Viva Las Vegas

I've never been to Vegas. Don't care to. It's just too bright and loud for my tastes, not to mention expensive. However, for sixty bucks, I not only get to go to Vegas, but I get to fly around in a helicopter, and shoot grimy terrorists. Is this a trip worth taking? The answer, of course, is yes.

Having never played any of the previous Rainbow Six titles for more than thirty seconds, I couldn't begin to give you comparisons, so let's base this on its own merits.

The story, such as it is, is that you're Logan Keller, member of the Rainbow Six squad, which is three rather than six. You start off chasing terrorists in Mexico, as that seems to be Tom Clancy's terrorist destination of choice for the moment. But of course, something goes wrong in Mexico, and two of your squadmates are lost. Instead of staying to save your team, you're sent to Vegas to fend off terrorists there, who have essentially taken the city hostage. There's a lot more to it than this, but it's all very Tom Clancyish, with lots of little twists and turns, and military and political undertones, and we really don't need to delve into it any further.

The fact is, you play this for the game. RSV is not what one would call fast paced, at least not in the sense that we're used to with games like Halo and Gears of War. This is squad based combat, and realistically so. While the goal is to kill the enemy as in every other first person shooter, it is just as, if not more important to outthink your enemy.

When you're dropped off in Mexico, you're a lone ranger, stuck with only your wits and your tactical map, which gives you a map of your area and marks enemies, allowing you to strategize before you attack. This is essentially training to give you a feel for the controls, and familiarize you with your HUD and maps and such. You'll quickly find why the achievements for simply completing a level are worth so much in this game. Enemy A.I. is a strong suit of this game, and they're prepared to dish out as much as they can take. While you're trying to sneak around and kill them without being detected, they're busy flanking you, and taking up tactical positions where they can hit you and you can't do the same.

The key to all this is much like Gears of War, but a lot harder. Almost anything allows you cover at the press of a button, and you can peak out and take a shot, or try your luck at taking time to aim. Good luck with that. RSV has a health system of sorts: if you're hit once, your screen begins to go red, if you're hit again, it goes grey, and more often than not, if you're hit again, you're toast. Also, one good headshot from an enemy will kill you in one shot, so proceed with caution.

Once you get about halfway through Mexico, you meet up with your team, and it's like a little slice of heaven to have a little bit of help. Your order your team to areas by basically pointing and clicking, and you can order them to assault or go stealth. They can also toss grenades, clear out rooms, fire at a specific target, etc. Of course, with great friends comes great responsibility to those friends. Your comrades will fall in battle, and you'll sometimes have to put yourself in harm's way to heal them, so use caution before you just send them charging into a room. If they die, it's mission over. If they're wounded, you have only a short amount of time to heal them before their wounds become mortal.

The developers went to great pains to make all this as easy as possible, and should be given a big pat on the back for doing so. The controls are tight and responsive, and giving orders and directing your team is easy to master.

Here's where one problem exists. The Mexico level. The problem here is that the second you put the game in, you're ready to go to Vegas, but you have to make your way through Mexico, which after a while, seems like it takes forever. You feel like you're battling just to get to the next level. Each checkpoint, helpfully pointed out on your tactical map, seems to farther and farther from the last, but be brave, and you'll get through it.

Now, to Vegas. While the graphics were stunning in Mexico, they are breathtaking in Vegas. As the helicopter flies over, and you get your mission briefing, and see the city sprawling out before you, you're not only floored, but totally ready to take the battle to the terrorists. It's great for atmosphere. Likewise, character models are great, and watching your team in action is like watching a military training video. No notable flaws in the graphics.

The sound is authentic, with very little music, except in the more action packed sequences. It's appropriate for the situation, and non intrusive, just enough to get your adrenaline pumping.

Of course, the weapons and gadgets can't go unmentioned. The weapons, from pistols to submachine guns to shotguns, are the real deal, and fully customizable, as far as reality will let you. You can put scopes on weapons, and silencers to give you that extra tactical edge. You can also pick up weapons off of enemies, which you will need to do at certain points. Not to mention frag grenades, smoke grenades, and incediary grenades. Also, to help you out, scattered throughout levels are outfitting stations, where you can reload, restock, and customize or change your weapons.

The gadgets are pure Tom Clancy. Heat vision, night vision, snake cams, all the stuff that a good stealth soldier needs, and it's all got a practical use. For example, toss a smoke grenade and use your heat vision to see through the fog and pick off your enemies. Use a snake cam to mark an enemy as a priority kill.

So moving on. In Vegas, you'll sneak your way through hotels, casinos, the works. Of course, no good tactical game would be complete without rappelling now would it? Some of the most incredible visuals are delivered as you're rappelling down the side of a building. Also, you can invert rappel, which really has no use other to look cool shooting upside down. You'll also get to crash through windows, taking your enemies by surprise. It's all great fun.

And that's about the way to sum this game up. It's great fun. At first it seems hard and slow going, but soon you'll be dripping sweat as you sneak around a corner to pick off that terrorist, only to find that you've stirred up a whole bunch of them, all with eyes only for you. The tactical gameplay is incredibly addictive, offering one of the best military game offerings likely to come out this year, or even next.

On to multiplayer now. As anyone who reads my stuff knows, I'm not much on the whole multiplayer thing. The co op version of RSV is, in my mind, relatively lame. Other reviews would tell you different, but I just don't care for it. The problem I find is that co op seems surprisingly harder than going solo. Your team consists of whoever wants to play with you, and that's a problem. In the single player, if you order a team to open a door and clear a room with a frag grenade, they open the door slightly, toss the grenade, close the door, let the grenade blow, then leap into the action. In multiplayer, all that's up to you, and you just can't pull that off as well as the AI can. The non co op multiplayer is more fun, as outthinking your opponents is a blast when dealing with real people.

Here's the deal: With awesome graphics, killer gameplay, and a decent multiplayer, you've got one great package here. Yes it's hard. Yes it's kind of linear, but it'll keep you busy, and that's what makes this a solid buy at full price.

Rainbow Six Vegas is Rated M, and rightfully so, with coarse language and general realistic violence. There's no gore, but if you hit someone, or are hit yourself, the blood spraying on nearby walls is pretty gruesome, so this isn't for the younger set.