Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

June 18,2007 - It’s not often that PSP ports are much more than just a straight port, which usually leads to an awkward experience not fit for the handheld. Luckily, Ubisoft quickly figured that out and decided to make the PSP version of Rainbow Six Vegas unique when compared to its console brethren. Even better, the developers decided that to take a lot of influence from one of the most successful games on the system, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, by borrowing its successful control scheme and integrating the Rainbow Six style of gameplay into it. Does this version manage to make up for the constant delays or is Rainbow Six Vegas just not cut out for portability?

While the console versions of Rainbow Six Vegas start out in Mexico and leads to Vegas and the terrorists, this PSP version takes a different approach. This Vegas stars two members of the Rainbow Six squad, American team leader Brian Armstrong and British sniper Shawn Rivers, as they frantically search for their two teammates, who have been abducted by the terrorists. It seems like a simple mission at first, but it quickly turns into something much bigger than just the simple rescue operation they first took on. It is quite a good story that keeps you on your toes as it’s an engrossing story that unfolds through cutscenes and the gameplay itself.

It’s easy to tell that the developers of Rainbow Six Vegas took Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror as a stepping stone to lay the foundation of Vegas and build on it. The control scheme is almost exactly like Dark Mirror’s, though Vegas makes it easier to back up against walls and view around corners. The one difference between the two games’ gameplay styles is that Vegas has much more of a focus on taking your time, planning out your moves, and being stealthy along the way. It’s a little unfortunate that you cannot pick up ammo or health from your enemies, but that just emphasizes the need to plan your moves first.

The main campaign may not feature much more than a handful of levels. However, each level is well-designed and is not short by any means, as each mission is divided into a few sections, which can be as short as 20 or 30 minutes if you know what you’re doing. The two Rainbow Six operatives you control during the campaign are used quite nicely with nice pacing so you never get an overload of one character. You usually take the role of Brian up to a certain point then transferred to Shawn, who’s tasked with sniping terrorists that are in Brian’s way so he can continue forward. This keeps the gameplay well-varied and the action tense while you make your way through each level towards the completion of the section or mission. The normal difficulty isn’t that hard, but can provide a challenge at certain points when the action gets tense in big gunfights. The game saves between sections and at the end of missions, so you’re never really required to spend much more than 30 minutes in a row at a time. Beating missions will unlock new levels to play in the Mission Mode, which literally lets you replay missions, and the Terro Hunt, which lets you hunt the terrorists in a level without the hassle of a mission to distract you. As for rewards, Vegas offers concept art by completing missions a few different ways, but it’s not really a very compelling reason to return to the campaign unless you just really enjoy the game.

While single-player is nice and all, it’s the multiplayer that gives a game a long life, and Rainbow Six Vegas does a fairly good job with its multiplayer option. While Vegas doesn’t offer much variety in game modes—just deathmatch and team deathmatch—or a large number of players—up to four players at a time—the gameplay itself is fun enough that it’s easy to have a good time. For what it’s worth, the multiplayer probably won’t keep people hooked to the game for much longer than the rest of the summer. There’s just not enough meat here to be amongst the most compelling online games on the PSP, though maybe some downloadable content can help the situation in the future.

Rainbow Six Vegas resembles Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror not just in gameplay, but visuals, as well. The graphics here are pretty much on par with Dark Mirror, which is quite a good looking game. Just don’t expect it to look like it does on next-gen consoles and you’ll be fine. The cutscenes that greet you before each mission are absolutely stunning, some of the best CG cutscenes on the system itself, which changes once you enter the missions themselves, as cutscenes that occur during the sections feature in-game graphics. Vegas doesn’t quite run smoothly all the time, as checkpoints are met a screeching halt as the game saves just before important points during each section, so it’s never during action. Also, the game tends to stutter at times when shooting at enemies, but if you’re using the lock-on, you’ll be fine. It’s not much more than a minor annoyance for about a half-second every once in a while. The environments are very nicely detailed, eerily colorful, and well-designed. The levels are mostly a series of connected rooms, so it’s easy to see that the levels were designed with the PSP’s power in mind. Load times between missions or sections are surprisingly fast, usually around five seconds or so to load the next level.

Sound is quite an important part of Rainbow Six Vegas. The music is very much reminiscent of its console brethren by setting the mood of each level perfectly to keep you in the game. The guns definitely have distinct sound effects that are easily to tell sniper rifles from submachine guns to add some authenticity to the game. Even the terrorists themselves provide good sound, as you can hear their chatter when you disturb their patrols and giving good audio cues of their demise while in gunfights. The voice of the Rainbow Six squad, Joanna Torres, keeps you updated on the current situation at all times and does show a good deal of compassion for her teammates while watching for Brian and Shawn on these missions.

While Rainbow Six Vegas might be quite an enjoyable game to be had, there’s really just one barrier that will get gamers to think hard about buying this game, its price tag. Despite being delayed over six months since its original release date, the game still has a suggested retail price of $40, which Vegas doesn’t quite have enough entertainment value to be worth it for anyone but the most hardcore of Rainbow Six fans. It’s definitely worth a rental at the moment until it drops in price, where it’s definitely a better buy at $20 or $30. That’s an unfortunate circumstance for what is an enjoyable game that goes beyond being just a port by bringing a new story and campaign to the table.

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