Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas

Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal (360, PS3) / Ubisoft Quebec (PSP)
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Composer(s)	Paul Haslinger
Series	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Engine	Unreal Engine 3 (PC and consoles) Unreal Engine 2 (PSP)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360
Release	November 22, 2006 Xbox 360 NA: November 22, 2006 EU: December 1, 2006 Windows NA: November 28, 2006 EU: December 15, 2006 PSP NA: June 12, 2007 EU: June 28, 2007 PS3 NA: June 26, 2007 EU: June 28, 2007
Genre(s)	Tactical shooter, first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the sixth game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released for the Xbox 360 on November 21, 2006 and Windows on December 12, 2006. The PlayStation Portable version was released on June 12, 2007, while the PlayStation 3 version was released on June 26, 2007. The game's storyline follows a new team that is dispatched to Las Vegas, Nevada to defeat international terrorist Irena Morales and her army of mercenaries that is repeatedly attacking key locations in the city. A sequel developed by Ubisoft Montreal was released on Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 consoles in March 2008 and on PC in April 2008.^[1]

Gameplay

Rainbow Six Vegas changes the series with multiple new features, such as a new health system where the player regenerates health while not taking fire (it should be noted that the player may sometimes be killed instantly, without a chance to regenerate health; this usually happens from grenades, as well as taking close range fire from very powerful weapons, particularly to the head). The player's vision is greatly impaired while damaged, similar to the health system in Gears of War.^[2] Furthermore, a third-person view has been included for moments where players can blind-fire around corners to lay down suppression or covering fire.^[2] Other changes include a larger enemy presence and much tougher artificial intelligence,^[3] a shift in focus to where kills will be much harder to obtain, a reincarnated aiming system similar to the aiming system of the old Rainbow Six games and a context-sensitive D-pad based command system for the player's squad and sections of gameplay where the player will scale buildings and cause environmental damage. The player can also give voice commands using the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 headset,^[3] but team-mates are no longer audible through the headset.

There is no mission planning feature or save system, instead the game uses a checkpoint system.^[3] The developers also opted to almost entirely exclude cutscenes, telling the story through video feeds on a heads-up display. The player also has various skills, such as the ability to rappel up and down buildings while shooting and the ability to fast rope into an area.

Plot

In the year 2010, Rainbow operatives Logan Keller (Andrew Pifko), Gabriel Nowak (Thomas Michael) and Kan Akahashi (Dennis Akiyama) are on a mission in a Mexican border town, assisted by intelligence officer Joanna Torres (Athena Karkanis) and pilot Brody Lukin (Andrew Pifko). Their objective is to arrest Irena Morales (Amanda Martinez), a terrorist ringleader. As the team reaches its landing zone in a helicopter, Logan fast-ropes down first but is separated from his group.

Logan fights his way through the terrorist-infested streets and meets up with Gabriel and Kan at an old Spanish church. After infiltrating a train yard and freeing a group of hostages, Rainbow eventually makes their way to a mine where Irena is hiding. However, after a surprise attack, Irena escapes and Gabriel and Kan are captured by terrorists.

Alone and armed only with his sidearm, Logan fights his way through an abandoned factory, eventually escaping by helicopter. He is then instructed to handle a related crisis in Las Vegas. He is dropped outside the Calypso Casino and links up with his new team: Michael Walters (Isaac C. Singleton Jr.), a British demolitions expert, and Jung Park (Paul Sun Hyung Lee), a Korean electronics expert. The team clears out the casino and saves a group of hostages. They also rescue a NATO weapons researcher, who reveals that a second researcher has been captured.

Rainbow is then taken to the Red Lotus casino in order to rescue a kidnapped reporter. The reporter informs them that the terrorists are using a news van as a communications hub. Logan's team destroys the hub, then flies out to rescue the kidnapped weapons researcher. Rainbow is dropped on the Vertigo Spire, a luxury hotel along the likes of the Stratosphere. The team finds and rescues the missing researcher, who informs the team about a micro-pulse bomb that was placed in the Vertigo. Michael disarms the bomb, and Rainbow is then extracted to locate Gabriel and Kan.

The team is dispatched to Dante’s Casino, where they find and free Gabriel. They also find Kan, but he is fatally shot in an ambush. Before he dies, Kan reveals that the attack in Las Vegas is a distraction, and Irena's terrorists are planning a far bigger attack. The team proceeds to a theater to hack a terrorist server. Irena's target is revealed to be the Nevada Dam (very similar to the Hoover Dam).

Rainbow arrives at the dam, where they discover another micro-pulse bomb. After Michael defuses the bomb, the team fast-ropes to the bottom of the dam. A hostage informs them that the dam will buckle unless they open an emergency release valve. The crisis is resolved and the team proceeds further into the dam, where they find that it is a weapons research lab. It turns out the terrorists have a micro-pulse missile on top of the dam.

Logan presses forward, confronts Irena Morales herself and kills her. The team then heads to the top of the dam and destroys the missile. Logan receives a transmission from Gabriel, who tells him that he is Irena's mole. He proceeds to hijack the team's helicopter and throws out Joanna and Brody.

Gabriel attempts to escape with the helicopter. Logan can either let Gabriel escape or he can shoot it down with his weapon. Afterward, Logan and the team are sent out to find the organization behind Irena's and Gabriel's terrorist activity. When the mission completes, the words "To Be Continued" appear on the screen, implying a sequel. As the credits roll, a news clip states that a helicopter had crashed in the lake, but Gabriel's body was not found.

