Full Review

1 December 2006 - Rainbow Six has been around for a while, so what makes Ubisoft think it has the answer this time around? Pocket-lint headed off to Vegas (virtually) to find out.

To cut to the chase if you liked Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior last year then you're going to love Rainbow Six Vegas. While the games are different in many ways, Rainbow Six Vegas is GRAW in the city.

This time the action, as you might have guessed by the title, has moved to Vegas complete with the Strip, lights, gambling and of course the casinos. Although starting off in Mexico you eventually head off to the playground for adults and that's where the real fun begins.

As with previous titles this isn't just about you and this time around rather than the usual three guys to follow and order about there are just two. Additionally, unlike previous versions where you've had full control over the members of your squad and the chance to plan intricate moves now its all done on the fly. Your two squad members are joined at the hip so you don't have to worry about sending them to multiple doors to breach and clear effectively.

With only two to control it’s a whole lot easier and there is nothing better than sending in the troops before you go in yourself. Call it cowardly, but Rainbow Six Vegas is one tough cookie with save points few and far between. On Realistic mode you've got about a shot, maybe two before your dead.

Whether you opt for Normal or Realistic, get shot and it all starts to go downhill, the screen blurs and then caught in a daze chances are, more often than not, the bad guys will finish you off, and they're clever little buggers at that.

Keen to flank you where possible, the bad guys AI is good although not perfect - we found ourselves in a room of hostages and rather than take them out the one lone bad guy we didn't nail was busy trying to kill us. Had it realised that killing the hostages would have resulted in us having to restart at the beginning of the level and we know what we would have done.

Get past the scenery, which is stunning, and the realism in the weapons will have any gun fan reeling with excitement. Not only is there plenty to choose from, but you also get to customise sights to appeal to your taste and choose whether your a light machine or assault rifle kind of gamer.

Being the first outing on a next gen platform for the series, the graphics won't disappoint. Whether it's on the streets of Mexico or the close quarters of a casino in Vegas there is, if you have time, plenty to look at.

There is nothing like invert abseiling down the side of a building about to break through a window to clear the room and clocking the Eiffel Tower rising out of the Paris hotel out of the corner of your eye.

Get bored of the single player missions and there is the multiplayer to master with all its gaming modes. Owners of the Xbox live vision camera will also be pleased to hear they can use the camera to map their face on to their online character. It's a great little personal touch and once more gamers get the camera, you're likely to see more of this in multiplayer rooms around the globe.

Gaming modes range from most kills to working with three friends in a co-op mode and even on launch day there appears to be plenty of options and players to challenge.

VERDICT
Stunning is probably the best word to describe Rainbow Six Vegas. It's quick, there are plenty of options around the maps rather than the tunnel effect found in Call of Duty 3 and it's graphically tasty and there are some lovely features like the duck and cover move found in Gears of War.

If you are a fan of GRAW then this will suit you to the ground - a bit of close quarters combat never did anyone any harm. Even if your not, and like a bit of gun touting action this is definitely worth a look.

A must have for the console.