WEAPON DEV DIARY

2005-01-06

My name is Martin Hultberg and I am the Marketing Coordinator for the Xbox version of Rainbow Six Lockdown. I work at the Ubisoft studio in Montreal, Canada, and my job is to make sure the development team shares some of their information, experiences and assets with the player community. This time, I have convinced one of the Game Designers, Phillipe Therien, to spread the word on some of the guns featured in Lockdown.

Philippe began his career in the video game industry by joining the online customer care department at Ubi.com. In 2002 after spending only a few weeks as a customer care representative he was promoted to Lead. Demonstrating excellent ability at figuring out design loopholes and possible flaws in the online game's backend, Philippe moved on to the Matrix Online where he worked on designing the support tools and procedures that would have been used in the game. After Ubisoft withdrew from the project he moved to Rainbow Six Blackarrow as a level designer. Showing great interest and knowledge for the Rainbow license he was promoted to Game Designer for Rainbow Six Lockdown. And without further ado, Phillipe will talk to you about guns. Lots of guns...

So, as you know, I am Phillipe, and I talk about guns. Guns are of course an essential part of any Rainbow Six game and Lockdown is no exception. The arsenal available to the player contains both classic, proven guns and some newcomers. In total, there are some 24 weapons available, of which 8 are new. One of the most important new aspects is of course the dual game-play ability that allows the player to play both as the team leader Domingo Chavez and as Dieter Weber, the team sniper, with his WA 2000 sniper rifle. This rifle was never sent into full production due to its prohibitive price, which makes it a truly unique choice for a discerning user. It does not require hand operation between shots so it is ideal for the fast paced action that Rainbow is exposed to. Its bullpup design makes it easy to handle without effecting its efficiency, as it maintains high accuracy and has an effective range of over 1000 meters.

Now, Dieter can't be at hand to save the day on every Rainbow mission. So the team needs a versatile range of weapons so they are equipped to handle any situation that can appear. Many of the weapons available are of a classic law enforcement nature, like the MP5/10 submachine gun for example. Going with the MP5/10 was an obvious decision. The MP5 has been a trademark weapon of Rainbow operatives in Clancy literature and games since the beginning and it wouldn't be a rainbow game without its most famous weapon. This particular version of the MP5 is a bit of a rarity, sporting 10mm ammo it offers a bigger punch then the traditional 9mm payload. Few of these weapons are in actual use today which makes it an interesting modified weapon.

A submachine gun will get you pretty far in most CQB (Close Quarter Battles) situations. But there are still times when you need something extra. This is when a weapon like the SR-4 CQB comes in handy. The key feature for any Rainbow operative is versatility, and combining the proven and true carbine with an under barrel shotgun was a good solution for creating a powerful close quarter weapon. The M870 shotgun mounted on the carbine makes for an imposing rifle that not only looks good but offers unmatched firepower. The idea behind this odd combination of weapons was to allow users to take out doors with the shotgun using their primary weapon.

And while on the subject of shotguns, it wouldn't be fair to not mention the USAS 12. When stealth has gone out the window and precision left the building, some situations call for superior firepower. The USAS 12 is a fully automatic shotgun that can unload it's 20 rounds of ammo in just a few seconds. The distinctive sound it makes while firing will quickly be recognized by opponents and make them think twice about confronting it's user head on. Although this gun has been around before it has received an overhaul to make it more efficient and we are sure that the fans will appreciate this powerhouse.

Realism is important to the Rainbow games, and this naturally goes for the weapons featured in the game as well. We spend a lot of time researching the hardware, in order to portray it as accurately as possible in the game. Granted, some times realism has to give way for game-play, but when it comes to weapons we always try to stay as close to the real deal as possible. Most of the weapons we choose to include have a proven track record in the field of law enforcement and counter-terrorism. But with the nature of terrorism changing, so has the weapons used by those who try to prevent it. Thus, you can look forward to going into the field with weapons previously considered to be strictly military in nature.