I've never had this much fun in Vegas. Granted I've never actually BEEN there, but if I ever was, I surely wouldn't be taking out terrorists using advanced tactical weaponry, snake cams, and the cover of two highly-skilled squadmates.
The Playstation 3 was late to the Rainbow Six game, but it was well worth the wait. Rainbow Six Vegas looks fantastic, sounds amazing, and has superb online modes, making this the most well-rounded version of Rainbow Six Vegas - and right out of the gate, no less.
For the uninitiated, Vegas casts you as Logan Keller, the new lead of counterterrorist squad Rainbow. Previous games in the series had you controlling Ding Chavez, but he's now nothing more than a voice coming from your earpiece, giving you direction and advice. The reason for the character change is that, after a few lacklustre Rainbow Six entries, the folks at Ubisoft wanted to start fresh with Vegas, right down to the characters. It was actually a smart move, because though the essence of the gameplay is all still there - for veterans and newcomers alike - it all feels very new thanks to a complete graphical overhaul courtesy of the horsepower available on the Playstation 3.
In reality, there isn't anything significantly new in Vegas we haven't seen in other Rainbow Six games. We've seen these weapons before, we've done the breaching and clearing ad nauseum and the game types are all the same - yet everything is packaged so well that it's easy to call it one of the best in the series.
The campaign mode is pretty straightforward stuff. After some dull initial levels in Mexico, you're flown by helicopter to the heart of Las Vegas where the terrorists are doing what terrorists do best - striking fear into the hearts of innocent people by means of bomb threats and kidnappings and such. The game could have turned hokey very fast but the developers made sure that the stress levels are always very high, so it's not as readily apparent that you're throwing incendiary grenades into rooms full of beeping slot machines alongside displays of Dodge vehicles that are apparently indestructible.
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So the single player is pretty much by the books, but multiplayer is where Vegas truly shines. The PS3 version comes packaged not only with several maps that didn't originally appear on the Xbox 360 version, but it also has two new game modes, including Total Conquest. It first appeared years ago in Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, but was inexplicably taken out of some subsequent Rainbow Six games. As fun as the classic Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Elimination games can be, Conquest is the best part of multiplayer. There is also, of course, online co-op where gamers can play through the whole game with up to three other friends, or just run around shooting the bad guys in terrorist hunt.
The online play itself works astoundingly well, as we experienced almost no lag or dropped games, and the games loaded quite fast. It's also possible to see which friends are online in the game while you're playing it.
The controls on the PS3 Sixaxis controller work extremely well. You have four control settings to choose from, though most people should be more than happy with the default. Do yourself a favour though, and change the snake cam controls immediately. By default, the Sixaxis' tilt functionality is used to move the camera up and down. It's a pointless gimmick thrown in to justify having the tilt functionality. Otherwise, having things like the map button mapped to L2 allows you to easily run around levels while having the map show up, making it easy to map routes and spot enemies while on the move.
There are even 'awards' that can be earned in the PS3 version (similar to Xbox 360's Achievements), though be sure that these are more difficult to earn than the 360 list.
Rainbow Six Vegas joins a small but growing list of solid shooters on the PlayStation 3. But while a game like Resistance: Fall of Man is more of a run-and-gun affair, Vegas will easily satisfy fans looking for some tactical action to their FPS experience.
WHAM! Rating: |
9.2 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
M (Mature) |
Official Web Site: |
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