So goes the press blurb from Redstorm Entertainment for their upcoming missions pack, Eaglewatch. I've been playing around with it for a week now and you fellow R6 fans are in for one helluva treat! There are some new features and tweaks, which I'll cover in my review.

Before I do the review, however, I felt it would be interesting if the R6 community got to hear from the man behind it all on the mission pack, producer Darren Chuckitis.  I recently posed some questions to the producer of Eaglewatch and here's what he had to say.

Thanks for taking the time to interact with us Darren, I've been playing the mission pack, Eagle Watch for a week now and let me tell you, it's quite challenging. Is this your first PC game project, and if not what others have you been involved in?

This is my first PC project as a producer, but I have been a fan of computer games for several years, and have several longtime friends in the gaming industry.
 
 

What prompted you guys to use the places you've used for maps? The space shuttle Buran, Forbidden City, Big Ben etc. These are some incredible places to use for maps and what were the factors that made you choose these?

We wanted to continue the “realism” theme espoused in Rainbow Six, and these are spaces that players will be able to identify with.  They are some of the most famous places in the world, and many of us imagine what would happen if there was a real crisis in these places.

What feedback did you take from posters in the forums and incorporate into Eagle Watch? A lot of praise has gone to Red Storm for listening and continuing to have a presence in your forums and I wanted to see how much of an impact that had on the mission pack as well as how much impact it may have on future Rainbow Six add-ons, sequels etc.

Much of the feedback we received over the past few months has dealt with what size level makes for the best game play, both for single player and multi-player.  We felt it extremely important not to isolate one or the other.  These levels are great for both, not too big, not too small. 

Another concern was what type of weapons we would add.   Given that everyone plays the game differently, we wanted to incorporate weapons that would add balance to the overall experience.  An example is the Desert Eagle 50 caliber.  A powerful gun, but with short range capability and six bullets per clip, you must choose the style of play you want to succeed in your mission. We tried to incorporate as many ideas as possible that worked within our time frame and made for great gameplay.

What are some of the changes to multiplayer that fans of that style will find, both in co-op as well as deathmatch?

For starters, there are six new multiplayer games, and a couple of new multiplayer levels that I think fans will find most interesting.  One aspect everyone has asked for is more spawn points.  Each of the mission pack levels has up to eight more spawn points, a feature that will carry over if you want to play the original game in multi-play as well.

There are also scattered spawn points.  This means that if you are playing team survival, you may be much closer to your enemy and much further away from your team members.  This can really turn up the heat on individuals to contribute to your team’s success.   We also have a terrorist hunt.  Not only do you have to kill as many terrorists as possible, you may come across your opponent.  Who will you take down first?  It’s up to you.

I think I recall reading in the forums about some tweaks in the grenade throwing abilities of the operatives in the mission pack, explain this if you could as well as point out any other changes, tweaks, or enhancements to the game players will find in Eagle Watch.

The Mission Pack will ship with the Rainbow Six Patch (version 1.04) that will upgrade all users to the current improved version and should fix any problems experienced in the past.  Also some tweaking has been done on the environment, operatives, and terrorists to improve quality and response. There should be a variety of subtle differences that the players will notice.  Look for more animated objects and better response from the AI.   Operatives will look around at waypoints to make sure no one is sneaking up on them, and terrorists will be smarter than in the original game. Playing the mission pack should be a smoother, more enjoyable experience.

What is the projected release date for Eaglewatch and price?

Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch will be released officially on January 28, 1999 (although some retailers may have it before then), and SRP is $19.99.

Are their any plans on coming out with a combo pack for new gamers to Rainbow Six where they can pick up both copies in one package? 

We’re discussing the idea of a Rainbow Six Gold Pack right now, but nothing is definite.

Is there any storyline significance to the code name of the mission pack 'Eagle Watch'? 

There isn’t a specific storyline, as all of the missions are independent of each other.  Eagle Watch refers to the last level in the mission pack, which takes place in the Senate building of the US Capitol.

What is your personal favorite aspect of the mission pack?

I like the Desert Eagle 50 caliber.  It’s a gun with a whole lot of power, and I tend to get into close quarter combat a great deal.

I personally have enjoyed the Free Watch Mode in Eagle Watch, it's a neat way to see your tactics carried out from a God's eye view. Do you plan on keeping this in the sequel to R6 and will there be any ways for players to change camera views and also create demo movies for later playback?

Both of these are ideas that are being discussed by the Sequel team, but since I’m not the producer of that title I can’t say for sure.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today Darren, enjoy the holidays and kudos to the development team of Eagle Watch for an excellent and very challenging add-on!

Thank you, Maurice—we hope fans enjoy playing Eagle Watch as much as we enjoyed making it!

Stay tuned for my review due online shortly, it's still not too late to ask Santa to bring you a copy of R6!

COMBATSIM.COM RATING : 95

• Core Rating : 100
• Gameplay : 95
• Graphics : 90
• Sound : 92
• Intelligence/AI : 92
• User Interface/Mission Planner : 100
• Fun Factor : 100
• Learning Curve (in hours) : 2-4 hours
• Overall Rating : 95