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What pushes the game out from the slow lumbering tactical shooter genre is the addition of the third-person cover system. By pressing in on the left-trigger you instantly stick onto the nearest piece of cover. Pressing the movement stick puts you in position to fire, or if you prefer you can just blind-fire around a corner by pressing the right trigger.
There's been a lot of discussion about how this gameplay element would work both in single-player and multiplayer, most of it negative. Yet, during my romps around Las Vegas I never once felt like it "broke" the spirit of Rainbow Six. If anything playing a shooter without a cover system now feels alien. Being able to hustle into and out of cover at the tap of a button allows you to move through the outdoor segments with the same speed and excitement as the room-to-room sections. We've finally gotten out of the office buildings!
Yet, despite ten hours of the city of neon sin, I couldn't tell you about any truly memorable firefights. After a while I recognized a pattern of outdoor cover-to-cover segments followed by a few room-to-room shoot-outs. It's not that the levels were so drab as to lack personality; it's just that the city itself felt devoid of life despite being one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. Save for one area I never saw any tax payers on vacation. It feels like a missed opportunity to do something new with the tactical shooter genre.
So if single-player is an average length romp through a seemingly never ending wave of English-speaking terrorists… what else is there? Three little words: Persistent Elite Creation. When you go online to play Rainbow Six Vegas you first have to setup a virtual avatar. Think Barbie's Dress Up in 3D. Only with tactical shotgun modifications. Actually, playing around with camouflage color schemes and body armor was such fun that it's a wonder this feature wasn't integrated into the single-player.
If you own the Xbox Live Vision Camera now is the time to dust it off. With two quick snapshots you can import your head into the game. I saw this technology demonstrated years ago at E3 and it's great to see it finally integrated into a game. Considering the terrible lighting in my gaming room I was rather pleased with the results. There are still some issues with some players not being able to see your ugly mug, but they are said to have been addressed in the patch.
Yes, that patch. The one that Ubisoft is hoping clears up numerous issues players have been having with voice chat during online multiplayer. There are still some lingering issues when playing online, but none more damaging than the lack of true clan support. As it is now players are ranked individually. Unlike Halo 2 there is no way to get a group of players together and go online and battle other groups in dynamic matchmaking.
Instead you'll have to hope that the host of a ranked match hasn't turned off your favorite weapons, hasn't set a map/player count they can't support, won't set the round timer to a ludicrous number, and doesn't decide to kick you before the round ends just so they can get more experience points. Oh, my kingdom for more experience points!
These innocent sounding experience points (separate from your skill ranking in ranked matches) are what keep players coming back to online matches. With these you rank up your P.E.C. With each new military rank come new goodies to customize your character. I tried out several of the “easy exploits” and if there are any complaints to be raised against the P.E.C. it's at how long it takes to legitimately earn new items. However, those looking for a game with legs online will view this as a good thing.
Beyond connection issues and lame hosts there's only good to be found in the multitude of online modes. If you hate playing with others you can battle AI-powered terrorists in Terrorist Hunt, gamers with friends can tackle the full single-player game in four player co-op, or conversely gamers with enemies can go head-to-head in several versus settings. Each one of these modes is backed up by solid map design that highlights the best things in the gameplay, i.e. cover and gadgets.
Those who love big action in their single-player shooters won't find it in a game that pushes making split-second tactical decisions over and over. Yet, gamers who enjoy playing online will find nothing but gold between customizable avatars and numerous game modes. Depending on your play style, this is where Rainbow Six Vegas will either bust or take home the jackpot.
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