Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown marked a noticeable turn for the series toward a more accessible, action-oriented take on the tactical shooter. In it, the Rainbow unit faces a terrorist threat tied to weapons of mass destruction, and the player once again takes on the role of commander of an elite team that must advance through buildings full of armed enemies, with an emphasis on cover, communication with teammates, and correctly timing room entries. Compared to earlier entries in the series, the pace of the game picked up, and individual missions place somewhat greater emphasis on direct action than on lengthy planning before the actual assault.

Unlike the console releases, the PC version of Lockdown retained the familiar planning screen, on which the player lays out routes for individual team members before a mission and determines how to enter key rooms — an element that had defined the series since its first installment and which the console versions dropped to speed up the pace. The game offers both a campaign that gradually uncovers the conspiracy behind the attacks and cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, in which teamwork and communication count just as much as accurate aim. Reactions at the time to this shift were mixed — some players appreciated the smoother action, while loyal fans missed the depth and slower pace of previous entries. It's precisely the retained planning phase that makes the PC version a somewhat more authentic experience for players who had followed the series since its first installment and wanted to preserve the feeling of commanding a real team even in the more accessible Lockdown.

Why play: Lockdown on PC is a good choice for players who want a taste of the series' shift toward a more action-oriented style while still not wanting to lose the planning phase that always set the tactical Rainbow Six apart from ordinary war shooters.