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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable first person shooter, but..., 15 Feb 2007
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This game is not what you might think - a sneaky "special forces take out a few terrorists" kind of romp. In the single player mode this is a fully fledged WAR pitting you and two AI team mates against literally hundreds of seemingly highly motivated opponents.
On the whole, this game gets rave reviews and it was on the strength of that plus some exotic screenshots that I bought it. On balance I'm glad I did, and I have spent (far too) many hours blasting the enemy. Unlike some shooters, the enemy in this one are very active and are always on your case, so chances to snipe them are fairly limited because as soon as you have them in your sights they can see you and will open fire. Also, take the boasts on the box with a pinch of salt... the ability to - "manoeuvre though multiple-path Vegas environments" is fairly short lived as you still end up at the same spot after a short distance. Also the "mastering techniques such as fast-roping, rappelling, window entry, etc." usually just involves pressing the 'A' key when the on-screen prompt appears, there's little finesse involved.
Pros
- Nice graphics, although a lot of the action takes place out of the great Vegas vista (e.g. in Mexico or inside buildings).
- Interesting choice of weaponry. No 'BFGs' here, just your regular military issue gear.
- Sensible ammo limits. If you have an itchy trigger finger then you'll soon be spent, leaving you to pick up weapons from fallen opponents or search endlessly for the next equipment box. Unlike some games you won't find boxes of bullets on every turn, so running out of ammo usually means you'll die fairly soon unless your AI mates can do the business.
- You can 'use' your AI team mates effectively to clear a small area and blast down doors, although be careful... (see Cons).
- Satisfying groans when you lob an incendiary grenade into the midst of your enemy (be careful though, they'll still fire back at you even when their eyes are streaming).
- Colourful language like "Would you like me to run into the bullets" when you are obviously wide of the mark. Yes there is some swearing but that's not going to worry you or your kids alongside the gratuitous killing that's going on!
Cons
- No option to save a game in progress, you have to wait until you either reach a checkpoint or the game itself decides to do a 'saving progress'. As a result you can spend half an hour carefully clearing a street of enemies, only to find you get sent right back to the start when you get killed. Also, when you 'Resume last checkpoint' you can lose saved progress. I quit for the day after one point where it said it saved my progress, only to find I had to start the whole stage again when I came back.
- Sometimes it's way too easy to die. From cover I unloaded eight or nine rounds into an opponent across a room, only to find he takes me out with a single shot. Or a grenade lands at your feet out of nowhere. Also, be careful about lobbing grenades - they can bounce back at you off plants or even empty space!
- Your AI team mates can sometimes be incredibly dumb, and if they die, you die.
- Glitches. Several times an opponent simply vanishes, only to reappear nearby whereupon you're shot dead.
- Lack of interaction with the environment. For the most part the scenery is just that... scenery. There are certain things you can shoot, like slot machines, light fittings & TV screens which is always fun.
- Unpredictable movement control. Sometimes your character can climb over a low wall, other times he can't even step over a small pile of rubbish. or a plank.
It was these mionor annoyances that kept me from giving the game a 5 out 5. For the most part the game is simply about shooting your way to the end of the next section, perhaps with some minor automated task at the end like getting your AI team to defuse a bomb or hack a computer. There are one or two touches like rescuing civilians or breaking into a room without getting hostages killed, but these are somewhat limited and a little bit more of this rather than who has got the superior firepower could have made the game more engaging.
Am I glad I bought the game? Yes! Despite the annoyances there is something that keeps you coming back for more, even if only to prove you can beat the damn thing. Would I recommend it to a friend? Probably yes. It's set to be a classic and despite a somewhat linear plot, it's a good test of your reflexes, patience and determination - just don't get too frustrated with the quirks along the way.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rainbow Six, 20 Dec 2006
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Well, with the release of Gears of War around the same time as Rainbow Six, this game has been hugly overlooked. Everyone I see preaches how brillient and beutiful Gears of War is, and yes, I would have to agree, but there is no denying this game is absolutly superb as well.
