Rainbow Six: Vegas for Xbox 360

I have always been a fan of the Tom Clancy games. From Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell these games bring the spying, the creeping, and the jungle all to the table in an incredible way. My first experience with Rainbow Six was back on the original Xbox with Rainbow Six 3 and I have been hooked ever since.

My friend purchased Rainbow Six Vegas three months ago for the 360 and from the moment we began playing we knew he made a quality purchase. The graphics were stunning, the controls were simple, and the levels made us feel like we were shooting down terrorists in everybody!|s favorite sin city. Pretty much everything that makes this franchise awesome was once again made into a game but this time we were not fighting the terrorists in Colombia or Paris we were stopping their terrible deeds in a place we could relate to, Vegas. Plus once we found out about the ability to propel down walls and then shoot and break through windows we were so much happier. The only drawback was when we first started playing we noticed the very vulgar words escaping the terrorists mouth as we snuck up on them. Thankfully we had the option to turn off the language to avoid my friend!|s 6 year old niece from hearing the words. Swearing is a trend that is entering most games now but most of the time we are given the opportunity to turn it off. Let it be known though that the swearing obviously makes the game more realistic.

GAME PLAY

Rainbow six has always had incredible game play. The mission situations are tough and require us to use tactics. If you are looking for a run and shoot game this is not the one for you. You have to move quickly but not quickly enough to alert the enemy or they will call more enemies and then you are in trouble. This installment is situated in Vegas and many of the buildings and levels will look familiar. This game is squad base to perfection. Sure you can try and sneak around by yourself but the more you learn to use your team the more likely you are to succeed. The game is very realistic in comparison to games such as Halo. In other words do not expect to play with a body shield. If you get hit by a machine gun do not expect to live long. The weapons are real guns, grenades and scopes that any swat team and terrorist would use. Do I need to even mention that this game has online capabilities? Nothing is better than taking on the terrorists with a bunch of other swat teamers from across the globe.

GRAPHICS

Rainbow six Vegas has stunning visuals for single player. Plus the short cinematics that have always been great are once again spectacular. I say the graphics are stunning for single player because the graphics weaken slightly for multiplayer but it is more noticeable when you play online. The graphics are much weaker online but that does not mean do not play it online because the game play is so much more fun online. The main reason I believe the graphics are weaker online is so that the game is less likely to lag. The graphics for single player make up for all the draw backs online.

SOUND

You can hear the water drop from the broken pipes. You can hear the terrorists converse through doors. When you begin shooting at them you can hear them run and scream and call for back up as they prepare to counter. You can hear your teammate!|s breath after a close encounter with the enemy. The glass shatters as you break though it. The last words of the enemy as the sounds of the bullets blow out his knee are "M***** F*****." The sounds make this game just as intense as the missions and they make you feel as you are actually there in Vegas taking on the terrorists yourself. Nothing beats the sounds of Rainbow Six.

MULTIPLAYER

One awesome trait of Rainbow Six is the ability to take on the enemies with your best friend sitting next to you. You can complete all the missions in Vegas in Co-op mode. There is something about online play that makes games so much more fun. It is hard to put it into words but games are always fun online. However there are two drawbacks to multiplayer: 1-The graphics are worse with multiplayer and 2-You can not have 4 people on one TV and one 360. In fact you have to have multiple 360's and Rainbow Six Vegas for each box to play a LAN game with local friends. One TV = one 360 which = only one person on the TV. This is a sad truth I learned with Rainbow Six 3. Until I can play Rainbow Six like I can Halo with one 360 and 4 people on one TV I will never be able to give the Rainbow Six franchise a perfect score.

Over all Rainbow Six Vegas is an incredibly well done game with great graphics, great game play, great sound, great replay value and extremely fun online play. Online play makes the game have replay value. The story is simple; stop the terrorists from destroying Vegas by any means possible. The new Feature to this game is the ability to propel down and grapple up certain walls to eliminate terrorists close to windows.

Rainbow Six Vegas is rated M for mature due to Blood, Strong Language, Intense Terrorist Situations and the plain fact that this game would not be realistic without being an M game. Rainbow Six Vegas is the best installment of this franchise to date.