Sparkling environments
The ballistic shield is a great addition. By pressing your left trigger you bring the shield up in front of you and see the view of the environment through the narrow eye slot. In your right hand you carry a pistol that’s only suitable in close range attacks. As enemies pummel their bullets at you they’ll bounce off and need to be extremely accurate in taking you out. I found the shield ideal for use before you are entering a smaller room. There may be someone waiting in there for you to open the door, but surprising them with a shield means that they’ll have to be extremely accurate in their shooting to take you out and at close quarters you’ll have the advantage. They could always bounce a grenade at your feet though so watch out, it’s not totally indestructible.
Other devices on offer include the radar jammer (in multiplayer) which when activated will de-activate any GPS device in the area meaning that you won't be seen on the map, and if you're close to the objective point, their map marker will disappear.
Click for larger imageThe sixth game in the Rainbow series explodes onto the Xbox 360 with all the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas strip. Okay, so there are a bunch of terrorists who’ve landed right in the middle of Sin City that turns this gambler’s paradise into a tense war zone, but Ubisoft’s Montreal studio have done an exemplary job in capturing the vibrancy of the city. From the interior of Calypso city, with the flashing slot machines and abandoned roulette tables to the spectacular view of the city from the roof of Vertigo Spire, the next-gen visuals capture the atmosphere with style and the fine details and design of the locations ensure that Rainbow 6: Vegas is the best looking game in the series so far.
Click for larger imageThe new sparkling environments are intricately detailed as you pass through rooms full of slot machines or computers, creep through the casino vault or control rooms, or head through the cluttered environments of the casino floors. Everything you shoot leaves a mark, every window will smash and every floor can be stained with human blood.
The map design in Rainbow 6: Vegas is exemplary. You can hide behind doorways, nestle in amongst the slot machines, find an office that had a view over an open area, camp on balconies in sniping positions or find a wall that offers a clear view down a long corridor. The amount of static objects littered around each of the maps allows you to move at a steady pace, from cover to cover, but the amount of routes available on the way to a set location ensure that you’ll constantly have to be on the look out all around you. Your team will always need to be close at hand should you get caught by surprise, and you will!
Despite all of the positives, the single campaign is short - it took me approximately 8 hours to complete – but the addition of these new devices aids tactical thinking and the mixture of smoke grenades, radio jammers, C4 explosives and the amount of weapons available gives the games huge replay value.
