Tom Clancy books are not only excellent fodder for movies but have
also proven to be well suited for games. The very first Tom
Clancy book related game was "Red Storm Rising", in which
the player was the Captain of a nuclear submarine tasked with various
missions in support of the war in Europe. Of course, Red Storm
Rising, the book, was a collaborative effort between Tom Clancy and
Larry Bond. In reality, Mr. Clancy has stated that research
for the Hunt for Red October was conducted using the
Harpoon board
game developed by Mr. Bond. It could be said that this was actually
the first Clancy related game.
In 1996, Tom Clancy joined with Simon & Schuster Interactive
and Virtus Corporation to produce a game called "SSN". A
companion book was written which also goes by "SSN". Mr.
Clancy's collaborator on this game was Doug Littlejohns who became
President of Red Storm Entertainment, the software company which was
formed in and around 1996. Red Storm Entertainment was then
purchased by Ubi Soft and is now part of this gaming conglomerate.
The first offering of Red Storm Entertainment was "Politika",
a game dealing with the geopolitical scene and was set in Russia post-Yeltsin. The
game was offered in both computer and board versions with the board
version sold in Toys R Us stores among others. The computer
game was intended for online multi-player internet play and has developed
a large following. A companion book was written by a ghost-writer. The
game established several firsts in that it is the first "conversational
gaming" effort as well as being the first computer game completely
written in Java, and the first online game set strictly in current
events.
The second game from Red Storm was released August 23, 1998 and is
known as "Rainbow Six". The
Ryanverse book "Rainbow Six" was
written by Tom Clancy and the game tracks with some of the events
in the book. Although playable by one person, the game also
has a multiplayer mode which is developing a very strong following. Rainbow
Six is termed a "tactical strategy" game and requires that
the player not only be well versed in small unit tactics and planning
but also be a good shot!.
The next offering from Red Storm Entertainment was Dominant Species. This
is a 3D strategy game in which you are an alien battling with other
hives in your home world. This game was not accompanied by a
Tom Clancy book or other offering as it is not a Tom Clancy title. Similarly, Bang! is
a Red Storm title but not a Tom Clancy story line.
After Dominant Species was a second title in the "Power Plays" series,
known as "ruthless.com". This
game is a strategy game dealing with corporations in a small but lucrative
market (such as software). Since "ruthless.com" is
a "Power Plays" game, it was accompanied by a companion
book written by a ghost writer.
Next, Red Storm Entertainment produced "Rainbox
Six: Eagle Watch". This is an extension to Rainbow
Six and has five new missions and additional weaponry.
Force 21, a real time tactical strategy
game involving primarily land combat between armored vehicles,
appeared August 19, 1999. General Fred Franks joined Red
Storm during development of this game and helped in its creation.
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear hit the
shelves September 22, 1999. This game can be viewed as Rainbox
Six 2.0 or 1.5 in that there are numerous improvements in the game
but the same Rainbow team is present. A number of playability
issues were undertaken in this release. It is considered
to be the finest first person shooter game on the market.
Red Storm announced on January 24, 2000 that
Rogue
Spear: Urban Operations would be available in April, 2000. This
is similar to Eagle Watch in that it is an extension of Rogue
Spear.
Ghost Recon shipped on November 13,
2001 and was essentially an upgrade to the
Rogue
Spear gaming engine. This game became "Game of the
Year" after review and release and has won numerous awards
and accolades.
Sum of All Fears appeared on May 29,
2002 in conjunction with the pending release of the movie. Note,
however, that the game, the movie, and the book all have similar
but still different story lines. The game is based on the
highly successful
Ghost Recon game
engine.
Raven Shield is the latest in the
Rainbow Six / Rogue Spear line. Raven Shield is expected
to be released in the Fall of 2002.
