Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials

Running on the engine of Rogue Spear, Covert Ops has the same overall game structure--you examine the intelligence, and proceed to plan and execute your mission. The Bolivian jungle level is graphically impressive and has all the atmosphere of the original titles, but gaming wise it adds nothing new. The training side of things is highly captivating and there is an abundance of material to absorb. The more you learn, the better prepared you are to tackle the challenges on the gaming side. Perhaps this would have been useful as a teaser for Rogue Spear rather than a follow-up, but at any length, the information resource will captivate fans of the Rainbow Six experience.

The graphics and gameplay are still as gripping as its predecessors and have the same attention to detail. And therein lies the beauty, and perhaps the problem. Gamers familiar with the Rainbow Six universe can instantly jump into familiar surroundings, but there is little new material to satisfy their thirst for action. For special-forces enthusiasts, the wealth of information will be well received, but it will leave the hard-core gamers wanting more. Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials provides a reminiscent spattering of new levels, but does not truly satisfy the want of more gaming action. --Chris Hall

Amazon.com Product Description
Think of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials as edutainment for would-be commandos. Building upon the popular Rainbow Six franchise, not only will you play nine exciting new levels, but you'll also get an insider's look at the world of covert operations. The game serves as an overview of counter-terrorism operations from 1970 to today. Video interviews with top experts in the field, photos and video footage of weapons and equipment, and situation descriptions round out the gameplay, as does a special Covert Exam. Lock, load, and learn!

This is not a rainbow six mission pack. It came out after rogue spear and uses the rogue spear engine with all the options you find in RS for weapons, unis etc. The graphics are RS quality. The 3 missions you do get are superb with intense competitive play. The custom mission section is what makes this game work. There you can choose from various rules from 9 different maps such as terrorist hunt-lone wolf-hostage rescue-defend. You can choose how difficult the mission is and choose how many of the enemy there will be for some. Given all these choices makes it almost unlimited mission play. How you play the mission is also optional of course. Play a terrorist hunt alone with 50 tangos for the ultimate challenge or bring aone a couple of partners. All these options are also avaliable in a direct connect multi player mode. Play coop with all the options i just mentioned. It will be a long time before you wear this game out.

The maps for these missions are interesting and in some cases spectacular. The ice map is stunning to look at and challenging for terrorist hunt. If you enjoy rainbow or rogue spear then you absolutely must own this game! It costs almost nothing but is much more in fun and action packed enjoyment.

.............socks


Rainbow Six Covert Operations   March 14, 2003
I my opinion I think this game is great. One of the good things is that it doesnt need the original rainbow six to be installed to run. It has some pretty good realism and graphics are good too. With 9 new levels, it will keep most people who are on HARD dificulty with something to do.


Interesting game out of the entire series, Education-Wise   April 23, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This was the first Rainbow Six game I got, and when I opened the package I was a little confused. There were two disks, so I thought you needed both to play this game, but you don't. One disc has the game on it and the other disc is filled with stuff to learn all you ever wanted to know about covert operations and counter-terror tactics, etc. It's quite interesting and it's divided up into different lessons, although you don't need to go through this CD in order to play the game.
Here is why I gave this game four stars: I downgraded it because of the actual game. The box says "9 new missions", but 6 of them aren't really missions, they are the equivelent to practice levels and 3 are actually missions. So really what you get is 3 mission levels and 6 not-mission levels...whatever. For that I was almost tempted to give it 3 starts but because of disc two, I didn't. I thought they put a lot of work into the education disk, and it was put in such a creative manner for those who are interested in learning. For that I bumped it up a star.
Overall: If you're thinking of buying this game, think of it as buying something along the lines of Microsoft Encarta, Covert style. With that mindset, you wont be disappointed and thus, the 3 missions and 6-kinda missions will seem like an added bonus.


Ok, but needs more   October 16, 2001
For a Rainbow Six game, I was very disappointed that only three missions were included. The controls are much better than R6 and Eagle Watch, but other than that, this game was nothing more than a large disappointment.

The three missions range in difficulty, but they can only be so interesting. For the first, you're inserted into the jungle for some kind of a hostage rescue, which you'll lose men in the process, no way around. You can't get your snipers in positions to get the enemy's, ever. The second mission takes you to a snowy landscape, and this mission was so boring that I didn't need to do a thing, just set it on autopilot, and they ran through it with ease. The third puts you outside a missle silo, and you have to actually run through this mission. I think this one is the best of the three, as it poses a challenge, but isn't impossible.

The multiplayer aspect, however, is what the game is worth. The sniper battles that can take place in the Jungle are unbelievable, and the silo adds to some nice assault maps. The training missions, however, make the best assault maps. Using store front, back, and ER, you can hone your assault skills down to a fine art, very quickly.

All in all, the game is fair, but way under par for Red Storm and the Rainbow Six titles. Red Storm should have spent some more time on adding at least a few more missions into the game, instead of leaving you with three.


Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Covert operations Essentials-Review   August 18, 2001
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I found that this game is great for anyone wanting to know what it takes to become a member of this elite NATO organization (outside the physical asspect). This game consists of two (2) CDs, the first being the training CD is great for those who want to learn about todays needs to become a member of a CT/HRU (Counter Terrorist/ Hostage Rescue Unit). You read and take tests in fields like surrvalince, Phychology, Historic Missions, etc. After that, it's onto the Mission CD where you can paly nine new missions in Bolivia, the Antartic and Idao. Those plussix new training operations. If you are a CT (Counter Terrorist) buff, you will enjoy this game. The only down side, sometimes in the Training CD, there is a bit of a sound glich but it is minor. Enjoy.