Rainbow Six Vegas review

The war on terror continues with a trip to the strip

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Taking down the terrorists is a test of patience rather than skill. Any object can be used as cover, and much like Miami Vice: The Game the idea is that you wait with your back up against something until an enemy shows himself before stepping out to pop him in the head. Enemies will always grow impatient and make the first move away from safety too, so you never have to break from your own cover to avoid a shootout stalemate. As if you needed any more help, you can lock on to a terrorist by pressing L and then get a more precise lock on to the head by hitting Triangle. It looks pretty slick and it's very satisfying when you spin out, cap an enemy and return to cover all in one move - it's just a pity that's all there is to do for the entire single-player game.

Later missions amp up the difficulty quite considerably though, and since objectives are divided into short sections designed for on-the-go gaming, it's back to the start for you if you screw things up rather than being bailed out by a nearby checkpoint save. The balance is about right to stop things getting too frustrating. As long as you stick to cover and bide your time, you won't have too many problems anyway.

Your reward for completing story missions is unlocking the throwaway Terrorist Hunt mode, which is basically just like normal missions but without cutscenes breaking things up. Survival and Team Survival modes are the sole multiplayer offerings, but the good news is you can play them online. The extras are still a bit half-hearted overall, though.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionClean the filth out of Vegas - one headshot at a time - in this deep, strategic and intense team-based shooter.
Franchise nameTom Clancy's Rainbow Six
UK franchise nameRainbow Six
Platform"PC","Xbox 360","PS3","PSP","PS2","Xbox"
US censor rating"Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen"
UK censor rating"16+","16+","16+","16+","16+","16+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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