My brother just gifted me Rainbow Six 3: Gold Edition on steam, since we both loved the RB6 3 on PS2. I now realize that it was pretty inferior to Raven Shield in terms of content (different story/missions, no planning phase, and always the same operatives on a single team). The planning phase and different tactics make the game much more impressive, and add to the replayability. I’m loving the customization and easy to save/load different schematics. The operatives becoming wounded or dying during missions also makes the campaign feel much more alive (in the PS2 version, the team members would just be there for the next mission).

I will admit I have very little time on the game now, and the stupid decision to start on ‘elite’ difficulty to challenge myself. A lot of my time was spent in the training trying out the different mechanics and controls. It seems though that there are a few irritating flaws:

• I wish you could order your team to breach and clear a door, but it seems that it needs to be planned ahead (this was possible in the PS2 version), which brings me to the next point:
• I wish your team would follow set actions on go-codes. From what I’ve seen and read, your team never follows pre-planned orders unless you switch off the team.
• AI is a bit lackluster sometimes. This is the least of my issues with the game, as the AI is very decent for a 2003 game. Most games I like have the AI lacking a bit, but with all the tactics and scenarios available, it sometimes is less rewarding to have terrorists randomly spread around a map, not moving too much even if they are alerted by your presence.

I haven’t tested this yet, but wonder if there are possible 2 workarounds to this. Let’s say I have 2 teams breaching a room on opposite ends for example, and I want both to be breached with a charge simultaneously. I like playing on the team (although I plan to also have an observer campaign), so perhaps you could switch to the other team once they’ve set up their charge and waiting for their go-code, call it, then switch back, and immediately call it again. This is not optimal for the well oiled machine I want my operatives running, so I think from now on I’ll consider the other option:

Have my team either running solo or with one additional operative following another team with clear marks. That way the AI team can place charges and follow through with the plan, while my player controlled operative is ‘kind of’ with them. The flaws of this workaround is the ability to issue commands on the fly without switching back and forth.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve had a blast playing this game. I just find it irritating that the first 2 points are not difficult to fix, so I’m surprised they weren’t addressed before launch 20 years ago. I’m sure there are mods, but I like playing vanilla. Great game!

Curious to hear your thoughts on these issues and possible workarounds, or if I am perhaps not understanding something correctly.

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Edit: So far I’ve been prepping ‘open and clear’ on zulu for go-code points for my own team, but it’s not as satisfying as having co-ordinated action on a single go-code, and of course the inability to breach and clear. I’ve sometimes loaded the breach myself and then immediately ordered my team to run inside. Putting ‘open and clear’ on zulu when I personally breach seems to not work properly.