For a long time, I have always wondered who Tom Clancy is. Is he a real person, is it a brand name or is it some guy's excuse to make their name known. Turns out it's a person who was a famous author that inspired a number of video games and films to be made. Ubisoft have been making Tom Clancy games for such a long time now. Many of them are released frequently, and today we look at one of those franchises. Now, because of limitations in playing the games, I'm only looking at the games that I currently own and at present are the only ones that are accessible on current platforms. So let's take a look:
3: Raven Shield
Yep, Steam has perhaps one of the oldest entries in the series. Also yes, despite Ubisoft not releasing their newer games on Steam, there is still a back catalogue of their games on the service. Anyhow, the year is 2005 and the titular counter-terrorism unit, known as Rainbow, is sent out to investigate instances of neo-fascist terrorist attacks whereby they must find the place of origin and find the culprit behind the attacks. From the get go, this game shows its age just by the whole idea of buying physical expansions (nowadays known as DLC). It's kind of like
Counter-Strike in that it's a first-person shooter with a means to be mainstream. It is close combat and unforgiving at times (something of which the series is largely known for anyway), but it's pretty good as a game even if its past its prime so to speak. 7/10
Lockdown
One of the big problems some games I grew up with had, was that they were all developed by different developers and thus there is a lack of inconsistency with them. Sometimes it works well in the gamers favour, but not always, as is the case with the early LEGO and Harry Potter games from the late 90s and early 00s.
Lockdown is one of those games where console and PC versions are different. Set in 2009 (presumably alternate as this originally came out in 2005), Rainbow goes to war against a worldwide terrorist organization called the Global Liberation Front which consists of a number of different organizations that oppose the West. Rainbow specifically attempt to stop GLF from unleashing a potentially dangerous virus (huh... that sounds familiar). The game plays out in a linear fashion with gameplay elements of ordering team members around and saving frequently being shared across all platforms. Where things are different is how there are sniper missions and cutscenes on console versions while the PC version brings back a lot of features from previous games, and it's played in a less linear fashion than on console. All versions have different multiplayer modes, with the Xbox having the most significant features in that area. Not the best game of the few that I have played, but really surprised that the PC version, which should have had the most features, doesn't have as many features unlike its console counterparts. 6/10
Vegas
More of a spin-off really than an actual main entry as the main characters are a comepletly different team. As the name implies, this new team are sent to Las Vegas, Nevada to take on a terrorist and her mercenaries that are attacking key parts of the city. The game sounds familiar in that it belongs to a group of games that are set in Vegas but otherwise set elsewhere in the rest of the respective franchises. That and the whole scenario reminds me of that one
Justice League episode where Joker plants bombs in Vegas at key locations. Putting all that aside for now, the game brings a lot of firsts to the series such as an automatic health regeneration system, third person parts, tougher enemies and more. This to me feels like how the later Mass Effect games play out in its gameplay. Which is fine and if it works (which clearly it does), then keep it. Unlike the other games, there is no mission planning sections and a checkpoint system takes the place of what would've been the save system. Perhaps among the best first-person shooters out there, this one is fun, challenging and gives a new meaning to what happens in Vegas shall stay in Vegas. Plus, all the versions are supposedly consistent too. 8/10
Vegas 2
So after a very popular game, of course a second game set in Vegas would be on its way. Set before, during and after the previous game, players play as their own character who has a much bigger role than those we saw in the previous game. This game features a co-op mode in addition to a multiplayer mode and uses a level based system much akin to RPG games which is all the range these days. Oh, and seeing as this is a 7th generation game, achievements are here. I would go into the story, but to be honest, there isn't really much to say except that the sequel part is set five years later and has some dealings tied to Mexico. A second game that's actually good with the ability to create your own character which makes this game quite unique and gives us a newer perspective of the events that played out in the game before it. 8/10
Siege
So after a long period where one of the games in development went nowhere special, Ubisoft sought to reboot the series with this game. Gone is an actual story campaign, but what we get instead is a multiplayer game all about co-operation among players and environmental destruction. You play as either the attacker or defender in various situations such as hostage rescues, defusing bombs and others. There is a little single player campaign where you play as new recruits that take on various missions to better prepare for a particularly dangerous terrorist group that threatens the world. Some games with a lack of content at first, tend to fare better in reviews after a long period of time where the developers update the game and release free and paid for DLC. Regarding the latter, I'm not at all keen on paid for DLC that is there to just get the game at a finished state, but hey ho. It is what it is. Anyway, this game is ok at best. Not one I would play all the time given that after a while, people move on to other games as its a multiplayer games. But it's OK. 8/10
While not a series that I would want to invest too much time in, it's a good set of games that are all great shooters and work well for strategy gaming too. Not sure if we will ever see more games in this series, but Tom Clancy's work is definitely here to stay just as long as it's in the right hands, which it clearly is. 8/10
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