Review by: Emil Pagliarulo
Published: February 6, 1999

I think Redstorm Entertainment’s Rainbow Six pleasantly surprised just about everyone who played it. Maybe it was the timing, or the fact that first-person squad-level combat just hadn’t been done all that well in the past, but the computer game based on Tom Clancy’s hit novel proved that intense 3D action didn’t have to include rocket launchers, powerups, or insanely unrealistic life levels. Indeed, Rainbow Six laughed in the face of the contemporary shooter by offering “one hit, one kill” gameplay, realistic environments, and completely authentic weaponry. It was unheard of…and it worked.

So one can imagine the excitement expressed by Rainbow Six fans when Redstorm announced there would be an add-on pack. Imagine…more hair-raising missions, more realistic combat environments, more great team-oriented multiplayer; in short, more of everything that made the original release such a success. For Rainbow Six fans the wait is finally over with Eagle Watch, the official mission pack, also created in-house by Redstorm Entertainment.

Eagle Watch picks up where the original Rainbow Six left off…sort of. While the events in the mission pack do transpire after those of the original game (and really the continued operation of Rainbow as a counterterrorist group is due to their initial success in stopping the spread of the Brahma virus), there is no central plot or storyline that ties the five new single-player missions together. Instead, they are all self-contained operations that take place around the globe, in famous “historic landmark” locations. There’s “Little Wing,” featuring the Russian space shuttle and launch platform; “Sapphire Rising,” a hostage rescue in India’s magnificent Taj Mahal; “Lion’s Den,” set in London’s Big Ben and Houses of Parliament; “Red Lightning,” a mission in Bejing’s forbidden City; and finally “Eagle Watch,” which takes place in the Senate Wing of the U.S. Capitol Building.

The mission pack also features two new training missions — supposedly designed to help players deal with the stresses of multiplayer — and new multiplayer games, like “Assassination,” in which each team tries to kill the opposing team’s general. Also available is the ability to play any of the game’s solo missions in multiplayer, in essence having to contend with other players and the computer-controlled terrorists.

So that, in a nutshell, is what Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch offers players. And, in my opinion, that’s not nearly enough. In fact, Eagle Watch has proven to be quite a disappointment, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is the expansion’s incredibly short length; I mean, five missions? Any serious gamer could knock this baby out in just a few hours time (I know I did), and the fact that there’s no central storyline doesn’t help matters much. But the problems go beyond even that, and I found Eagle Watch to disappoint on multiple levels. The new weapons don’t really add anything new to the mix; the level design looks great but makes for some pretty quick and boring missions…. But worst of all is the fact that Eagle Watch doesn’t correct any of Rainbow Six’s shortcomings: the AI is still weak; the environments aren’t interactive enough; the enemies never so much as utter a word….

Basically, here’s the way I see it. If you’re addicted to Rainbow Six’s multiplayer mode, and spend all your free time in the Microsoft Internet Gaming Zone rounding up friends and foes for team play, then Eagle Watch would probably be a good investment. New multiplayer games like “Save the Base” and “Team Scatter Terrorist Hunt” are an absolute blast, and inject some much-needed new life into the standard “one team wipes out another” gameplay. But if you’re looking for intense single-player gameplay, like that offered in the original game, I’m sorry to say you won’t find it here.