Before this game, I had never played a Rainbow Six game to any significant degree. I played the first R6 on Nintendo 64 and found it to be stale and boring, and it managed to lose my interest after less than 15 minutes. With the release of Vegas, however, I've become a definite fan--if not of the series, then at least of this game, easily being one of the best-executed interpretations of the FPS genre so far.

If the title wasn't a dead enough giveaway, the game takes place mostly in Las Vegas. The plot is a well-done terrorist attack on the city of sin, with the major battles being fought in large casinos, down the famous Freemont Street and on the Hoover Dam (though like the casinos, it is a fictional recreation named Nevada Dam). Perhaps the best-looking of these is the Dante Casino, a gothic-themed Vegas take on classical themes of the Underworld. Environments look both clean and dirty, never perfect, just flawed enough to be real.

AI, both friend and foe, is well done and generally behaves as it should. I say "generally" because, like any AI, it can be fooled and exploited into doing odd things or sometimes nothing at all. Other more conventional quirks can be found, such as some enemy AIs only triggering after the player has walked past a certain point in a hallway. Other than this, however, both your enemies and your teammates are good at taking cover (and staying there), though enemies seem to be lacking in the "flank and assault" department.

The game engine overall has a good feel to it. Movement feels natural and smooth, no awkward "steps" made by the character like in other shooters. A tactical-shooter staple, taking cover, is executed perfectly with the left shoulder button used to stick to walls and other obsructions. Firing from behind cover takes a bit of getting used to, but with practice you can learn to pick off targets with a quick shot and minimal exposure. Movement breaks down to a realistic leapfrogging technique of sending your friends ahead while covering, then moving through their cover. Levels are laid out well in ways that allow for two or three points of entry, allowing you to send your teammates through one door while you enter through another and catch your enemies from two directions. It's great fun.

I can't say much about the online play because, honestly, I don't often play games online. I tend to prefer the singleplayer campaigns over getting camping in Stranglethorn Vale by some paladin (oops, wrong game). From secondhand experiences and seeing other people play, it certainly looks fun, but just wouldn't hold my attention too long.

All told, this may well be the first truly mass-appealing Rainbow Six game. I certainly manages to hold up in just about every department, with only small flaws in its very highly-detailed armor showing. High recommended for those who want a break from the typical shoot-em-up FPS.