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At the start of every mission, you will begin with your planning phase. It is composed of mission briefing, intel, roster selection, kit, and the plan itself. Mission briefing and the intel screens will inform you of everything you need to know about your mission objectives and the terrorists. The briefings are nicely done with realistic voice acting. The Intel screen contains information about the hostages, how dangerous the terrorists are, and even newswire transmissions for previous missions.

In the roster selection, you will pick eight members for your mission. Each member of Rainbow has different skills. For example, one member might be able to pick locks faster, while another might be able to use firearms with better accuracy. The kit screen will allow you to select your weapons and armor type. You will also be able to equip your team with special accessories like motion sensors, door charges, demolitions, lockpicks, or electronic kits, and even frag and flashbang grenades. The team assignment is where you will be able to split your team up. You are allowed to use up to four squads.

Next up is the most important screen, the plan. Using the blueprints of the mission, you will set waypoints for each of your teams. There are several options like go-codes special actions(frag room, flashbang room, etc.) and the Rules of Engagement (ROE) to further customize your waypoints. ROE are rules which the squad will obey. There are three speed settings (Blitz, Standard, Safety) and four modes (Clear, Engage, Advance, Escort) which make up the ROE. To help you even more on your mission, the location of the terrorists and hostages are displayed on the blueprints.

The second portion of the game is the action phase. You play your character through a Quake-style keyboard and mouse control, but do not think you can charge into a room with the usual guns blazing. This is the quickest way to die. What you will have to do is move around with stealth and pick off the terrorists one by one. Although your squad will follow the waypoints you give them, you may takeover any squad leaders at anytime. Rainbow Six's graphics were very nicely done featuring some of the most realistic animation yet.

Each mission has its own distinct look; airfields, industry buildings or even a bio lab. Your soldiers also get uniforms that blend with the mission's environment. The artificial intelligence will be a formidable opponent... sometimes. I have been ambushed by the terrorists many times. Also if a terrorist happens to be guarding a hostage and he hears gunfire, he will shoot the hostage. On the other side, terrorists can be easily snipered even if there are other terrorist standing right next to them. They also are unaware of the dead body lying on the ground. Additionally, the game suffers from AI routing problems. Squad members will get trapped in rooms, the stairs and even walls.

Although seventeen missions make this game pretty short, the missions are spread through many distinct environments. Mission objectives are also diverse ranging from rescuing hostages in the jungles of Africa to assassinating a drug lord in South America, or stopping a bomb on an oil rig in the North Atlantic.