The number of teams has been reduced from four to three and strangely instead of using the more distinguishable colours of red, green and blue they've instead used red, green and gold. This reduction in teams may bother you if you particularly liked the planning aspect of the games. Bear in mind though that if you use a solo sniper in your plan it effectively limits you to two teams. The planning screen has also been tweaked. The familiar flat blueprint is presented which you can rotate and magnify as before. You place waypoints for your team with appropriate go-codes and any special orders, such as a door breaching. There is a really nice addition of a window that displays the level from the point of view of a chosen waypoint. If you've ever used a 3D design package think of it as the preview window. You can rotate the view to orientate your team at that particular point in the plan. What this means is you have a much better idea of what the level looks like before you execute the mission, particularly good for seeing where windows are.

The story is well put together but not as accomplished thus far as Rainbow Six's. That is to be expected, isn't known as a master story teller for nothing. It would have been better to have a couple of secondary characters turn up in the briefings, like Catherine Winston and John Brightling did in the original. The levels all have great names, like Stolen Flame or Falcon Hour, and provide for challenges from hostage rescue situations to bomb defusing. They are well designed and implemented to provide at least two possible routes to any objective. The missions did have a sense that they'd been designed as game levels rather than adapted from the real world in that no level seemed as authentic as an embassy siege or a jumbo jet take down. The graphics on offer are very pleasing though thanks to the licensed Unreal engine. Animations are smooth and bodies exhibit rag doll physics when dying. The lighting and detail of the levels is great and you will love some of the details that have been put in. Of minor note I wish the designers had let all doors be opened both ways. While it's more realistic that doors can only be opened either in or out I have never opened a door by smacking it into my face five times.

So the missions are interesting and the planning has seen a few changes here and there but where this title really shines is in the combat. The improvements that have been made are phenomenal. Everything you could have possibly wanted to be improved has been. If you've planned for a room to be flashbanged they will actually hide by the door and throw it in rather than stand in front of the doorway and get nailed. When you take team mates with you they do more than act as extra body armour and actually cover you, watching your back and calling out "contact rear/left" to let you know where they are shooting. They don't get stuck behind doors. They don't jump down tall ladders injuring themselves. They are helpful! Of course the same intelligence is part of the enemy so be careful. The best thing of all though is the ability to order your team within the missions. I don't just mean telling them when to hold or when to snipe, but you can actually tell them to open doors, climb ladders, breach rooms. All of this is accomplished using a context sensitive crosshair. If you point at a bomb that needs disarmed, with a quick click you can have a team member defuse it while you cover them. If you want a door opened and a flashbang thrown in you can order someone else to do it so you can swiftly clear the room afterwards. If you're mean like me and want to know if there is a sniper around the corner, just point the crosshair at the ground and ask Kenny to check it out first. Finally you can now set up a zulu go code in the middle of a mission using the same system for breaching doors. Just position your team and use the context sensitive menu but with a right click, and they won't move until you give the order. This means you can set up a three pronged assault on a room while you sit back and mutter "I love it when a plan comes together."

With the enhancements made to the game Red Storm have managed to bring together two different playing styles into one great package. If the challenge of creating the perfect swift and deadly plan is what drives you then you'll appreciate the extra kit and love the competence of the computer controlled characters. If the realistic combat and team dynamic is what you're looking for you'll love the you can employ within a mission. Like the squad members of team Rainbow, Shield is the best, of the best, of the best.

Raven Shield has now gone gold and should be in stores soon.

By Richard Clifford