Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas is the fifth chronological game in the Rainbow Six series of video games... unbelievable!
Rainbow Six Vegas changes the series with multiple new features, such as a new health system where the player regenerates health while not taking fire. However, the regeneration is slow in comparison to other games; if the player does not move to cover quickly enough, one or two more bullets will lead to death. The player's vision is also greatly impaired while damaged, similar to the health system in Gears of War. Furthermore, a third-person view has been included for moments where players can blind-fire around corners to lay down suppression or covering fire. Other changes include a larger enemy presence and much tougher artificial intelligence, a shift in focus to where kills will be much harder to obtain, a reincarnated aiming system similar to the aiming system of the old Rainbow Six games and Call of Duty 3, a context-sensitive D-pad based command system for the player's squad and sections of gameplay where the player will scale buildings and cause environmental damage. This command system was borrowed from another Ubisoft game, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. The player can also give voice commands using the Xbox 360 headset, but team-mates are no longer audible through the headset.
The developers have also opted to not include any cutscenes, instead telling the story through video feeds played through the heads-up display, similar to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Most important was the developers' decision to remove the mission planning feature. Also, Vegas is the first Rainbow Six game where weapons can be obtained from dead enemies.
Rainbow Six: Vegas features real world weapons (over 40 in all), including numerous assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols and grenades, as well as other tactical explosives and devices, such as breaching charges and C4.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer modes have gained a lot of praise for the same tactical action as the single player mode whilst adding some improvements. These include customizable characters (Xbox Live Vision Camera owners can "digimask" their face onto their character), the ability to choose equipment and add items such as laser-sights to weapons and to choose the armor's camouflage scheme. As the player progresses through online play, his/her character gains experience points after every match, and rises in rank. There are ten enlisted ranks and seven officer ranks. All together there are seventeen total ranks. When players rise in rank, they will unlock new equipment and weapons, intended to offer more options for customization without putting novice players at a disadvantage. There are currently ten multiplayer game modes; Survival, Team Survival, Sharpshooter, Team Sharpshooter, Retrieval, Co-op Terrorist Hunt, as well as four new modes, Attack & Defend, Co-op Campaign, Assassination, and Conquest. Multiplayer mode supports up to sixteen players, when "Dedicated Server" is selected during the match creation process, the host can sacrifice his ability to play and dedicate his connection fully to the other players to improve overall connection performance and reduce lag issues. With the use of the Dedicated Server option, up to sixteen players can compete in one match, excluding the hosts presence. Hosting a match on a Dedicated Server with all sixteen players also unlocks an achievement called "Master of Ceremonies" for the game. Each mode can also be customized, by changing options such as the number of respawns each player gets and restricting certain equipment and weapons. It is Rumored that a sequel Rainbow 6 Vegas:Bishop is in the works.
Plot
The player begins the game as newly appointed Rainbow team leader Logan Keller, with two squadmates, Gabriel Nowak and Kan Akahashi, on a mission in a Mexican border town in the year 2010. Joanna Torres, Rainbow's intelligence officer, briefs them on their mission; their objective is to arrest Irena Morales, a terrorist ringleader. As the team reaches its landing zone in a helicopter, Logan fast-ropes down first, but the helicopter and the rest of the team is forced to retreat as a rocket-propelled grenade barely misses them.
Separated from his squad, Logan fights his way through the terrorist-infested streets and meets up with Gabriel and Kan at an old Spanish church, their alternate landing zone. After infiltrating a train yard and freeing a group of hostages, Rainbow eventually makes their way to a mine where Irena is hiding. After eliminating Irena's guards, they attempt to arrest her; however, Irena triggers a set of hidden explosives, caving in the roof and burying Logan under a pile of rubble. Gabriel and Kan are overwhelmed and captured by terrorist reinforcements.
As Logan regains consciousness, he finds his weapons and goggles missing. Alone, and armed only with a pistol at first, Logan fights his way through an abandoned factory, eventually escaping with Jo in Rainbow's helicopter. Logan never finds Gabriel or Kan.
Domingo Chavez has a conversation with the new team leader about the incident, instructing him to handle a new crisis in Las Vegas. Logan objects, insisting that he search for his lost squad mates instead; Chavez, however, surmises that the Las Vegas incident and Irena's activity may be too closely related to be a simple coincidence.
