Best Rainbow Six game? Where to start?

[Erik_Twice]

Looks like something I should check out! I don't know anything about this series so any comments are welcome

Thanks!

[BoringSupreez]

Depends on how much Rainbow 6 you want to play. If you want to experience the series as a whole, start with Rainbow Six 3, where the games came into their own. The previous ones are kind of clunky and haven't aged so great. Otherwise go with Rainbow Six Vegas, which is widely regarded as the best in the series.

No matter what you do, just don't play any of the PS1 titles. They are beyond unfun. The original on PS1 was the single worst choice I ever made when renting a game as a kid.

[TEKTORO]

I'm not the biggest fan of the series, but here are some solid titles tried & true that I've played.

Rainbow Six: Lockdown (xbox)- My first entry to the series and not a bad start.

Rainbow Six: (N64) -Not sure if there's a sub title here but the one that's multiplatform. The control scheme felt excellent with the N64 controller which was a big surprise and seems there were not as many issues as the PS1/DC versions.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 1 & 2- Very deep and realistic, I haven't played a better structured online experience. Terrorist Hunt (co-op too) is superb if your not an online competitive player and story mode is above good.

Rainbox Six 3: Loved the heavy tactics involved with squad commands and was fond of the Gamecube port for some reason. The xbox version is possibly the best and polish but I still liked the GC feel much better.

This should be enough to satisfy your R6 cravings for some time.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

If you do play Rainbow Six 1 or 2, please play on PC. I'm begging you.

[Erik_Twice]

Yeah, I want to play on a computer, not the console ports. Forgot to mention it.

[Xeogred]

I've enjoyed most of them myself, of the ones I played. Not sure which one I started with... but it was before you started actually seeing your guns. I think whichever one made it to the N64 / DC, though I played on PC.

I'm disappointed there hasn't been more follow ups to the Vegas games. I'm actually not sure if I played Vegas 2... but whichever one I did play was pretty damn good. They aren't too utterly realistic to the point of not being fun or anything either, just really tactical and there's so much more you can do in missions compared to COD or whatever. Lots of stealth and the hostage stuff is always so fun.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

The oldest I would go is Rogue Spear; be sure to play it on PC, the console versions are terrible.

Rainbow Six 3 is the best Rainbow Six in my opinion. Try to avoid the PS2 version. The Xbox version is just fine though.

Vegas is a great game but not quite as difficult or in depth as 3. It's free on Xbox Live right now if you have Gold. It is also not aging quite that well on console hardware, so if you can't get it on Xbox with Gold just go for the PC version.

[ExedExes]

I just completed Rainbow Six Lockdown on the Gamecube. Great entry in the series. The PC port should be even better. I'd also check out RS3 -- very heavy on the tactics if you're into that.

[Pulsar_t]

They need to bring back the thinking-man's tactical FPS.

[Xeogred]

Yep.

As much as I loved Vegas, I agree with RyaN that the older titles had even greater complexity and some cooler stuff going on there. Vegas was trimmed down in comparison, but still cool tactical stuff.