Rainbow Six: Vegas

Our second review is again from Ubisoft, this time it's another addition to Tom Clancys Rainbow series. Here you take on the role of Logan Keller, the leader one of Rainbow's elite three-man counterterrorist assault squad who are called in when an operation in Mexico goes bad.

For some strange reason, the terrorists strike the bright lights of Las Vegas. The combat elevates the action for shooters in general, but Rainbow Six Vegas happens to arrive on the heels of the superb Gears of War, and it's eerie just how similar the combat systems in both games are.

It's hard to say that one cribbed from the other, since both games were in development at the same time, but it's easy to get the feeling that the maturation of tactical combat is an idea whose time has finally come, and the result is a lot of intense action as you scramble for cover from all the bullets headed your way.

As with Gears of War cover is your saving grace, from slot machines to vehicles and anything else which is pretty much solid can make the difference between living and being Swiss cheese. However unlike Gears of War should you fall in battle you don't get up again and have to restart your romp through the city streets once more! Just how and why Ubisoft decided upon Las Vegas as the setting for this new instalment is still quite beyond the comprehension of mere mortals like me and to say the story line of the game is weak at best is an understatement.

Many of the twists and turns the plot takes have been seen before in a few other titles from the developer; more noticeably Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Unlike Gears of War the game uses a mix of first and third person perspectives to aid the cinematic experience as you riddle the glittering walkways with bullets.

Controlling your team mates is a mere push of a button to order them into the fray. Vegas also borrows a few pages from another Ubisoft game; Splinter Cell as you find yourself able to rope out of a helicopter onto the rooftop of skyscraper, leap over the edge on a rappel line and ease yourself upside down to scope out a room for terrorist gunmen

If the single player looses its gleaming light then the multiplayer version will almost certainly have you hooked for hours. Not only can you customise your kit as you progress through the games variety of modes, but there is also an option to map your face onto you characters, which believe it or not adds points to your score.

Rating: 8/10 Xbox 360, PC, PSP & PS3