Building on the very successful game Rogue Spear, Urban Operations (UO henceforth) is not your average add-on. Not only are there more missions, more maps, more weapons, and more "skins", there are whole new types of gameplay.

Rogue Spear is a wonderful game by itself, both as a single player game and played with friends. UO just makes it better. The 5 new urban maps are challenging and diverse and some of them add civilians into the fray, forcing the player to pay careful attention to what they are shooting at. Fight it out in a crowded market in Turkey, a subway terminal in London, the streets of Venice, a slum in Mexico City, and a hotel in Hong Kong. UO also brings back and updates 5 maps from the original Rainbow Six-Hacienda, Hotzone, Estate, Skyscraper, and Amazon. New weapons available in UO include light machine guns and a much-needed silenced sniper rifle.

Some of the background sounds in UO, like those in the Turkish bazaar, are a little repetitive. But you'll never notice that in the middle of an intense firefight. The visuals of the game vary. For example, the atmospheric visuals like smoke, fog, and water look merely okay. But the movement of Rainbow operatives and terrorists is done very well. To me, the best looking new level is the London subway.

Another highlight of UO is the new game type "defend." In this scenario, terrorists are trying to reach an objective or kill a hostage. The player's objective is to prevent the terrorists from completing their objective. It is different from the normal Rogue Spear experience, and very exciting to play.

UO also introduces improved mod support. Mods have played a big part of the success that Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear have enjoyed. Mods allow fans to make modifications to the game. The most popular mods add to the weapons available to the Rainbow operatives. Other mods may add missions, change the look of existing maps, or affect shooting accuracy. The problem with mods in Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear was that it was sometimes difficult to keep track of them all when there was more than one installed.

The new in-game mod menu (under options) in UO is a godsend. You can turn individual mods on and off from inside the game, simplifying what used to be a confusing process. Some of the best mods, including NATO 3, Sputnik's, and the Temporary Tango are already newly configured to support the mod menu UO, and the popular Lloyd's Weapons Mod will soon be updated for UO in the near future. Another UO-compatible mod of note is the Rooster's new mission pack: Deadly Protocol. UO is supported by GameSpy and is playable on the MSN Gaming Zone and Mplayer. Excellent support from Red Storm Entertainment doesn't hurt either-a beta patch has already been released, addressing the few very minor issues with UO.

And if all that isn't enough, UO also includes 8 new maps designed for multiplayer (one, bunkers, was already available as part of a patch for Rogue Spear). The new maps are, for the most part, small and full of hiding places and cover. There is simply nothing else close to the experience of multiplayer Rogue Spear, and more places to play only make it that much better.

One last thing--the guys at Red Storm have improved terrorist AI. The terrorists now have grenades, and they use them occasionally to great effect.

The UO/Rogue Spear combo is one of the best games on the market today. No game is perfect, but this comes pretty close.

· · · Jester