What is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear?

Rogue Spear is a shooter for strategy fans, but one that actually requires faster reflexes than your average game of Quake. Are these contradictions? Yes. Do they muddle the game a little? Yes. Is Rogue Spear still worth the effort it requires? Certainly, but not without some qualification. Rogue Spear is hard work no matter how you look at it.

Rogue Spear’s plot is based on the antics of a Tom Clancy creation, the elite antiterrorist unit called Rainbow Six. In a post-Cold War environment, we are no longer concerned with commie shenanigans, but ratherwith the individual zaniness of small terrorist factions. The Rainbow Six unit is perfectly prepared for any eventuality — from a hostage situation to a nuke-in-a-suitcase deal. Luckily for us, they tend to use flash grenades, sniper rifles, and tear gas instead of diplomacy. The art of the game lies not only in the individual control of a squad member, but also in the planning and strategy behind a mission.

Before each game, you can choose from a preset plan or create your own by equipping squad members with weapons and setting waypoints and instructions for the artificial intelligence-controlled team to follow and execute. You can switch between members and preselected arsenals at any time — but it happens automatically in the event that the fella or lady you’re controlling gets killed. Since all this action takes place in real time, keeping track of your strategy and reacting to sudden confrontation is sometimes stressful and challenging. Often you’ll pop your head around a corner and someone you thought was a cowering civilian will suddenly open up on you with an AK- 47 .

The strategy aspect is very entertaining, and poor planning can result in the immediate massacre of your team. On the other hand, smart thinking can turn a seemingly impossible mission into a cakewalk. Action fans might be perturbed to learn they must activate simple actions, such as clambering over a small crate, by pressing a button. In multiplayer mode, the game works best on a LAN — you join Internet games manually by entering your opponent's (or buddy’s) IP address, and to find these games, you need the online GameRanger game-location service. On a positive note, the game requires plenty of communication, and the GameRanger chat room provides a nice place to strategize.

Maybe the first clue that Rogue Spear has the odd technical issue is the fact that it requires more RAM than hard drive space. The second clue is that it features two discs — one for installation and one for gameplay. This is likely an anti piracy measure, but any Mac gamer can testify that disk-swapping is an unmitigated pain in the rear. The game frequently accesses CD data, and considering that your first try at a new level can last as little as a few seconds, this gets old fest. Also, during texture and model loading the spinning logo icon halts, falsely indicating a freeze.

One nice bonus included on the disc is the Urban Operations mission pack, featuring new locales, scenarios, and missions, many superior to the standard set. This isn’t too surprising, since this game first appeared on the PC around two years ago. That said. Rogue Spear isn’t really showing its age — it has nice textures and complex environments, and is a welcome addition to a growing library of classy Mac shooters.

0’Connor, Frank. (April 2001). Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear. MacAddict. (pg. 54).

Download Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 8.1 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

• PowerPC G3
• Mac OS 8.1
• 96 MB RAM
• 84 MB hard drive space

The installer application is for 68K but the game is for PPC.

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver