Rainbow Six: Critical Hour for XBOX: Saving Grace ? or Half-hearted Effort?

While the Rainbow Six franchise got off to a great start, it has run in to some turbulence as of late. Rainbow Six 3 , with it's unusual targeting system and arcadey feel, was a real letdown for many fans of the franchise. Ubisoft seems to have been attempting to recover from this fumble ever since.Rainbow Six: Critical Hour strives to recapture some of those glory days by returning to a less arcade-like gaming experience.

Rainbow Six: Critical Hour is supposed to be a retrospective of past missions, though few of them were familiar to me. It felt more like the mapping team used themes and ideas from older Rainbow Six games and retooled them. This means that the game provides a dose of nostalgia without the deja-vu.

Fans of the franchise will be glad to know that the targeting reticule mechanics have returned to a more traditional format. Critical Hour does have aiming helpers that can be shut off, and enemies are indicated by being surrounded with a square. This comes in handy, as sometimes the enemies can be hard to see.

The controls are intuitive and straightforward. If you've played a few first person shooters on the XBOX, then you should be able to figure out the controls within the first ten minutes of playing Critical Hour. Moving throughout the game world is a breeze, and feels natural. Controlling your squad members is easy and intuitive as well.

Teammate AI is hit and miss. Your squad of computer controlled allies can be quite competent at disposing of the in game baddies, and they come in very handy when you encounter a particularly difficult room or hallway. However, they are not very good at tossing grenades, and are either too slow to toss them, or they will send the grenade right into the outside wall of the room you're trying to clear, resulting in the elimination of your entire team. Sometimes a teammate will impede your progress while you're trying to navigate tight hallways, which can become a bit annoying as well.

The maps and environments in Critical Hour are decent. While they are nothing to write home about, they aren't the worst I've ever seen, and the maps are worthy of playing through a few times. The graphics don't look too bad, either.

A wide array of weaponry is available in Critical Hour. Your choices range from shotguns to sniper rifles and everything in between. Information provided about your arsenal is straightforward and easy to read, and you should have little trouble finding the gun that best suits your needs.

It took me a little while to really start enjoying Rainbow Six: Critical Hour, but once I got a feel for it, I was hooked. I found this game enjoyable, albeit a little too short. Clocking in at 7 single player missions, this game may keep your attention for a few days at best. While it took me about 4 days of casual gameplay to finish the single campaign, I could imagine a hardcore gamer beating this in one sitting. For this reason alone, I recommend that you seek out a used copy of this title if you're planning to purchase this game.

Rainbow Six: Critical Hour review
Price: $30 new , $10 - $15 used