Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

In the era of first person shooters when health and armor were measured in percentages and demonic fireballs were your enemies’ feared weapon of choice, Rainbow Six offered something completely different. Tactical squad-based combat in the first person perspective was a bit of a revelation at the time and remains rather unique even today. But the series hasn’t managed to keep itself cutting edge as of late; the most recent in the series was met with a muted response. Vegas is Ubisoft’s attempt to revitalize Rainbow Six and place it back atop the action ‘A’ list. Vegas’ fun is somewhat short-lived, but Ubisoft mostly succeeds in its effort. For better or worse, Vegas’ single player ends up feeling like a compilation of greatest gameplay hits from Ubisoft. But with the inclusion of one heck of an online portion, you end up with a rather full-bodied package overall.

You are John Keller, a squad leader amongst the Rainbow Six, a multi-national force of anti-terrorism special operatives - the best of the best. While tracking a terrorist in Mexico, your team is ambushed and your teammates taken hostage. You cannot finish this job, however, as Las Vegas comes under siege by a terrorist organization. Vegas is priority and you’re whisked off, teamed up with new mates, and sent into action. Before long, it is revealed that the same terrorist you were tracking in Mexico is responsible for the siege in Vegas, thus requiring you to not only rout the threat, but also recover your hostage teammates. But not all is as it seems: per your typical Tom Clancy-esque storyline, there are twists and turns along the way.

The story offers more intrigue than your regular videogame fare with Ubisoft clearly making an effort here. The presentation of the story moves away from cinematics and towards implementing the narrative during actual gameplay. For instance, video feeds are piped in through your visor during real time gameplay. The closest the game comes to cinematics is during the level transitions while flying about in a helicopter, but even then it’s all in the first person. The techniques and methodology are clever and sound in premise, but there’s a kind of disconnect keeping you from relating to the characters or the story’s premise. This might be due to the inherent story-telling flaw of first person shooters - you rarely, if ever, see your character’s face and what you do see of your teammates isn’t all that impressive what with their they’re marionette-like lip synching.

It also doesn’t help that the voice acting is trying to play it straight but comes off rather comical. Rainbow Six is comprised of international members, each with a distinct accent, yet they all speak English (or, in your Japanese teammates’ case, Engrish). For one thing, unless you’re immediately familiar with the series, it’s completely bizarre hearing chatter from a couple of guys with an Aussie and Japanese accent. Secondly, this whole international swat team concept strikes me as totally goofy, something like Team America except they’re not trying to be funny. I guess it is just not my cup of tea and most players are not likely to even notice. I’m just mildly disappointed that a story with such promise falls short due to bad presentation.

As mentioned above, the gameplay in Vegas is one part first-person shooter, one part squad-based tactical combat. Vegas does a generally great job of getting both right, especially the ease with which issuing commands to your teammates is handled. Despite the heavy emphasis on ordering your teammates around, the core shooting action is great. There’s an impressive amount of firearms available, each with distinct characteristics. You can adjust your payload in between missions and at equipment boxes strewn about the levels. Mind you, what weapons you carry from level to level doesn’t matter much; you can get by with just the standard stuff you’re outfitted with. But you’re going to want to try out all the weapons just because they look so cool. Likewise, you can customize your guns with various different scopes that are not necessary but are fun to play with! When triggered, the guns light up with what might be just a bit too much muzzle flash, but it looks fantastic nonetheless. When fired, the guns jerk about violently with an overall effect of barely-controlled chaos. Terrorists, when shot, actually look as though they’ve been shot, reload animations are especially slick, glass will crumple and shatter, slot machines will chatter and spew coins, debris from shot objects flies about, and smoke, frag, and incendiary grenades detonate in fine fashion. That’s a lot of flash for a ‘brainy’ shooter. It’s not F.E.A.R’s orgy of matrix like effects, mind you, but the gunplay is impressive anyhow.

