The Athena Sword expansion, which was released in 2004 and made at Ubisoft’s studios in Milan, is set two years after the events of Raven Shield. The missions are set in Italy, the Balkans and the Middle-East. A group of terrorists is occupying the Sforza Castle in Milan and takes a group of civilians hostage. The in-game use of the famous castle built by Francesco Sforza in the 15th century almost certainly benefitted from the geographic proximity of the development studios to the site. The first mission, which takes place inside the Castle (and is named ‘Azure Gate’), is followed by a second mission set in the streets of the city centre (‘Hunter Storm’).
The game is full of distinctive features of a city, like rubbish bins, bottle banks and billboards in Italian. The third mission moves to Palermo, and the interior of an industrial warehouse, but there are no details promoting or identifying the location as Palermo.
The Athena Sword expansion, which was released in 2004 and made at Ubisoft’s studios in Milan, is set two years after the events of Raven Shield. The missions are set in Italy, the Balkans and the Middle-East. A group of terrorists is occupying the Sforza Castle in Milan and takes a group of civilians hostage. The in-game use of the famous castle built by Francesco Sforza in the 15th century almost certainly benefitted from the geographic proximity of the development studios to the site. The first mission, which takes place inside the Castle (and is named ‘Azure Gate’), is followed by a second mission set in the streets of the city centre (‘Hunter Storm’).
The game is full of distinctive features of a city, like rubbish bins, bottle banks and billboards in Italian. The third mission moves to Palermo, and the interior of an industrial warehouse, but there are no details promoting or identifying the location as Palermo.
Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Milan
Based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy, a number of instalments in the Rainbow Six series have been released over the years on several platforms. The games centre around the instability and terrorist threats undermining the political balance and the safety of citizens. They unfold through missions assigned to Team Rainbow. The series traditionally mixes elements of fiction and fact; real settings are used and real events, along with references to the geo-political history of our planet, are incorporated.
