This is a recorded Solo Level speedrun of Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, in particular Mission 6 Island Estate 1 (Pearl Castle). This was completed on Recruit Difficulty, with an in-game time of 0:30, beating Berry's WR of 0:34.
And oh goodness why did it have to be this run? I was merely testing weapons and the stars aligned after 5 hours of prior runs. Delighted to have nabbed the record, but I would have definitely wanted a smoother run overall. I don't actually know if weapon choice makes a real difference here. I was using the MP5 with the integrated silencer in all of my other runs, so I was curious whether anything else would work better.
In any case, how was it done? Well, I took many basic components from Berry's own route and 'optimised' them a little. Starting off with Red, I opened each attempt by go-coding my other teams, hold-positioning my own AI operative and bringing out my heart-beat sensor. If I find anyone in the garage, it is an immediate reset- it takes too long to take down anyone there. Heading up the stairs, I recall my AI op back to me. I do this convoluted process to prevent my friend from clogging up the entrance to the mansion, which would slow my other teams down. Upon entering the mansion, I immediately direct my AI buddy to the centre of the room. This is to both catch any stragglers that Green does not kill and, also to take down a fixed-spawn guard who patrols between the kitchen and dining room. Berry sends one of his teams to take this guard down, but it is not entirely necessary in my view. This is because my Green team may catch the dining room guard on their route to the swimming pool or my Red operative will nab him at some point thereafter. This provided the crucial timesave I needed- as Green is the most pivotal team in my plan. In the meantime, I dash through the entire east-wing of the mansion, taking down all guards in my wake, liberating the hostage in the spare room area before heading up to the second bedroom/bathroom suite. It is, at this stage, that I get a bit sloppy. In the corridor I come to, there can be anywhere between 0-4 guards, depending on how spooked the remaining guards are (they often flee from my other teams, and congregate in this corridor). I got 3 on this run- and when this usually happens, I get killed in the corridor. Funnily enough, while my enemies often struggle at point blank shooting, medium range is their speciality- and I often get creamed. To mitigate this, I flail around hoping they don't hit me (though they usually do). On this occasion, the last survivor of my initial flurry of fire kindly decides not to shoot me, netting me the (in my view, undeserved) victory.
My Green AI compatriots are, however, the most critical team in this entire route. While I can quickly slide through the many doors of the east wing, they can efficiently take down all of the guards spread out in the outdoor area. Unlike Berry, who sends his equivalent team through the gym-area of the house, I send my Green team via the swimming pool. Doing so gives them a vantage point where they can spot all enemies in the outdoor area to take them down. The drawback of this is that they attract considerable aggro, and they often die. While this area can be tackled by a single AI operative, I find that a team of two is more consistent. As a fabulous bonus of this route, there is no need for me on Red to head to the outdoor area, which nets me a 3 second timesave over Berry's run (but, in my view, his route is definitely more hands-on and, thus, stylish). My end time is, however, premised on Green efficiently taking down all the outdoor enemies...and it took 5 hours of attempts for them to do this in a time I was happy with!
Finally, Gold's route is pretty simple. He dashes from spawn to the master-bedroom, eliminating several enemies on the upper floor in the process. His route ends by rescuing the hostage in the en-suite bathroom and by clearing out the balcony adjoining the master-bedroom. I think he killed his last enemy at the same time I did, so I don't think my silly shooting actually cost me any time.
However, I am unsure if this last point is actually the case. I imagine that a 0:29 would be possible here; however, I imagine it would be considerably luck-dependent. I certainly don't plan to run this level again for some time!
It is good to be back running this game again. I have been really busy with IRL projects as of late, but hopefully time will permit for a few more runs! Love y'all!
![](https://s2.save4k.ru/pic/lZV7l-GBZn0/maxresdefault.jpg)