Before it became a popular video game of the late 90s, up to this day things were changed in the game's mechanics but added sure realism and abilities of each operator. Originally, this game loved by millions of fans worldwide including me it all started as a techno-thriller novel.
Premise & Creator of Rainbow Six
Rainbow Six is created by Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (popularly known as Tom Clancy), a former insurance agent turned author behind some of his best-selling novels: The Hunt for Red October, Clear & Present Danger, Patriot Games, and The Sum of all Fears.
It tells the story of a fictional group called Rainbow. A multi-international counter-terrorist group led by John Terrence Clark (call sign Rainbow Six) and Allister Stanley (call sign Rainbow Five), his 2nd-in command. Based in Hereford, U.K - Home of the 22nd SAS Regiment, the elite group has combined elements of the U.S. Armed Forces, UK's Special Air Service, Germany's GSG-9, and intelligence units from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, MI-6, DGSE, and Mossad.
With their rigorous training, they were deployed in various missions, until a plot that is so sinister which this bio-terrorist group plans to decimate the entire population. As the group investigates their previous missions piece by piece until they'll discover who's the mastermind, and why do they have to eradicate the entire human race.
Action-packed & Suspense
I have a copy of the novel which was purchased from a 2nd hand book store by my brother-in-law, and he gave it to me years ago. I never had the time to read the novel back then. When the coronavirus came in, that's the time I went to stay on-site and brought the book all along with me so I'll never get bored instead of using my phone.
I read it on the weekends, or sometimes after work but I was able to finish it a month later. The moment I read this novel, somehow it transported me to that universe re-imagining the scenes of every page like in a movie or a video game. It is full of action, and the suspense was killing my mind.
The suspense of how the antagonists were introduced to the group's mission on how they can deal with the situation with precise & full proof planning until their investigation that would lead them to something bigger than their previous operations.
The Aftermath & Influence of Rainbow Six
The novel, however, received mixed reviews from its storyline to the secondary characters. Somehow, it became one of Tom's best-selling novels, and most of his works were brought to life in the video gaming industry.
On August 21, 1998, weeks before the novel was released, the first Rainbow Six game was created by Red Storm Entertainment, which Tom was also the co-founder. The video game's story is not connected to the novel since this was released first. The game became a commercial success and it spanned through different sequels, but different storylines.
For the full list of Rainbow Six games, click/tap here to view more.
Not until they made a few adjustments to the game, from Single Campaigns until they entered the Massive Multiplayer Online genre, but the mechanics is still a First Person Shooter. From operators with different specialties as your team will defend the area while the other team will scan first for targets before executing the mission.
It's like Counter-Strike with sure realism just what operators would do in the real world. From a popular novel then was transported to the gaming world. Until to this day, Rainbow Six is still loved by gaming fans, and retired operators from other parts of the globe.