Critical Hour is the fourth Rainbow Six game to appear on the consoles. You play as Ding Chavez, leading a small commando team on black-ops missions. The main single player revisits seven of the most popular missions from the original Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear game, recreated with modern technology. The game returns to the roots of the franchise with tactical gameplay and "one-shot kills".

There is a split-screen mode available and full online multiplayer featuring modes like Practice Mission, Terrorist Hunt, Team Survival, Total Conquest, Retrieval, Team Sharpshooter, Free-for-All Survival (new), Free-for-All Sharpshooter (New) and Assassin (new). Up to 16 players can compete over Xbox Live.

The persistent elite creation mode from Rainbow Six: Lockdown is also available.