"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas"
After a few minor delays, "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas" for the PlayStation 3 is here, and it delivers big time just as the Xbox 360 version did for that console.
This modern tactical shooter is one of the best Tom Clancy games for the PlayStation 3 to date. Overall, the game plays very similar to another Tom Clancy game, "Splinter Cell," also on the PlayStation 3.
In this latest install of Rainbow Six, you play as Logan Keller, the leader of the elite counterterrorism assault team, taking the fight to the terrorists in the city of Las Vegas. One drawback I encountered was the actual storyline of the game. The game is titled "Rainbow Six Vegas" but you have to start out on missions in Mexico. It's not a huge letdown or problem, it's just that you would expect the storyline to start in Las Vegas.
Graphics is one area where "Vegas" makes its money. There is a massive amount of detail on the characters and area locations, which really takes advantage of the PS3 engine.
What's interesting about the controls is the ability to seek cover on walls, or basically anything that you can hide behind. When you are near an object and you hold down the cover button, it takes your character and forces him to "hug" the object in a sense.
Take a wall, for example: your character places his back to the wall giving the game a third person perspective. It adds another dimension to gameplay and is a really handy feature.
As far as difficulty goes, there are two settings, default and realistic mode. In realistic mode you have less of an ability to absorb hits from your enemies. There are no health meters or bars, which means you're only true indication of how much health you have left is by the blur on the screen.
As you get hit by enemy bullets, the screen blurs to the point where you die. Enemy AI is fairly intelligent as they use cover when possible, which is another cool feature about the game.
"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas" is a great game, truly one of the best overall shooters available. The multiplayer option makes this a solid game. It features 20 multiplayer maps and 10 game modes, introducing 10 all new multiplayer maps and two game modes not found in the title's previous versions. All of this translates to tons of fun.
"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas" is rated "T" for Teen (content suitable for ages 13 or older) and is available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation Portable gaming systems.