Upon reaching Las Vegas, Logan is taken outside of the terrorist-controlled Calypso Casino where he meets with his new team: Michael Walters, a British demolitions expert specializing in heavy weapons, and Jung Park, a Korean Reconnaissance and electronics expert. The team infiltrates the Calypso Casino, clearing out the terrorists and rescuing a group of hostages from being executed on camera. Once they clear out the Casino, they must rescue Doctor Philipp Smythe, a NATO weapons researcher. After a brief gun battle, Rainbow extracts with Doctor Smythe, who tells waiting FBI agents that another weapons researcher, Dr. Williams, has also been captured. Rainbow takes on the case.
Rainbow is taken to the Red Lotus, a Chinese restaurant, in order to rescue reporter Trish Gracy, who was held hostage after an interview went wrong. Once the team clears out the restaurant and rescues Trish, she informs them that the terrorists are using a news van as a communications hub. Rainbow makes their way down Fremont Street and eventually reaches the van. Jung hacks into the system while Logan and Michael fend off a wave of attacking terrorists. Afterwards, Michael places a demolition charge on the van, destroying the hub. The team is then extracted via helicopter and taken to rescue Dr. Williams.
Rainbow is dropped on the Vertigo Spire, a luxury hotel along the likes of the Stratosphere. The team finds and rescues Dr. Williams from the terrorists, and he informs the team of two bombs, one which destroys the top floors of a building across the way, and the other a micro-pulse bomb that was placed in the Vertigo, which Michael disarms after the team searches a few floors down from where Dr. Williams was rescued. Rainbow is then extracted to locate Gabriel and Kan.
The team is dispatched to Dante’s Casino, still under construction, and clears the roof. During this roof clearing, a bell in the tower falls, causing tremendous damage and a fire in the lower floors. In Dante's Arcade, the team finds and frees Gabriel, who is extracted despite his insistence that he fights alongside the squad. While searching the construction area, Rainbow finds Kan engaged in a firefight, who is fatally shot in an attempt to warn the team about an ambush before the team can reach him. Dying, Kan reveals that the attack in Las Vegas is a distraction, and Irena's terrorists are planning a far bigger attack.
The team proceeds to the theater to hack a terrorist server. Irena's target is revealed to be the Nevada Dam (very similar to the Hoover Dam), a hydroelectric dam on the Colorado River. Rainbow then heads to the roof and extracts.
Rainbow descends onto a bridge in front of the dam where an officer informs Logan of the terrorists' bomb on the bridge in the tourist center. The team makes their way to the second story of the bridge where Michael defuses the bomb with three seconds remaining. They then fast-rope via safety cables to the bottom of the dam and enter the dam to save a hostage who informs them that the dam will buckle under the pressure of the lake. He tells them that they can relieve the pressure by using an emergency release valve. Once the dam pressure crisis is resolved, the team proceeds further into the dam and finds that it is a weapons research lab, where Doctors Smythe and Williams inform the team the terrorists have a micro-pulse missile on top of the dam.
Logan presses forward, confronting Irena Morales herself and shooting her in the chest, fatally wounding her. With her last breath, Irena taunts Logan; while she may die, her partner will continue the fight against Rainbow. Finally, the team heads to the top of the dam and plant a charge on the missile to detonate it in mid-air, without triggering the micro-pulse payload.
Logan receives a transmission from Gabriel, who tells him that he is Irena's mole. Furious, Logan rushes to the chopper to see Jo and Brody Lukin, the pilot, kicked out of the helicopter, Brody unconscious. The team must protect Jo and Brody from a small group of terrorists.
As Logan, Michael and Jung rush to their fallen comrades, Gabriel attempts to escape with an enemy pilot. Logan can let this happen or he can fire a few shots at the helicopter, which eventually causes it to crash. Logan explains the situation, and the team is sent out to find the organization behind Irena's and Gabriel's terrorist attacks. When the mission completes, the words "To Be Continued" appear on the screen, inferring a sequel. The credits roll while news is broadcasted about the situation. If Logan shot at the helicopter, the news will say that only the body of the pilot was found, implying that Gabriel survived.