrum Warrior in which more time was probably spent into making the game as realistic as possible.

One of the greatest things about this game is its multiplayer capability. In all the other Rainbow Six games there was no option allowed for you to play multiplayer. You are allowed to play cooperative with another friend of yours. You can even play against eachother up to 4 players. You can play capture the flag and king of the hill which are all really fun. This is one of the great advantages of this game. The campaign mode is really fun, along with the multiplayer mode which could give a change to the game so that your not always playing by yourself.

If you have XBOX LIVE, then you should deffintely get this game over every other xbox live game out there right now. These shooter games are great on-line.

The Rainbow Six series have had a great reputation for great First person shooters, so you can't go wrong buying this game. If you have played any other Rainbow Six games, I suggest you just go ahead and buy, there is no reason to rent because it is pretty much the same as the other Rainbow Six games except for different weapons and missions, smarter terrorist AI, and the great multiplayer capability. There are so many options you could play having this game. It's only 40 dollars too.

RAINBOW SIX EXPANSION

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: July 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is the stand-alone expansion to one of the best xbox games of 2003. Most of the original elements have stayed intact while adding new elements such as king of the hill, ctf, and two player split-screen. as far as the story, in the near future an independent general has control of north korea thereby letting you sit on your couch eating fritos and thinking that your all good because you saved someone that doesnt really exist. fine with me. one of the only problems early on is the cost: 40$ for an expansion is a little steep but with the new tweaks, it could be worth it.

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