Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

"If that was Vegas, then where was Elvis? (Single Player Review)"

The Rainbow Six name may not be familiar to a lot of people. If not, don't worry. By and large, it was never a series worth caring about. Released exclusively for the PC, most of the games suffered from an excess of problems and were ignored by the general gaming populace. However, since the release of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter the Tom Clancy name has received a much needed overhaul. With Vegas, it is pretty clear that the new breed of Tom Clancy games deserves the triple-A status they're now associated with.

But if a person were to judge Vegas on its story alone (which I strongly discourage), the game wouldn't fare so well. It starts out in Mexico, where a mission goes wrong and only Logan Keller escapes. This small victory is short-lived, as a terrorist cell attacks Las Vegas and starts blowing up casinos. Desperate to get a handle on the situation, the government sends in Keller.

Since the game revolves around members of the elite Rainbow Six unit, Vegas is a very tactical and realistic game. Throughout its duration, Keller will almost always have two soldiers at his back and their AI is some of the best I've encountered. They take up firing positions, know when to cover, and take out hostiles with ruthless efficiency.

However, they're at their best when being told what to do by the player. The list of commands is pretty small and simple, but in terms of what can be done using them, it works great. Getting the unit to move to a certain location is as simple as aiming the targeting reticule and hitting a button. If you happen to order the squad to a context-sensitive area, such as a door, they will stack up outside it and await further commands. From there, players can devise some fairly complex strategies. Depending on what you've set the rules of engagement to (assault for kill everyone on sight, infiltration to wait until being fired upon), several other options will present themselves. For instance, in assault mode the squad can set up explosives on the door to blow it off its hinges, killing anyone behind it, or toss a grenade into the room. In infiltration mode, they can toss a flash-bang or smoke grenade.

Coming back to the tactical aspect of the game, it is essential that players scout out locations before taking actions. Simply going around blowing doors to pieces and chucking grenades into rooms can have disastrous effects. Thankfully, Logan has a cool little gadget that allows him to peek under doors before opening them. With his fiber-optic camera (or a snake cam, as the game calls it) he can check a room for enemies and get a glimpse of what strategic opportunities a room provides. It is also possible to tag up to two enemies for primary elimination.

After scouting out an area and deciding the best course of action, the fun really begins. When they're commanded to do so, the rest of the Rainbow Six unit will burst into the room, taking down hostiles seemingly without effort. Simply standing by and watching the action unfold is amazing, because the ally AI is so fluid and intelligent. Taking part in the action is even better. In all my years of gaming, I don't think I've ever found something quite as thrilling as executing a perfectly coordinated surprise assault that leaves every hostile dead without them firing a shot.

Of course, not every engagement will be hassle-free because the enemy AI is pretty damn ruthless. Thankfully, players have a cover mechanic to fall back on when the action heats up. At the press of a button, Logan will slide into cover and the camera will pull out from a first person perspective into a third person, allowing him to peek out of corners. From this position, Logan can also blind fire from cover, which is ineffective, but keeps enemies from closing in. Naturally, he can also duck out to aim, in which case the game shifts back into first person mode.

The shooting mechanics of Vegas are among the best I've ever seen, so much so that even a civilian dolt such as myself felt like an absolute bad-ass soldier while playing the game. Not only are they fluid, but they're spectacularly precise. Many games have problems with registering hits, but that's not a problem here (though it's important to remember that accuracy decreases with range). The shooting mechanics are so good that scoring headshots, even at range, is simple. Even better, it feels like you've actually accomplished something because of the games difficulty.

I've no doubts that the difficulty is something that will turn off some players. Make no mistake, Rainbow Six Vegas is ruthlessly realistic. The difficulty doesn't come from overpowered enemies; in fact it only takes a few well placed shots to put them down. The difficulty comes from the fact that a single flaw in a plan can lead to death. And even a perfect plan is no assurance of survival because like a real firefight, there's always an element of unpredictability.

