shooter

The game graphics wise s amazing. The details are great, movements are smooth. You can also move using "fluid posture", which allows you to titlt or lean over, if necessary. There are a lot of weapons to choose from, and the tangos (terrorists for Rainbow Six Newbies) aren't stupid (at least sometimes). The game engine is very good at making things realistic.
Game wise things are repetitive. I'm at level 11 now and I've only had one recon mission, the rest have been straight up raids and hostage recoveries. There isn't much documentation if you're new to the system, but there are some training levels to get used to everything.
Planning isn't easy, it's best to try the level first to know what you're up against, then try your own plan, which is necessary sometimes. The plans that come with the game are good work most of the time, but can be pretty stupid.
If you are used to playing Ghost Recon, you'll have to adjust to the planning system- all levels are planned before the game (like other Rainbow Six Games). There is no adjusting them in game, which I think may be a good feature for the next release.
The plot is pretty dull, most levels are in South America/ Cayman Islands, with a few in Europe. It's a neo-Nazi plot, which you dont see to much about in the game until the very end.
If you don't care about plot and just want to play the missions, this is a good game. I found a few things, like the inability to change plans on the fly, a pain. Overall a good game, though. Would recommend to any Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six fan.

This game is a few steps backwards compared to Rogue Spear, depending on your point of view. There are a few nice new things- standing/sitting/prone positions (a la Ghost Recon), better graphics, and well, I can't think of much else.

* You can attach ONE accessory to your weapon. This means that you do not have the standard options that the M4 SOPMOD offers spec-ops folks in real life. Want a scope and a silencer? Sorry!
* Many commonly used accessories are missing.
* Tango AI acts stupid when a smoke grenade goes off. It allows you to walk right up to them and shoot them point blank.
* There is still no "wobble" when shooting first person. You try holding a 9 pound assault rifle stable when standing- you will wobble some! 1 point lost for realism. "Reticle bloom" is a poor substitute in my opinion.
* No richocets. Another point lost for realism, and this is supposed to be realistic 1st-person close quarter combat.
* You've still got snipers with no real places to use them effectively. You can snipe as well with a scoped MP5 as any other rifle.
* If I shoot someone in the wrist with a .50 cal JHP round from an M89 rifle, it doesn't blow their hand off and they return fire
* If I shoot someone in the foot a few times, they die
* There are several major steps back from Rogue Spear:
- Planning mode has less features and is much less effective
- Elite level is too hard and unrealistic. I find it impossible. Forget camo, they will always see you. And they will shoot you with 1-shot deadly accuracy from a 9mm handgun at 200 yards when you're wearing body armor.
- The AI of the NPC team members SUCKS. Your men will always get killed (especially on elite level), so you're better off just going it with 1 guy. I mean, they stare at walls sometimes, they cover areas that are already clear, and they simply can't deal with the tangos. They don't seem to see anything that isn't directly in front of them.
- You can now only have 3 teams instead of 4 (and less operators I think)
- No replays anymore!!!
- Very minor- I can no longer listen to MP3s in the background while playing

So my major problems with this game can be summarized:
* Gameplay is not as enjoyable as Rogue Spear (or Ghost Recon for that matter, or probably even the first R6!), although it certainly uses more CPU...
* The developers focused too much on redoing the graphics and other cosmetic things, while the "meat" of the game suffered. There are few noticeable improvements over Rogue Spear, and many retracted features.

What I want to see as a long time R6/GR fan:
* More Realism! Not in how the faces of the tangos look, but in the way combat is carried out.
* More effective AI, and more effective planning phase
* More freedom with weapon configuration, as this is very important
* More effective sniping capabilites

Don't buy this if you haven't played Rogue Spear.. Go buy it instead. Unless you're just into Multiplayer games and don't care about tactics or realism.

Before you start getting deep into this game, I'd recommend (besides downloading the latest patch from UBI Soft) spending as much time in the training area as possible, because you're going to need every bit of it. Not that the game is hard. It'd be embarassing, though, if you got killed off because you pressed the wrong button. In any case, Raven Shield is (contrary to what the reviewer has written) one of the most realistic combat simulations I've ever come across. Unlike other so-called simulations, you don't just blow the crap out of everything. This game forces you to use your brain. It also doesn't give you a break when playing on the easy level. In short, you have to know what you're doing, and how to do it, or you're toast. With enough training, though, everything else should fall into place. I definately got my money's worth when I purchased this game!! You'll probably find yourself playing Raven Shield for hours & hours at a time. I did. It never gets boring!!