As first-person shooters go, Rainbow Six is to the PSone what GoldenEye 007 is to the Nintendo 64: the most innovative and intriguing title of its kind for the platform. Borrowed from Tom Clancy's novel of the same name, Rainbow Six offers a fascinating first-person adventure through lush worlds and highly detailed environments that have never been seen on gaming consoles. You command an elite anti-terrorism force through a series of stealth and action missions. Sometimes you will need to sneak through a foreign embassy in the dark with your night vision goggles on, while other times you'll need to launch a full-on weapons attack on your enemies. The game does both types of missions well, but you'll have to spend some time planning with your team before you start each level. Plotting out missions in advance and positioning team members lends a unique real-time strategy feel to the already excellent shooter aspect of the game. As the team leader, you are solely responsible for making sure each mission goes well. Direct and protect your squad, save any hostages who might be hanging around, and accomplish your main mission objectives. Good luck. --Bill Hutchens Rogue Spear is, without a doubt, one of the best tactical action games available on the PC; it's now been converted for the PlayStation, to update the original Rainbow Six. You command elite multi-national anti-terrorist force Rainbow Six in their campaign against increasingly difficult enemies, with total control over the different teams--pick and equip your team members as you please and map out, in detail, the battle plan. The execution of the mission remains great fun and the controls, although limited compared to the PC version, are workable but do require a certain amount of dexterity. However, the planning stage does seem a bit lost and somewhat limited. The graphics are reasonable and there is certainly a good level of detail. The sound quality is extremely good and the overall gameplay is smooth; unfortunately though, unlike in the original, you can't save in the middle of levels. To appease the PlayStation gamer, there is also a multiplayer option, similar to the head-to-head games in GoldenEye on the N64. The AI has remained high and the enemies are certainly good at their job. Overall, Rogue Spear is more of a tactical game than an action one, requiring a little more thought and a little less firepower. This is a worthy sequel to Rainbow Six. --Chris Hall
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