Then there's the fact that Logan can only take a few shots before dying. Thankfully, his health does regenerate (if it didn't the game would be impossible to the average player) but that won't help if he gets caught out in the open, or at close range. Basically, the regenerating health only helps if you've stuck your head out and gotten winged, then jumped back into cover. Still, I have to say that the difficulty level is definitely in the favor of the game because if forces players to think tactically and plan their every move and doing so is rewarded.

Like any shooter, the weapons play a big role. And unlike other shooters, where anything gets the job done as well as anything else, players are forced to think tactically even when picking out their arsenal. Logan can only carry three weapons, two primary (such as a shotgun and assault rifle) and a pistol, as well as grenades. What weapons a player has plays a part in many factors of combat, as does how said weapons are customized. Yes, you read that correctly. Each weapon has a number of modifications to attach, mainly scopes and sights. A simple scope can give an assault rifle ridiculous range. Couple that with the fact that you can throw on a silencer and change the firing mode from full-auto to single shot at the press of a button, and an assault rifle can be turned into a sniper in no time at all. I have to say that this game has definitely rekindled my fascination with guns, and never before has any game illustrated just what a versatile implement the assault rifle is.

One issue that caused problems from beginning to end was the checkpoint system (there is no manual save option). More often than not, the checkpoints are simply spaced too far apart and force players to go through several big battles before reaching one. Naturally, dying just before you reach a checkpoint and having to fight your way through three rooms filled with bad guys is an enormous frustration.

Another really bad problem is the final part of the game. The last segment (around two hours worth of game time) is simply awful. All the design philosophy that worked so well up to the end game is thrown out the window and players are put into a parade of sequences that require more luck than actual skill. There are several “siege” scenarios where you lose one squad member because he's hacking something, forcing you to make do with only one extra man. On top of that, wave after wave of enemies are thrown at you from every direction, and any form of tactics is nearly impossible. This stupid breakdown of design does measurable damage to the overall experience, and ended up leaving a sour taste in my mouth when the credits finally rolled.

But graphically, Vegas excels. The environments are many and varied, as each casino players go into has its own look and feel. One has a Chinese motif, one is a hybrid of Egyptian and Roman influences and others take players to other locations. This is very nice, because typically the game doesn't stay in one location long enough for it to get boring. Character models are also very nice. It's a technically sound game as well, because the frame rate never dropped and there were no other weird glitches to be found. One irritation was the amount of advertising in the game. And it wasn't for numerous companies, just one auto manufacturer. It seemed like everywhere I went, there was one of their cars – In the segment where the team was moving up a street, every single car was made by this company and inside the casino there were several of them just sitting on pedestals. I tried to blow one up with a grenade but to no avail…

Vegas sounds pretty good too. The gunfire is definitely the highlight of the audio and if the volume is turned up just a tiny bit, deafening. Other elements are as great – voice acting is only passable. Music is irritating, but sometimes hilarious. Going through a massive firefight and barely escaping with your life, only to hear the casino's elevator music playing in the background is certainly… different. I also noticed several instances where sounds weren't quite right, such as a case of my team standing on one side of an open doorway, firing at an enemy. Standing just a foot or so away, on the other side of the door, the sound was muted and almost inaudible. Another case occurred in an open environment and a character was talking, but their voice echoed as if in a very small room. A final problem is the fact that there is no option for subtitles, which is a problem because ambient noise, music or gunfire often drowns out important dialog.

THE VERDICT
When it comes to tactical shooters, this should be your first (and quite possibly, only) stop. The game has practically everything a person could ask for – the shooting mechanics are as smooth as butter, the combat is tactically brilliant and the environments are interesting. Rainbow Six Vegas is so fun it almost makes me want to be a soldier. Almost, but not quite…

HIGHS
- Tactical, satisfying combat
- Fluid shooting mechanics

LOWS
- Bad checkpoint system
- Final levels
- No Elvis impersonator

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/09

Game Release: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (US, 11/20/06)