They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
After all, Sin City’s special mix of gambling, alcohol, adult entertainment, drive-thru wedding chapels and Elvis impersonators has left many tourists with memories they’d sooner forget.
Well, leave it to Ubisoft to break this time-honoured tradition of covert debauchery with the release of “Rainbow Six: Vegas,” a game PSP owners could simply do without.
While “Vegas” isn’t necessarily bad – it can be quite fun at times – it’s simply marred by a variety of gameplay issues that will frustrate the average person.
“Rainbow Six” is known for being a very intricate shooter franchise, and by and large the games are excellent on home consoles. But there in lies the problem – it’s simply too complex to properly replicate on the PSP.
Fans expecting to lead a team through each stage will be disappointed to know that there are only two Rainbow members on this mission. To make matters worse, players just switch between the two at different intervals.
Hey, whatever happened to good old-fashioned teamwork?
The absence of team play in the campaign mode is for the better, however. Otherwise, it would make an already clumsy control scheme impossible.
The lack of a second analog stick on the PSP means players have to use the triangle, square, circle and X buttons to look around. Other actions like activating night-vision goggles, switching weapons or interacting with switches are controlled by the d-pad. The problem with this is certain buttons have more than one function depending on your situation.
For instance, on one occasion I ran into a room full of enemies, turned around and hit up on the d-pad to activate my rifle’s scope, only to shut the door in my own face.
How embarrassing is that? Those terrorists must have had a good chuckle over that one.
Speaking of the enemies, where do they get these guys?
While some have such incredible instincts as to turn and fire the second they hear a door open, others will simply stare right at you, none the wiser.
At one point I shot an explosive barrel, killing one terrorist. His buddy immediately darted over to see what all the commotion was. Upon seeing his fallen teammate, he simply said, “All clear!” and then proceeded back to his post.
Unfortunately, it’s not just the AI that’s inconsistent – the weapons also seem to have varying effects. In some instances baddies can be knocked off with relative ease, but others take more bullets than a universal soldier. Worse yet, enemies don’t even react in pain when they’re being shot; they just fire right back at you.
Combine all these issues together and you got one buggy game.
Amazingly, despite all these flaws, “Rainbow Six: Vegas” does provide the odd bit of fun stealth-action here and there. Unfortunately, few gamers will find enough here to justify playing it through.
WHAM! Rating: |
5.6 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
T (Teen) |
Official Web Site: |
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