Development

Patches

The game featured a number of glitches/bugs upon release. Eventually, patches were released months after the game's release. One of the main things that the game was criticised for was the lack of a stand-alone dedicated server for the PC version, which the community tried to develop on their own, in hopes that Ubisoft improve on what the community tried to accomplish. However, Ubisoft took the unmodified stand alone dedicated server and included it into a patch.

During November 2007, the North American Support Supervisor announced on the Ubisoft forums that Ubisoft "has and will always provide support for this title", and also confirmed that Ubisoft was working on another patch."^[4] The patch was released on July 19, 2007 and updated the game to version 1.05. Since that time, Ubisoft has released the latest patch 1.06.^[5]

Collector's Edition

A Limited Collector's Edition of Rainbow Six: Vegas was released at the game's launch featuring alternative cover art and a bonus disc. The bonus disc contained a documentary on the making of Rainbow Six: Vegas and a Rainbow Six retrospective, which features information on all Rainbow Six games in the series.^[6]

Expansion packs

On April 18, 2007, the Player's Pack Red Edition was released as downloadable content on Xbox Live. The pack includes two new game modes. The first is "Assassination" whereby one team has to protect a VIP armed only with a pistol, whilst the other team needs to assassinate him. The second is Conquest (a "capture and hold"-style game, whereby each team has to hold as many strategic points for as long as possible). Three new maps were also included: "Doscala Restaurant," "Marshalling Yard," and "Roof." The maps "Killhouse" and "Border Town" have been redesigned and packaged as two new "redux" maps. The expansion pack comes directly after an update was released for the game. All original game modes and maps are compatible with those featured in the Player's Pack Red Edition. On July 6, 2007, the Red Pack was made available for download free of charge.^[7]

On June 26, 2007, a new downloadable content pack was released. The Player's Pack Black Edition features five new maps. "Red Lotus", "Wartown" and "Neon Graveyard" are the three newly featured maps. "Streets: Redux" has been redesigned in a similar fashion to the Redux maps found in the Player's Pack Red Edition, and "Presidio" is a map overhauled and upgraded from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield. On June 27, 2007, the Black Edition was retracted from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Ubisoft announced that it was pulled due to a pricing error, and that the pack (which was originally priced at 800 Microsoft Points) was intended to be free.^[8] On June 30, 2007, the Black Edition was re-released for download free of charge; Xbox Live users who paid for the pack had their points reimbursed.^[9]

Both the Red and the Black player packs were released for PC platform on July 26, 2007 and are included in the PS3 retail version.^[10][11]

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (X360) 89.39%[12] (PS3) 84.74%[13] (PC) 84.10%[14] (PSP) 60.89%[15] Metacritic (X360) 88/100[16] (PS3) 86/100[17] (PC) 85/100[18] (PSP) 60/100[19] Review scores Publication Score Edge 6/10[20] EGM 8/10[21] Eurogamer (X360) 8/10[22] (PC) 7/10[23] (PSP) 3/10[24] Game Informer (X360) 9.5/10[25] (PS3) 9/10[26] GamePro 4.75/5[27] Game Revolution B+[28] GameSpot (X360) 9.1/10[29] (PS3) 9/10[30] (PC) 8.7/10[31] (PSP) 6.8/10[32] GameSpy (X360) [33] (PS3) [34] GameTrailers (X360) 9.1/10[35] (PS3) 8.8/10[36] GameZone (X360) 9.5/10[37] 8.5/10[38][39] (PSP) 7/10[40] IGN (X360, AU) 9.4/10[41] (X360, US) 9.3/10[42] (PS3) 8.7/10[43] (PC) 8.4/10[44] (Mobile) 7.6/10[45] (PSP) 5.5/10[46] OXM (US) 8.5/10[47] PC Gamer (US) 86%[48] Detroit Free Press [49]

The Xbox 360 edition of Rainbow Six: Vegas was released to very positive reviews from major gaming news outlets, such as GameSpy (5/5),^[33] GameSpot (9.1/10),^[29] IGN (9.3/10),^[42] and TeamXbox (9.5/10).^[50] IGN called Vegas the "best first-person shooter on the Xbox 360", while GameSpot described the game as an "excellent, immersive tactical shooter". Hyper's Cam Shea commended the game for its "fantastic visual design, game mechanics and multiplayer". However, he criticized "some of the voice acting and terrorist supply closets".^[51] The PC and PS3 versions have also received positive reviews,^[14][18] while the PSP version received mixed reviews.^[15][19]

Rainbow Six Vegas has won numerous awards, including "Best First-Person Shooter",^[52] "Best Xbox 360 First-Person Shooter",^[53] "Best Online Game",^[54] and "Best Xbox Live Game"^[55] in IGN's Best of 2006, as well as an "Editor's Choice Award" from GameSpot. Gaming Target also selected the title as one of "52 Games We will Still Be Playing From 2006".^[56] It also received the "Best Online Game" award from Official Xbox Magazine in their annual Game of the Year awards.

According to Ubisoft,^[57] as of March 31, 2007, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas had sold 1.7 million copies.

Major League Gaming

In early 2007, Rainbow Six: Vegas became the first Xbox 360 title to join the Major League Gaming (MLG) Circuit. It premiered in the opening event of the season in Charlotte, North Carolina. This game had its last showing at Las Vegas Nevada, the final stop on the 2007 MLG Pro Circuit. However, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, the game's sequel, was featured on the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit, with its first showing in San Diego, California.

References

External links

• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas at MobyGames
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (PSP) at MobyGames