Rainbow Six: Vegas reinvigorates the tactical shooter with excellent gameplay and a wealth of multiplayer options.
As you can guess by the title, the game is set in Vegas, however not immediately. Following a couple of hours in a Mexican city, you'll eventually traverse Vegas, taking in the sights and taking down terrorists. The story centres on Logan Keller, leading of an elite squad who are sent to Las Vegas to pursue a terrorist who escaped their clutches just hours before. Amidst their plans to destroy the city, Rainbow squad must get there and stop her before it is too late. The story isn't anything special but is serviceable to the gameplay. The presentation is slick, as identified by the menu layout and the interface. Holding down specific buttons will bring up small boxes to select different weapons or equipment. It's all very well done.
Rainbow Six: Vegas continues the franchise's tactical gameplay with many new features that will appeal to many. Firstly, the cover system has been completely overhauled in favour of a system wherein a button is held. When L1 is held, the game switches to third-person, where Logan leans against a wall, and is then able to pop out and fire at enemies or can throw grenades. This is an excellent cover system – easily one of the most intuitive ever devised in a game, and sets the standard for cover going forward. Also, its a great touch when Logan flips his goggles up and down when selected. It makes it feel like you are him. In addition to this great system, the squad commands are fantastic, too. You can issue where your two teammates go by pressing X at a location. You can do special commands, too, such as descending fast ropes, rappelling, using ladders and opening doors. These enter-and-clear situations are awesome and tense. Move your squad to a door, use the snake cam to look underneath the door to determine the locations (and presence) of enemies, tag them and give them orders. Here, you have two options: Assault, which means they are weapons free and can use breach charges and frag grenades; and Infiltrate, where they will fire only when engaged, and will clear rooms with flashbangs and smoke grenades. Both options work very well, and performing a perfect, clean operation is remarkably satisfying. Tagging enemies, using snake cam, nightvision and thermal vision are all great features and work well with the context of the gameplay.
The actual shooting mechanics are superb, and taking down enemies is precise and accurate. There are many different real-world weapons to choose from, through the usual pistols, assault rifles, shotguns and sniper rifles. You can also select from many different attachments and grenades, which is nice. Guns feel realistic and the recoil is well balanced. The gunfights are tense because of the enemy AI, which is great to say the least. These guys, ranging from Mexican troops to smugglers and terrorists, are tough and will hunt you down if they see you. They take cover and work together, shouting out commands and chatter when you or your squadmates are spotted by them. You can be killed in only one or two hits, so facing these enemies dead-on is mere suicide.
Your allies are relatively intelligent, too. They utilize their equipment well and respond to your commands. They will equip suppressors if you give the order, and they will often take out enemies you haven't seen, which is great. Sometimes, you may be tempted to push them forward to act as bait, while you hang back, but this will get them killed more often than not. Then, you'll be able to have a teammate revive his friend, but when both allies are downed, its your job to do that. One issue I have with the AI, is that enemies spot you when they shouldn't. During one mission, I was infiltrating a train compound with my squad. I assigned the team to "infiltrate" mode and crept to the back of a cart, where an enemy was facing the opposite way. As I leaned out, he automatically turned around, shouting and shooting at me in an instant. It's frustrating that the stealth doesn't work, because the gameplay would have benefited hugely from a solid system, and it would have given the game multiple options going in. I like deciding on entering different rooms and assigning different commands, but the actual play options are limited.
The level design is great in Rainbow Six: Vegas. Though there is a very straight line both storywise and in each mission you engage in, what fills each level is great. Enemies sometimes spawn randomly at different intervals, but most of the time enemy positions, checkpoints and set pieces are solid. It's your choice if you engage enemies on a floor above, or if you go in guns blazing during an assault on the ground. It may sound superficial in terms of options, but it works well most of the time.
The visual aspects of Rainbow Six: Vegas are mixed. Animations and character models are decent, but the game's textures are muddy and the environments look washed out. Still, the sights of Vegas are nice. Sound is good, though, featuring decent voice work, great sound effects from weapons and enemy chatter, and an understated but electronic soundtrack.
Once the campaign is complete, lasting around 7-8 hours, you have other modes on offer. There is Terrorist Hunt, which tasks a sole player with "hunting" and taking down a specified number of enemies on one of a dozen maps, and its very fun. Because of the level design and difficulty, its a very tense game of hide and seek, wherein you're the one searching for enemies. Realistic difficulty in both the campaign and Terrorist Hunt offers a really tough challenge, and a true test of your experience and abilities at the game. Commands, positions, planning and the right equipment are all necessities for this difficult mode.
Overall, Rainbow Six: Vegas is a fantastic tactical shooter, and one of Ubisoft's strongest shooters in a long time. It's tactical nuances and challenging gameplay make it among the upper echelon of squad-based shooters – both online and off – with great AI, realistic weapons and fantastic multiplayer. It's a premiere shooter you can't afford to miss.
SUMMARY
Presentation 8.0 – The story is unspectacular but serves the game well. The menus and interface are slick.
Graphics 7.5 – The game features muddy textures and a washed out look, but the weapons (and Vegas) look great.
Audio 8.0 – The voice acting is decent, great gun effects and a cool soundtrack.
Gameplay 9.0 – The stealth aspect is disheartening, but everything else – the cover, AI, gunplay and level design – are slick, making this a top-tier shooter.
Replayability 8.5 – Once the campaign is done, you can try the Terrorist Hunt mode, Realistic difficulty setting and fantastic multiplayer with over 20 maps.
Overall – 8.5/10