History of Rainbow Six | MojoPlays

The “Rainbow Six” series has remained popular for decades, and its most recent iteration, “Rainbow Six Siege,” is arguably the most popular entry yet. Throughout its run, “Rainbow Six” has been lauded for its realism and focus on tactical gameplay over the more traditional run-and-gun, spray-and-pray style of first-person shooters. But how did we get to the position we’re in now? Let’s take a look at the history of “Rainbow Six.” It all started back in 1996, when author Tom Clancy and a Royal Navy captain named Doug Littlejohns created Red Storm Entertainment, a video game development company. Wanting to model a video game after the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, Red Storm started preliminary work on what would later become “Rainbow Six.” Clancy was concurrently writing the novel “Rainbow Six,” and both he and the video game development team began collaborating on research and ideas. Red Storm even began incorporating elements of Clancy’s novel into the game so the two could act as companion pieces. The novel was released on August 3, 1998, and the video game followed just a few weeks later. The game was praised for its focus on realism and tactics, and the idea of being taken out by a single bullet was quite novel at the time. The planning stage was also lauded, as it allowed the player more agency and lent the game a more complex degree of difficulty. However, some critics took umbrage with the game’s tendency to frustrate, and some thought it was much harder than it needed to be. Regardless, the game was a critical and commercial success, and it was nominated for numerous end-of-year awards. Unfortunately, it was released in the same year as “Half-Life,” so it would only go on to win very few. The following year saw the release of the rather uneventful “Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear.” While the game again received good reviews and strong sales, it was basically more of the same. As such, it is often passed over when regarding the history of “Rainbow Six.” That all changed with “Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield.” “Rainbow Six 3” was a vastly different game than its predecessors, as it was faster and more accessible for casual first-person shooter players. “Counter-Strike” was released on November 9, 2000[[4]] and all but changed the landscape of first-person shooters forever. Suddenly, everyone was playing “Counter-Strike,” and every FPS developer in the world was trying to replicate its success and gameplay mechanics. As such, “Rainbow Six 3,” released in March of 2003, was a significantly more “mainstream” release. However, that’s not to say that it wasn’t just as hard and complex as its predecessors. Like “Dark Souls,” “Rainbow Six 3” managed to strike a delicate balance between mainstream appeal and unforgiving yet intellectually rewarding gameplay. The game was lauded for its improved gameplay and technical achievements and it was an enormous commercial success, selling over two million units in one year. The game’s Xbox port can be seen as a major reason for its mainstream success. The console port was far more accessible than its PC counterpart, as the planning stages were cut and players could only control one character at a time. The console port was also more forgiving, as players had a more traditional depleting health bar rather than being taken out with one or two bullets. The game also made novel use of the Xbox Live headset, as players could give vocal commands to their AI teammates through the microphone. It sounds a little primitive by today’s standards, but that was unbelievable stuff at the time! Perhaps it was the console port’s success that influenced Red Storm in making “Lockdown” a far more accessible entry in the otherwise complex series. It was not a great decision. “Lockdown” took a far more streamlined approach to the gameplay mechanics – players only played as one person (Ding Chavez), the levels were linear, and the game featured a forgiving save function that basically dispersed all the tension, intellectual planning, and rewarding nature of a well-executed and impeccably-planned mission. Also, for the first time in the series, the game was released on consoles before being ported to the PC, which understandably made a lot of people upset. The game was also critically detested, scoring the worst reviews of the series. Both players and mainstream outlets eviscerated the title, criticizing its technical shortcomings, horrid AI, and streamlined gameplay mechanics. It seemed as if the death knell had rung for “Rainbow Six.” Luckily, Ubisoft Montreal was there to pick up the pieces. Yes, you can thank Ubisoft for singlehandedly saving the “Rainbow Six” franchise. “Rainbow Six Vegas” was released on November 22, 2006, and Ubisoft Montreal took a major risk with the game’s gameplay mechanics. They had imbued the game with a ton of new features, including a regenerating health system, significantly more enemies to combat, a command system based around the D-pad, environmental damage, an altered aiming system, and a third-person view. So, yes, you can definitely say that they had shook up the formula. And who says Ubisoft never takes any creative risks? Luckily, these changes prove immeasurable to the game’s longevity and success. “Vegas” would go on to win numerous industry awards and sold nearly two million copies in just four months. The latest new IP in the series, a game called “Rainbow Six Patriots,” was announced in November of 2011, three years after the release of “Vegas 2.” “Patriots” was set to focus largely on narrative, as it was going to employ the choice-based techniques of a Quantic Dream game and feature multiple shifting perspectives similar to “Call of Duty.” However, internal disputes began arising, and Ubisoft removed the creative, narrative, and animation directors, as well as the lead designer. On June 9, 2014, over two years since the announcement of the firings, a rather unsurprising announcement was made – “Patriots” had been cancelled. Of course, we all saw it coming, but those wishing for a more story-based “Rainbow Six” were still left immensely disappointed. According to “Rainbow Six” brand director Alexandre Remy, the decision was made to cancel the game rather than upscale the outdated engine for the new generation of consoles. Ubisoft subsequently assembled a group of 25 people to begin work on a reboot of the series. The RealBlast Destruction team worked on a prototype for an advanced form of environmental destruction technology, and the team decided to allocate all of its resources into the game’s multiplayer component, believing that “Rainbow Six” is about tactical operations and endless replayability. As such, the extensive campaign that was promised for “Patriots” was completely abandoned. The team quickly ballooned to 150 people, many of whom were old fans of the series. This is again indicative of Ubisoft’s wish to return “Rainbow Six” to its tactical roots. This team sought to make the game as realistic and authentic as possible, so they consulted with real counter-terrorism units and studied various historic operations. These included the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980, the Moscow theatre hostage crisis of 2002, and the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181, a successful operation that saw all 90 passengers safely rescued. The team also experimented with a respawn mechanic, but quickly realized that good players would dominate matches. It also lessened the importance of tactical, squad-based teamwork, which had always been the primary focus of the game. Other aspects scrapped from the finished piece include AI-controlled teammates, hit markers, music, and the ability to jump. The results saw a divided reaction from critics and audiences. While the components of the multiplayer, the destructive environments, and the tactical gameplay were all praised, other aspects were harshly criticized. These include the steep learning curve, the slow progression system, numerous bugs, the lack of customization options, the Situations mode, and the micro transactions. Especially the micro transactions. It also saw lacklustre sales, pushing just 76,000 copies in its debut and peaking at number six on the UK Software Chart. However, thanks to countless updates and patches, “Siege” has slowly become one of the most popular shooters on the market. It was praised for its “games as a service” model, and many mainstream outlets decided to re-review the game in lieu of its incredible changes. By February 2019, the game had 45 million registered players, signifying its total dominance of the FPS genre. We can’t wait to see where “Siege,” and the “Rainbow Six” series, goes from here. It’s clear that the franchise has seen some rocky patches throughout its run, and not every creative or financial decision has been for the best. But regardless of these hiccups, the series has continuously redefined what is possible within the FPS genre, and we hope that it continues to do so for years to come.