Graphics: 8/10
- Well, the graphics are very, very nice. Nicly detailed, good lighting and a nice sense of realisam about the whole thing. There are sometimes when the graphics are at fault though. When in a bar, I shot a bottle (don't ask why...) and it just disaperred, it didn't explode, break or even just roll around, it just disappered into thin air. Sometimes the textures arn't at their best, but other than these two problems, this games graphics are definatly good.
Sounds: 8/10
- Again, the sounds are pretty good on the game. Now, I don't have surrond sound, so I can't comment on what it sounds like fully, but the gun noises seem pretty realistic (to my own knowlage, which is hardly none), and orders given to your team mates is said in a nice, and cool fashion.
Gameplay: 10/10
- This is definatly a 10/10, its superb. A warning first though, this game is not for run and gun people, it is a heavily, cover orientated game. With that in mind, the cover system on this works really well, I love how you can peak out around a corner, then continue to peak the whole way into the room, behind the door. Shooting out of cover (like in GoW) isn't too bad, but I don't personally use it. Your team orders are quite limited (6, based on what RoE you are in), but very effective, if you tag your target, they will be killed first, as "high priotiy." The levels are very long, and without tactics in mind, you will most likly die quite a lot.
Overall: 9/10
- With good sounds, good graphics, great gameplay, and xbox 360 achivements that arn't all too hard to get, this is definatly a must buy.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Viva Las Vegas baby!!!!, 1 Mar 2007
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
First of all I have to admit I am not a big fan of first person shooters. My main reason for buying this was that I visited Las Vegas last year and wanted to see how well it has been re-created in a video game!
I was very disappointed at first because instead of starting on The Strip you begin in a derelict town in Mexico. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise though because, rather than worry about what Vegas looked like, I could play the game without distraction. Never having played a Rainbow 6 game before, I had no idea what to expect. As soon as it started though I was absolutely blown away. The graphics and sound effects are excellent. The controls are intuitive and when you go into cover mode the perspective changes from 1st person to 3rd. The first mission objective is to team up with your two squad members. This involves shooting some terrorists on the way to a rendezvous on top of a church. From here the game gets much more difficult. The action is so intense it really does put you on the edge of your seat. Bullets come from all directions and it can be very difficult to figure out where the terrorists are, even when using the map. Sometimes the red dots which indicate their location just disappear even though they are still alive. This game is more about patience and tactics though. If you try and go storming in for some close combat you WILL be killed almost instantly. AI of the enemies is very impressive which makes the game hard, very hard. I have little patience with some games and get tired of repeating the same part over and over again but there is something about this game that makes you want to see each level through.
Once you have completed your missions in Mexico a helicopter arrives to take you and your team to (at last!) Vegas. The visuals on this are particularly impressive. The Strip has been recreated in painstaking detail right from the light at the top of The Luxor down to the dancing fountains at the Bellagio. Anyway, enough sightseeing. The helicopter drops you in the middle of a fire fight outside the Calypso Casino. This is a fictional casino but is added into The Strip seamlessly. Once inside I spent the first few minutes in awe at the scale and detail. The sound effects of the fruit machines, for example, are exactly the same as in real life and the whole atmosphere captures a Las Vegas hotel perfectly. Forget having to gamble though, if you shoot any of the fruit machines they disintegrate and money starts to fall out of them! Missions continue through the Casino which at times are very frustrating as this game can be brutally hard. You really do need to utilise your two colleagues all the time. Once you have finished on The Strip you are then flown to a Dam (Probably the Hoover Dam but they don't call it that) where the action continues.
For someone who has never played a Rainbow 6 game before I was extremely impressed. The game is easy to pick but gets very hard once you get going and it can get frustrating at times. However, it is so rewarding once you complete each level that you forget all the times you have been killed and just look forward to what the next challenge is going to be. I for one can't wait for the next Rainbow 6 game and hopefully it will be somewhere else I have visited, Rainbow 6 Skegness perhaps!!
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