Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas Review

Ok, before we get started on the not-so subtle differences of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas on the PS3 take a look at this review for the 360 those people who're not familiar with what the game's about and so on:

Rainbow Six Vegas Xbox 360 review

I'm not much for eloquence or fancy words; I don't like to ramble on for hours about system specifications on control systems. First and foremost I'm a gamer and I have the major systems, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. I even still have my old Xbox and PS2 along with a few other consoles. Such is my dedication to games that I have often been told I game too much.

I won't reply what I usually say, you can't print it here.

I'm not a fan-boy, so if I rail on something in this review it doesn't mean that I think God shines a big fancy neon-green glowing light outta the Xbox 360's I/O port, it's my opinion Ok, deal with it. If you don't like it, you can bitch about me on some forum where mean-minded idiots like to gather, sure, be my guest I'm not going to lose sleep.

You're reading this review because you want to, not because I'm making you. You want an informed decision, well here it is. I've given the PS3 version of Vegas a good old hammering and I've found that the Single Player part of the game is well up to scratch/par, with the same excellent cover system and the controls have been mapped to the PS3's controller well enough.

The only downside with the graphics in SP is that they are muddy, they're darker than the 360 and they don't seem to have got the lighting mix right. I had to dial up the TV settings to get the best out of it; even then the frame-rate suffered some minor headaches. The models were not as detailed as the 360 version and there seemed to have been some cut-backs in that respect on all fronts, it's still one of the best multiplatform games (looks wise) on the PS3 so it's not all that bad.

There's also no rumble support, which is a bit of a shame since I happen to like it and several gamers I've talked to have said the same thing, it's a missing feature that doesn't hurt the game badly but it's still missed non-the-less. I felt that the control mapping, especially the shoulder button for cover felt a lot more natural than the 360's left trigger and I found the control mapping in general to be superior. (Down Microsoft fanboys! Down!)

All in all though it has the same hardcore SP that the 360 version offers, with the same great enemy AI and the intense shoot outs that we've come to know and love from the game. There's no difference in the missions and if you own both systems you're best off getting the 360 version for reasons that will become all too clear in a few paragraphs as I delved into the online MP aspect of the game.

Sony's online service seems to leave a lot to be desired, just like on the PS2 and that really hurts Rainbow Six Vegas on the PS3. The game is designed as a SP and MP experience but the MP portion of the game is where the nuts and bolts are at, fragging your friends and complete strangers in the game is one of those things that you need a decent online service to enjoy.

Vegas suffers lag, it suffers frequent disconnects and it suffers period on Sony's service, this isn't a fault with the PS3 but Sony themselves (down Sony fanboys, DOWN!)

The game lacks the Xbox Live Vision camera support (no PS3 Eye when the game shipped) and you are stuck in PEC (Persistent Elite Creation) with the pre-rendered options for your characters face. Not too bad, but still not as good as fragging your friends with your own face.

The PS3 version has some exclusive MP maps, or it did have until the Black Pack came out for R6 Vegas and shipped with those exclusive maps (for free) turning the one reason to have the PS3 version into a moot point. The game also has this habit of de-synching Bluetooth headsets and with no way to re-synch whilst playing, it's quit out of the game, synch the headset and waste time getting back in again. Not really decent for seamless online play.

The not-so great visuals on the MP side of the game really show up here on the PS3, which is something that I think hurts Vegas on both systems and whilst it's an instant classic, the game has too many flaws to elevate it to the polish of the 360 version visually and for MP play. With all these things aside it still has the firepower to deliver a corking Single Player experience that features the best cover system in a game (I prefer it over Gears of War to be honest) and some of the most glitzy locations to grace a FPS.

If you don't mind losing the online play (or you're not much of an online gamer) you can enjoy the ride as is, but you'll be missing out on the best side of the game if you do. Vegas is built for co-operative team-based action and communication (headset issues aside). If you can hit the right server on Sony's service and find some people who'll actually play with voice comms and teamwork, it still offers a passable experience marred by the aforementioned glitches and problems with the game.

I still play it (different set of gamer buddies), so don't be put off by my negative comments.

See you in game hopefully.