Rainbow Six Vegas

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
Rainbow Six Vegas is the 5th game in the Rainbow Six franchise. Each time a new Rainbow Six game came out I passed on it, not being a big fan of squad based games in the past. Two things lead me to buying this game. First: it takes place in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is the perfect set up for a terrorist plot like the one the takes place in Rainbow Six. The second reason was the review it got by our friends over at the Video game Outsiders podcast. They all loved it. I was surprised how all three of them were in agreement about the game so I had to pick it up. At first you start off in a border town in Mexico with your two teammates. Don’t worry, your only outside of Vegas for a little while and what happens in this first mission gets you emotionally involved in the plot of the game.
The game has the look of Vegas down. It also has the look and sound of what you think terrorists would be like down pat too. This game is not for kids though. Terrorists swear more then I used to when I would get sniped on Halo 2 online. Trust me, its happens a lot.
It adds a lot to the feel of the game when your crouched down in a dark room and your ready to move and all the sudden you hear someone talking just over your shoulder or behind a door that is close by. The sound plays into the game as much as the graphics. It reminds me of how when you would play Metal Gear Solid and you would hear the bad guys talking...."hey what was that?" and stuff like that. Rainbow Six takes that all to the next level and makes the game so much better.
The multi player is as much fun if not more fun then the single player campaign mode. You have several options when you take Rainbow Six online. You can play co-op story mode, survival, co-op terrorist hunt and sharpshooter, which are fairly self explanatory. Then there are modes like Attack and Defend. In Attack and Defend one team defends an object, usually a briefcase and the other team attempts to retrieve the package and take it back to their base. It sounds like capture the flag and in ways it is, but it has a different feel to it then that. The maps on Rainbow Six also make it less of a grab and run situation and lead to more strategy on both teams parts.
Another added feature to online play is creating and improving your character. When you first go online you create a character. You give him/her a look that fits you and select his/her gear from what you have available. As you play online you get experience points which eventually move you up in rank as is if you were really part of the military. Each rank unlocks new weapons and armor. This just adds to the online play as your character changes the more you play.
Overall I think Rainbow Six Vegas is a great game. The single player game’s story is very entertaining and keeps you on the edge of your seat to the end and with the multi player getting two new game modes and a few new maps at the end of March, there is no reason why if you have a Xbox 360 you should not own this game.
(Rainbow Six Vegas also has a Windows version and a PSP version with others on the way)