Rainbow Six: Lockdown Review

Rainbow Six: Lockdown has finally hit store shelves after several delays but, unfortunately for fans of slowly walking around and clearing rooms of terrorists, it doesn’t seem like it was worth the wait. The single player game suffers from some horrendous AI issues that basically break the game, which is very disappointing. The multiplayer is still pretty good, but with so many other good shooters out there the solid Xbox Live play isn’t quite enough to make it worth your while overall.

Single Player

The single player game follows series protagonist Domingo “Ding” Chavez as he leads his fireteam in exterminating dozens upon dozens of bad guys all in the name of truth and justice. The game is of the same slow pace and realistic nature as other Tom Clancy’s games, but Lockdown fails miserably when it comes to AI. Basically, the enemies are dumber than a box of rocks and you can make all of the noise you want and all of the poor tactical decisions you can think of and you won’t suffer for it at all. Enemies don’t even seem to notice when their comrades are falling all around them. When they finally do notice you and start shooting, they are hilariously bad shots and you can stand out in the open with an enemy a few feet away from you and it can take more than a minute for them to actually kill you while you can kill them with just one shot. That is ridiculous. What is worse is that sneaking around and playing the game correctly (i.e. using cover and trying to plan attacks ahead of time) will actually get you killed more often than just bounding into a room and running right up to enemies and asking them about the weather. Tom Clancy and Rainbow Six fans, this isn’t the game you know and love.

Multiplayer Madness

All of the problems with the single player game are particularly disappointing because the level designs are surprisingly good. There are multiple paths and lots of ways to go through and complete each mission, but the poor AI sucks all of the fun out of it. When you plug in some other human players into these maps in splitscreen or on Xbox Live, however, the game is much more interesting. There are a large number of both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes and exploring these impressive levels with a team of your buddies is surprisingly satisfying and thrilling.

A big part of the multiplayer experience is the new PEC mode that awards you with credits and experience when you play online which you can then apply towards upgrading and customizing your character. You can upgrade a number of areas of your character and since there are a number of different classes, each with different upgrades, you will see a lot of variety in your opponents when you play online which makes it very, very interesting.

The multiplayer is the saving grace of Lockdown, but it isn’t enough for me to recommend it for a purchase simply because there are better overall games out there for Xbox that are more deserving of your attention.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Lockdown are fairly polished and the presentation overall is very good. Missions are presented with fancy animated slides that look really, really slick. The in-game graphics are nicely details and there is quite a bit of variety in the levels you’ll explore. The characters and enemies aren’t too terribly detailed and the animation hiccups every now and then, but they still look nice.

As far as sound goes, Lockdown is a feast for the ears thanks to some exceptionally crisp and realistic gunfire and explosions. You play much of the game in relative silence, but when the music does strike up it adds a great feeling of excitement and urgency. There is a lot of voice acting in the game and it is pretty good for the most part.

Bottom Line

For fans hoping that Rainbow Six: Lockdown would hold you over until the Tom Clancy’s games hit the Xbox 360 later this year, you are going to be severely disappointed. The single player game is hampered by some seriously horrible AI and while the multiplayer on Xbox Live is fairly solid, there are a lot of other games that do a better job in pretty much every area. Ghost Recon 2 and Summit Strike and Rainbow Six 3 and Black Arrow give you the same pace and feel as Lockdown but do everything a whole lot better. Lockdown isn’t completely horrible, don’t get me wrong. In fact, running and gunning in the single player is sort of a thrill. But as a part of the Tom Clancy’s lineup and the Rainbow Six series in particular, it can only be considered a disappointment because it falls surprisingly far below the standards set by the other games. Give Rainbow Six: Lockdown a rental before you buy, just to be safe.