Ubisoft's Rainbow Six: Lockdown is the latest installment in the celebrated franchise and it once again casts you as Ding Chavez, the no nonsense leader of a squad that engages terrorists in black ops missions. Like previous entries in the series, having a well thought out plan of attack will pay dividends but not as much as in the other games. Lockdown has a more run-and-gun atmosphere to it that may turn off fans who prefer more tactical shenanigans, but there's no denying this title's overall quality and enjoyment. What it lacks in realism it more than makes up for that deficiency with brutal combat, new features, and a solid multiplayer mode.

There are a plethora of reasons why this game shines and it all starts with its presentation. Ubisoft and developer Red Storm Entertainment have truly pumped this Lockdown full personality. There are realistic weapons and equipment, catchy music, fantastic cut scenes, and solid voice acting. Speaking of which, there's just a lot more chatter in this game. More effort was put into making each of the characters (which are a mix of new as well as old faces) more realistic and the result is a bit of trickery that fooled me into actually caring about these men and women. They just appear more human when they're not just saying "moving now" all of the time.

I'm also fond of the story which is much, much darker than anything that I've seen in the series. Bio terror is still a matter of concern and the writers have done an excellent job bringing this fear to a boil.

Then there's the classic Rainbow Six gameplay. Much slower paced than Halo 2 and Doom 3, Lockdown challenged me to think before entering a room. Blindly rushing into an area usually got me killed, so I had to strategize. The game encourages you to find cover and utilize it, and some cool features, like being able to shoot through car windows, adds to the realism.

Unfortunately, you might be a bit turned off by this game if you're used to moving at a snail's pace. Red Storm bumped up the speed just a bit, so it's possible to just burst into a room and take everyone out Schwarzenegger style. This also exposes the artificial intelligence for what it always was, which is moderately intelligent. I've always thought that the AI from past Rainbow Six titles was flawed but it was hard to see because they were at times so accurate. But in Lockdown, being able to get the jump on them is like catching them with their pants down, except when they see the enemy they don't bother to pull up their underwear. I was literally right in front of some dude and he didn't see me. In other instances I watched as my teammates walked through an area unscathed as an NPC fired at them from a few feet away. Don't get me wrong. The AI isn't clueless. When it wants to destroy your entire team it'll do so without pity, but it'll also become stupidly inept and forget how to aim. Then again, the same goes for your squad mates that sometimes forget that they're the best, of the best, of the best.

Lockdown is still an immensely enjoyable game because the classic Rainbow Six feel has been retained, and to make things even better Red Storm has peppered sniping missions into the single player campaign where you'll become team member Dieter Weber and protect the fire team from certain doom. This entails capping bad guys from helicopters as well as roof tops, and being able to snipe some dumb ass before he's able to fire a rocket launcher is immensely satisfying.

Then there's the online component, which is just incredibly solid. You can play through the single player campaign with a friend off as well as online and that's a blast, and then there are the multiplayer Xbox Live modes that are this series' pedigree. But what's more interesting is the Xbox exclusive Persistent Elite Creation Mode. PEC allows you to select a character class (medic, engineer, commando, special op) and you'll earn experience as well as credits while you play online. You'll then use this stuff to purchase new weapons, repair damaged equipment, and improve your character's skills. It's sometimes difficult to notice an improvement in a character's abilities, but this is a good idea that works quite well and it provides something different and fresh, but you don't need to get into it if you don't want to. If you prefer to just hop online and play normally you can.

Lockdown is really a turning point for this series. It's clear that Red Storm wanted to take the game in a somewhat different direction than its predecessors and it's great that they did, because honestly, I like having the option to be a bit more aggressive. I'm glad that things can move at a faster pace if that's what I want, and PEC is a cool idea that'll no doubt be expanded on in a future sequel, But it's not for everyone and includes fans of the series. However, Rainbow Six: Lockdown is a quality tactical first person shooter and it's therefore worth a play through.