Rainbow Six Vegas Review

There will be quite a few gadgets you can you use to get through those tricky situations in Rainbow Six: Vegas. Flash bangs, smoke grenades, frag grenades, C-4, a ton of different weapons, oh yeah, and the bulletproof shield. You are going to like the bulletproof shield, if not for the shear novelty of it. You could base multiplayer games just around this shield. In the single player it's a lot of fun to use. It is almost the antithesis of the energy sword from Halo. The ultimate defense opposed to the ultimate offense. You will also have Thermal goggles for night vision and snake cam for peeping under doors. All these items add very little to complexity of the game but add lots of fun.

The multiplayer, which has always been a staple of this series, certainly doesn't disappoint here. Online you will find, among other modes, a 4 player co-op. Although the single player campaign is great, 4-player co-op just plain rocks. Now you can play the missions with your buddies on the mic. You can coordinate things perfectly and never complain about stupid squad AI again. Now you can complain about your stupid buddies instead. Great fun.

The rest of the multiplayer is just as great. Team play modes are especially worthwhile and the new mode Attack and Defend is a great reason to get online. Attack and Defend involves one team trying to retrieve a case from inside a casino and the other team trying to prevent it. Pulse-pounding is the word of the day here. This can be game of inches. You making your final dash to the goal and them trying to prevent you, or visa versa.

If you play on Xbox Live enough, you will be able to unlock new gear, weapons and outfits to stand out from the rest of the crowd. You really want to stand out? This game support face mapping. Yes, you can put your face on characters in the game. It works. It's also kind of twisted. But that's just me.

Overall, there is very little wrong with this game. If there is one 'problem' it could be the learning curve for new player. Veterans of the Rainbow Six series should have no problem getting into the swing of things but newcomers to the series might be turned off from the moderate learning curve. From the great single player campaign the wide variety of multiplayer options, you should find every dollar you spend on this game well worth it, and then some. This is the best Rainbow Six game ever made. On top of that, this is one of the best 360 games to date. Only problem I see, where do you take the series after it's been to Vegas? (I would assume to see a doctor for a large dose of antibiotics like every other tourist who returns from a Vegas vacation. -Ed)