Rainbow 6 Patriots announced by game giant Ubisoft

It's time to get gaming, ladies and gentlemen, with a barrage of shooters released all in the span of a few weeks leading up the holiday season – the newest announcement being Ubisoft's next hero: Rainbow 6 Patriots. The next chapter in the wildly successful tactical gaming series based on the classic Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. This time around it'll be the same Team Rainbow tactical squad this time put up against a group of United States terrorists called the True Patriots.

Of course our minds immediately turn toward the classic Scorsese film Gangs of New York with the Natives lead by Bill the Butcher, but chances are that this Rainbow game wont be a time traveling adventure, sadly enough. Instead Ubisoft promises another cooperative or single-player shooter taking place in the present day, and given that the last installment in this franchise was 2008 with Rainbow Six Vegas 2, we've got to expect the ante is up.

Ubisoft noted that inside this new environment "players will face critical scenarios that will require them to make tough ethical decisions in order to stop this new breed of terrorists." Does this mean that the terrorists will be U.S. citizens? Or is Ubisoft asking players to be kind to what George Bush considers "pure evil?" We shall see! This game is set to come out on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and we'll be getting more details on the gameplay and the exact release date soon.

UPDATE: don't expect to stuff your stockings with this one, folks, release is set for 2013 at the earliest – bit time Bummer!