The Verdict:
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Rainbow Six Vegas
| Genre | FPS |
| Developer | Ubisoft |
| Publisher | Ubisoft |
| Modes | Single/ Multiplayer |
| Rating | PEGI 16+ |
| Released | 1.12.2006 |
The Rainbow Six Series is known to pretty much every first person shooter fan in the World. Some might say that the franchise is becoming old, but you would be wrong, because Rainbow Six Vegas is a breath of fresh air to the series.
You play as Logan Keller, who is part of one of the elite counter terrorist units sent out to stop a terrorist plot to destroy Las Vegas. You will have to take to the city of bright lights to try and fight back the enemy and save the city.
The basic gameplay is similar to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, a similar tactical shooter, from the same makers, released earlier in 2006. You will find yourself hugging pieces of concrete, slot machines and anything that you can find to cover from the terrorists fire. You use the left trigger to hug a wall, and it will switch from first to third person view in a cinematic kind of way. From the cover you have to take shots at the enemy and slowly move closer to your goal.
The health system is similar to the games we have seen recently such as Gears of War. You do not have to worry about health bars, your vision will be come blurred as you take more shots, but as long as you get back into cover for a few seconds, you will regain the help. It means you will get less frustrated with having to ration your health.
Rainbow Six has always been about tactics and its trip to Vegas is no different. You will be able to command a squad of 2 or 3. The AI of your team mates is very good, and you will see them using the cover as much as you do. They will do a good job of killing their fair share of enemies for you. You can easily command your squad to more to specific places by looking at an area and pressing A (or X if you are on a Sony Console) to make them move to the area. This is a very simple processes and it is very effective if you want to distract the enemy.
As well as having good AI, your team will be able to carry out other orders. The best is probably entering rooms. Use your "snake cam" An optical lens that you slot under a door to check out the threat inside. You can then order your squad to go to a door, and carry out a number of commands that include; Smoke, Frag or just smash the door down and shoot at anything that moves. Choose the right tactic for the correct situation.
Another good feature of the gameplay is the flexibility that you get, you can use a rappel line to slowly move down the side of a building you can easily flip over on the rope to go from feet first to head first. If you come across a window with a threat, simply order your squad to smash through the window and shoot the crap out of whatever is inside.
The difficulty levels are used well, normal mode will provide you with a challenge, but you can still pass through with a few smart moves. The "Realistic" difficulty will see you having to use many of the tactics that i talked about earlier. You will die quite alot and you will learn from your mistakes which adds to the fun value. The game uses a checkpoint system, so that if you die you simply go back to that point instead of restarting the whole mission.
The campaign is not very long, Realistic mode will keep you playing for a while, but the best part of this game is the multiplayer side of things. There are many modes in the game, including co-op and Terrorist hunt. This is where you team up with a mate to clear an area of any terrorist threat that is present. Whilst playing with your mates is fun, playing against them is better. There are many competitive modes in the multiplayer including death match, team death match and a capture the flag equivalent called "Retrieval". Each of the competitive modes will support up to 16 players online.
The customisation and ranking is a fantastic part of the multiplayer experience. You will be able to build up a character with various guns and armour. Each game you play online you will receive points that you can use to buy things for your character. You will have to choose wisely though, for example when choosing armour, do you go for mobility or defence? It is up to you and there are hundreds of possible combinations. You can customise your gun with different scopes and sights. Ort you can equip different grenades such as Frag, Smoke or Flash-bang.
If you own a 360 and a LIVE vision camera you can put your face in the game. I got some pretty weird results, but it is great fun. Another feature of the 360 version is the ability to gain achievement points, many of them are based on the multiplayer, so it adds alot of replay value.
As for audio, overall it is pretty good. From the sounds of the slot machines to the unique gun fire, the game sounds great. The voice over’s are good, you can hear both the terrorists and the good guys shouting orders and things. The graphics is also quite spectacular. The bright lights of Vegas are brought to life with the detail.
Rainbow Six Vegas keeps up the great name of the series, by breathing new life into the franchise. New features and tactics add to the already impressive gameplay system. The game has a solid multiplayer mode. And with great graphics and sound, It is definitely recommended for tactical FPS fans.