Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield Critic Reviews

Simply the best tactical shooter on the market. The high level of detail and the wealth of options offer a great amount of replay potential.

Imagine that Rainbow Six is "Splinter Cell" injected full of steroids...you get the same stealthy action, but it's pumped up on reality.

It’s by far the best-looking and most-realistic game in the series, and finally begins to deliver the team-based tactical gameplay its predecessors haven’t quite pulled off.

Everything’s been upgraded and/or redone to make tactical team gameplay as cohesive and fun as the series has always been. Just make sure you have a powerful machine to enjoy every aspect of the game.

A host of revisions and improvements propel Raven Shield way past the original R6 games in design and playability, making Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield the new benchmark in tac sims.

An outstanding visual and audio presentation, marred only by cheesy music, support quality gameplay.

We haven't played a more atmospheric single or multiplayer tactical action game since "SWAT3," and despite its shortcomings there is still nothing that comes close to rivalling it for sheer breathe-down-your neck tension.

While retaining its gameplay and adding numerous improvements, R6: Raven Shield is definitely worth checking out for any realistic tactical shooter fan.

Most of the changes and improvements in Raven Shield are more evolutionary than revolutionary, but Raven Shield is by far the best game in the Tom Clancy series and easily the best “thinking man’s” FPS game currently available.

A great game franchise gets an even tighter engine. Frustrating AI may turn off some players, but this is still the best tactical shooter available.

A good story never hurts and this is what the Rainbow series lacks right now, storyline and emotional involvement of the player.

The game suffers from a number of small flaws (and sometimes bigger ones, where the AI is concerned), yet it still does many things exceptionally well.

easily the best instalment yet – it looks great, plays great, and has oodles of expansion potential. The only downer is that even on higher-end machines, things can really chug in crowded areas. Still, that’s the price you pay for freedom.

It's smart, unforgiving and genuinely exhilarating.

A fantastic tactical shooter that is marred by inconsistencies and minor flaws in design. It is the best in the series, and continues with the same great gameplay that made us fall in love with it in the first place.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it quite the revolution it could have been, but it comes close. And in the world of action/stealth/strategy games, the series still has no equal.

The shining star in multiplayer continues to be co-operative play. Raven Shield is able to convey sheer bouts of terror as naturally and easily as before.

The level of detail for the urban environments is jaw dropping. Colors are sharp and crisp and the textures are terrific. A ragdoll physics engine serves up some impressive death animations.

It's the shiny A.I. upgrade that's the game's biggest improvement (though it's still not perfect).

Match-up restrictions aside, Raven Shield is not only a great multiplayer game, but a welcome next step in the Rainbow Six series for gamers that should meet, if not exceed, many of its fans expectations.