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The Rainbow Six series has been around for years, even non-video game fans will have heard of Tom Clancy’s famous team of elites. When Rainbow Six was first released on the original Xbox, it seemed to fit into the market perfectly. In terms of online gaming through Xbox live, most shooting games were fast paced ones, like Unreal Tournament and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but Rainbow six offered something different. As far as I can remember, it was usually at the top spot for the top ten games played over live, which is now dominated by Halo 2. A successful expansion pack was also released, Rainbow Six Black Arrow which helped maintain its popularity as the new content made many fans go back to it and continue playing it. The first two Rainbow Six games on the Xbox definitely gained a lot of support for team Rainbow, however Rainbow Six Lockdown was released and things seemed to change. I wont turn this into a rant about my disappointment, but many people lost faith in Ubisoft and Rainbow Six at that time, however hopes were lifted when the next instalment of the series, Rainbow Six: Vegas was announced for the Xbox 360. The game wasn’t announced at the launch or before the launch of the Xbox 360 however a lot of people no doubt expected the hit series to continue on the Xbox 360, the big uncertainty was what type of Rainbow game would turn up – the classic, tactical Rainbow which brought so many people to the series or the new, more arcade type Rainbow, which wasn’t necessarily a bad game, but wasn’t exactly a tactical shooter which many expected from Rainbow Six games. The good news is (for most, I assume) that it seems classic Rainbow is back as Red Storm in Canada who developed the original Rainbow Six games is developing it.
I’m not sure that many people are going to be that bothered about the storyline for Rainbow Six: Vegas, as long as it has terrorists, hostages, bombs and Team Rainbow, that will do. Well, team Rainbow have chased down some international terrorists to Las Vegas, where they are planning a major terrorist attack. Rainbow needs to act quickly to save the population of Las Vegas but it’s only a matter of hours before the attack happens. Also, it’s worth noting that you won’t be taking control of Ding Chavez this time, to try and put a fresh look to the series, the new team leader is a recon expert called Logan Keller. Michael Walter is the new heavy weapons expert and Jung Park is a long range weapons and electronic specialist.
As mentioned previously, it seems Rainbow Six is returning to its original tactical ‘shooter roots’ which seems fitting since it was the title that really kicked off that genre and made it popular and has since had a large following, both with Rainbow Six sequels but also other similar type games. So we can expect the game play to be not quite as fast paced as Quake or Unreal, but more conservative, careful and generally, in other words, the complete opposite of a ‘run and gun’ game. So what have Ubisoft Montreal implemented to ensure this? They have stated that they will be taking elements of previous games and either removing them if they didn’t work or making them better as well as keeping the elements that worked and perhaps improving on them also. I think its safe to assume that the usual rules of engagement for Rainbow will still apply such as you will only be able to take a couple of hits, sensible run/walk speeds and of course your accuracy decreases as you move for example. From what has been picked up in the trailers, game play footage and interviews it is clear that they are definitely serious about taking Rainbow to the next stage and that they have been listening to what the fans want. A cover system has been added, much like the one in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and in Perfect Dark Zero. Presumably, where you can take cover behind objects, walls etc. and the view will switch to third person. Many will see this as an improvement over the old lean system, for one it was hard sometimes to judge how hard to lean out but secondly the third person view makes it a little easier to track enemy movements. Previous Rainbow games did have multiple entry points, but this usually meant there was 2 doors which you had the option to go through to attack the enemy, sure they were great at the time because at least two people could get clear shots, but it was very basic stuff. In Rainbow Six Vegas some rooms will probably have two or more doors but you can also invert-rappel to gain access to an area. This could involve rappelling down from the floor above, shooting the window then swinging in and thus catching the enemy by complete surprise as he expects you to come storming through the door. This can also be used to observe enemies and look for alternative strategies to take them down. You can also rappel down staircases, walls, side of buildings etc. Anyone who has ever played Splinter Cell will probably be familiar with the ‘snake cam’ which allows players to see what is happening on the other side of a door by using a small camera which feeds to a screen showing you what’s going on. This means you can see how many enemies and hostages there are and their positions. You can also use this to tag an enemy. This means you can mark an enemy, or ‘tag’ him and when the team enter the room, if you have assigned someone to kill the tagged person they will do it. I have only seen this used in single player, but I suppose it could work in co-operative play also so players don’t go for the same target and you know who everyone is targeting.
Rainbow Six 3 on the Xbox was at the number one spot for the top played games over Xbox Live for six months, and Ubisoft have made it clear that they intend to make that same impressive impact with Rainbow six Vegas as well. Details are still a little sketchy about the multiplayer side; however some new modes have been announced. Attack & Defend is one of these new modes, which is an adversarial mode where one team attacks and the other team defends an objective, just as the name implies. The objectives will change accordingly with the map chosen, however it could mean you have to protect a bomb or save hostages. You will also have your own customisable character that will improve with your online career. There will be plenty of various visual appearances you can go for; this will probably mean helmets, goggles, vests etc. so you can have a unique appearance when you meet other players. The developers have also stated that the match making system will be more fair, matching veterans with veterans for example so players are more likely to face someone with the same skill level as themselves. We should also expect co-op and story mode available as well, both split screen and over Xbox Live.
I don’t think anyone will argue with me when I say that the visuals in previous versions weren’t outstanding or groundbreaking, but they were certainly above average.Rainbow Six games have generally featured great explosions, fire, lighting and nice weapon detail. But with the graphical power of the Xbox 360 Rainbow Six will look better than ever. From the game play footage, the first thing I noticed was how colourful and vivid the environments are, since it takes place in Las Vegas it seems like a good opportunity for developers to create bright and colourful environments which are visually appealing. As for the character models, they have been upgraded and have more noticeable detail, for example ropes attached to their suits, hooks, pockets etc. Its also worth mentioning that Ubisoft Montreal have said that the character models have been accurately taken from real people, so the movement of the characters will be almost life like and much more fluid which can definitely be seen as another improvement over previous games, as the movement looked rather jerky and stiff. The weapons sound sharp and powerful, from the crack of a pistol to the muffled sound of a silenced MP-5. The environment sounds also seem to be top notch, slot machines going crazy, helicopter blades cutting through the air etc. and I think most fans will be confident that the explosions will sound real and dangerous. Listening to car alarms go off in Ghost Recon was a nice novelty, so perhaps this time hearing slot machines light up and spill all their nickels will provide a similar novelty.
Ubisoft Montreal have a big job ahead of them, to keep such a great series going, it will be hard to meet the expectations of fans, however from what I have read, they are a confident and dedicated bunch of guys, who want to take the various elements of previous Rainbow Six games and make something that can live up to the Rainbow Six name. Ubisoft have a good name for community interaction and seem to have been listening to fans complaints and praise, I said it wouldn’t be mentioned again, but I think I might have to here. Rainbow Six Lockdown was generally viewed as a disappointment amongst classic Rainbow fans, so there is still a lot of uncertainty in the air about Rainbow Six Vegas, however going by what has been presented to us by Ubisoft so far, it looks like the Rainbow Six most of us know and love has found its way back into the form of a tactical shooter and now that it is coming to the Xbox 360 we will get improved visuals, better AI and more options to complete objectives. Rainbow Six Vegas is due out this autumn/ fall.
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