Rainbow

[NerO✩]

 

Aside from the obvious drama of kicking in a set of French windows while wearing a gas mask, Rainbow Six Siege offers a powerful fantasy about winning and losing. It presents the idea that during a hostage situation or bomb threat a clean resolution is possible provided you make all the right decisions. It goes without saying that these days happy endings are unfortunately rare. Nonetheless, part of Siege’s core appeal is the way it mirrors our world, while at the same time reminding us that, yes, it’s still just a game.
Siege is the latest entry in the long-running series inspired by novelist Tom Clancy’s constellation of techno-thriller military fiction. Its take on the special forces versus terrorists model is one that embraces the gritty and brutal physics of each scenario. How these play out depend on knowledge of space and the players’ ability to disrupt it. Being comfortable with a little digital risk-taking doesn’t hurt either.
In this edition of ‘If you like,’ I look at films, books, and comics that all give a hat-tip to the fiction of special operators and the unbelievable work they accomplish, often in secret.