As per just about every notable Xbox 360 action game, there’s also a cover system in place here. By simply pulling and holding down the left trigger, the camera zooms out into third person as your character sticks to just about any object. You’re able to blind fire and peak out of cover for reticule assisted aiming, just like Gears of War. But unlike Gears of War, you can’t do much else. Still, the cover system matters because death comes very quickly in Vegas, which is typical for the series. Only a few bullets will get you, and if you’re caught point blank, you’re done lickety-split. Slipping into and out of cover works nearly flawlessly, it’s realistic, it looks great, it’s fun, and ultimately a very welcome addition.

The solid shooting foundation is supplemented by a full-fledged squad command system. This is where the game truly shines. The levels are structured to be conducive to strategy: buildings and environments are built with multiple entry points. Guiding your two teammates to these entry points is a major part of getting the job done. By simply pointing at a door, you can command your teammates to ‘stack up’ on it. Once they’re there you can then issue various commands of entry and attack, such as placing a charge on the door then entering or throwing in an explosive then entering. Before doing so you can approach any door yourself and use a snake cam to clandestinely survey the room and note the location of terrorists. There’s a matching breach tactic for each situation. For instance, if there are hostages, the best method is to throw in a flash grenade and stun all occupants before entering. Clearly, there is an element of thoughtful planning before jumping into action. What’s more, choosing the best stratagem has real consequences (as it should) and will determine how smoothly things go once the plan is executed.

The post-strategy action, aside from the gunplay, is often thrilling. Entry points aren’t just limited to doorways. You’re also able to rappel down the sides of buildings and “fast rope” down short distances, like sliding down a fire station pole very quickly. Imagine being on a roof with a skylight in the middle. Off to the side there’s a rappel point leading to the windows one floor down. >From the skylight you observe multiple terrorists in the room below. You command your teammates to stack up over the skylight and get ready to fast rope down. You, on the other hand, rappel down the side of the building, turn yourself upside down, draw your pistol, lower yourself until you can just barely see the room through the windows, and wait. You then command your teammates to fast rope in. They shatter through the skylight above and drop in the midst of the terrorists. A firefight breaks out. Taking advantage of the distraction, you start firing into the terrorists. Before it ends, you push off the side of the building and swing back through the window breaching the room yourself, and then seamlessly draw your assault rifle to finish off the last terrorist. Simply awesome. There’s something more than a little superhero-ish about the whole event, makers of the next Batman game take note. It could have unfolded differently as well. You could have, for instance, ordered your teammates to take the stairwell and breach the doorway while you sniped from the spotlight. By choosing an effective method, it is possible to completely destroy a group of terrorists in seconds flat. Suffice to say that once things get rolling, it’s a thrill, albeit a short-lived thrill.

Bizarrely, these gameplay attractions become repetitive before you’ve completed the story mode. Mind you, there are action set pieces meant to spice things up. For instance, terrorists occasionally burst through skylights and fast rope down in an ambush. But the usual formula repeats itself just a little too often: move to room, stack up teammates at door, move to another door, breach, and repeat. Furthermore, there really aren’t enough action set pieces or, my main complaint, enough scenarios of the like in the previous paragraph. By the end of the game you’ll wish there was more of the good stuff because there just isn’t enough. Having said that, this criticism is also praise for how good the good stuff really is.

It seems Ubisoft loves Xbox Live. Splinter Cell Double Agent’s multiplayer almost comprised a game unto itself. Here, too, the online multiplayer is fleshed out and built up just short of a separate release. To begin with, there’s an online story co-op mode with up to four players. Given the single player mode is built entirely around group play, playing with four friends online fits like a glove. Of course, you give up the ability to command your teammates directly and without question, but real time strategizing with voice commands to real people is more than worth the trade off. In short, it’s a lot of fun. There’s also the Terrorist Hunt mode that places you and up to three other friends on smallish maps populated with terrorists. The goal: clear the map of all enemies (think GRAW’s online campaign maps but subtract the story-based objectives). This mode doesn’t offer much besides just another challenge, but with friends there is some modicum of fun. There is also a single player version that is basically useless; with just you and no AI friendlies to command, the gameplay is functionally debilitated.

Then there’s your adversarial multiplayer. As expected, it includes six game types structured around your classic capture the flag, team and solo deathmatch archetypes. Attack and Defend is a notable variant on capture of flag. In it, you either defend or retrieve an objective and return it to your start point. Simple in premise as always, but specific maps (10 in all) have specific challenges. In one map you may be retrieving a bomb. In another you may be retrieving a few hostages, each in a different location, with each having to be escorted back to the starting point without being killed. Little variations like this keep things uniquely interesting. All of the combat attractions from single player carry over here including the cover system. It’s just as fun using multiple entry points to get the jump on your opponents here as in single player. There’s also the very nice touch of your online avatar lip-synching as you chat with your teammates.

But the real star of the online multiplayer is the experience-based system they’ve structured around it. Called “Persistent Elite Creation”, you can build a ‘persistent’ avatar over time. It is essentially an experience (xp) points-based system. By playing, you earn xp points. You gain xp points regardless of how well you do, but the better you play the more xp points you earn. By earning more xp points, you progress up a military-style ranking system (i.e. private first class, major, captain, etcetera). The ranks aren’t just for show: with each rank earned you unlock new equipment to outfit your avatar (such as body armour and firearms). As you may have gathered, what’s so great about this system is that it has real gameplay consequences; just about every piece of equipment has measurable properties. You’ll be able to dress your avatar in protective equipment from head to toe, some with greater defensive properties than others. You’ll also be able to equip your avatar with better guns, some more powerful or accurate than others. Despite the fact that no player will be able to completely overpower his lower ranking competitors by virtue of superior equipment, this system is a huge motivator to keep playing and getting better in online matches. It seems like such a simple idea, but I don’t recall any other console multiplayer mode offering something quite like this.

Besides actual gameplay-centric unlockables, there’s also a good deal of superficial customization as well. You can adjust facial features, the pattern and colour of all the clothing, and also unlock pieces of clothing that are of no consequence whatsoever, like balaclavas, sunglasses, and hats. After meticulously crafting a bad-ass avatar, you’ll find yourself taking pride in the final product. Great stuff all around.

Visually, Vegas is no slouch. Your character models, for one, are rendered beautifully with the gunplay and a few instances of outdoor environments being real knockouts. But despite being quite impressive in all the usual categories, the graphics fall just short of the ‘wow’ factor too often. For instance, when you step out onto Fremont Street, an avenue that’s covered with a giant overhead video screen, you are shown a simple and dull undulating pattern instead of being treated to a fantastic light show. Likewise, although the game is set in the glitz and glam of Las Vegas, much of the game is surprisingly too dark for its own good. Sure, you’re supposed to make use of heat and night vision goggles, but these effects are old hat by now. Much of these criticisms, though, may be entirely due to Vegas’ near simultaneous release with Gears of War, which, frankly, is considerably better looking (if it wasn’t for this factor, Vegas would arguably be the best looking Xbox 360 game out there). Finally, there is also one last major annoyance: your health/death indicator. There’s got to be a better way of handling this. The indicator is a blurring, smearing visual effect that intensifies the closer you come to death. Neat idea, but it obscures the action too much. I am sure the effect was meant to create a sense of panic and physical distress, but it mostly frustrates the gamer instead.

The soundtrack is serviceable; it neither excites nor gets in the way. On the other hand, the sound design (aside from your characters’ voice acting) is excellent. Bullets ricocheting off all sorts of different objects are particularly impressive; unloading a clip unto a car unleashes an orchestral fury of pings and pangs. If an explosion goes off too close to you, your hearing will be reduced to little more than a high-pitched ringing. There are, however, some annoying glitches. The most notable is the games’ difficulty detecting what sounds originate behind cover and which should reach unimpeded. For instance, if a grenade goes off behind closed doors, naturally it would sound muffled. But often such sounds are oddly muffled even if you’re very close. Aside from the sound effects, conversations and battle speech are well implemented and decidedly of a mature nature (with more than a fair amount of expletives). It may seem like a small thing, but the adult language does a good job of setting the proper tone.