Its long.

If you were like me, then you may have been getting tired of the monotonous game play of previous Rainbow Six games. Go into a room, kill people. Go into a room, kill a hostage on accident. Go into a room, get shot in the back by retarded AI. Well, that’s how it always went for me anyways. To say the least, the games never impressed me much as far as being categorized as a “shooter”. They were much more like sim games with shooting elements. Now lets look at the newest inclusion of the franchise, and why I can’t stop playing it.

First let me say that the system requirements are STEEP. Requiring at a minimum (according to the box) a 3.0ghz processor, 1g of RAM, and 128Mb, DX 9.0c graphics card with Shader 3.0 support means that crappy computer you set your grandma up with wont run this game, and she will have to get her RS:V fix somewhere else.

That said, this game is gorgeous. Even on the lower settings the HDR lighting is put to excellent use here and core game play setting being casinos, makes it even more spectacular to look at. Just about everything is modeled and destructible in this game. Cars, lights, poker chips, slot machines, doors, fire extinguishers, cash registers, signs, glasses, bottles, windows; you can blow it all to pieces if you like. What seems like just a gimmicky add on at first becomes one of the best aspects of the game because your own cover can get ripped to shreds, or blown up, or weakened enough to be shot through in an instant, forcing you to run like hell for the next slot machine or abandoned vehicle.

Where this game varies the most from its predecessors (save for maybe Lockdown), is that it is a shooter before a sim. The tactical map at the beginning is gone as the missions all happen in successive order with only minuteÂ’s in-between. No time to plan, no problem. I think this is one of the best changes in the core game play as you no longer know exactly what the next rooms layout is, where the entrances and exits are and where a possible sniper may be lurking. Another large variant is that it is heavily scripted, and linear to a point. This isnÂ’t a bad change however because though you may have to get into a room and kill a few bad guys, you still have several options on how to infiltrate that room and how best to deal with the situation. A lot of these varying decisions come about at the beginning of the missions such as Red Lotus, where you can rappel down either side of the building and break through the window, or stay on top and fire through the sun roof. This is all the easier with a squad that effectively carries out your orders and IÂ’m not talking about co-op.

The A.I. has been overhauled. Finally. Your friendlies listen to your orders and cover your back with out shooting it. Also, when one is down, they are no longer dead. You can revive a squad member, or order your remaining squad member to revive the downed one and get them back into the fight. However, they cannot revive you which is a PITA as some times you die right at their feet. The enemy AI is no slouch either, they will take cover just as effectively as your squad and try to out flank, out gun, and out cuss you. The first two are fine, but the enemies have a limited number of things they say. While one CAN shout “I’m reloading!” and have another reply “I’ll cover you!” most the of the time they just say stuff like: “Son of a B*tch!”, “F*ck you!”, “Holy sh*t”, “What the hell!” and “Ahhhhhhh!”. It gets repetitive quickly. Which is why I’m glad the game gives you a hefty arsenal to shut them up with.

The game sports about 40 different weapons falling in the Pistol, Sub Machine Gun, Machine Gun, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, and Sniper Rifle classes. Although I like the varieties, finding a weapon that feels good takes a while, and some people NEVER find the right weapon, making them feel cheated and consistently longing for their gun of choice (I actually modded the AUG so it would behave like a bolt-action, because I iron sighted bold action rifles). Real world weapon buffs are sure to have some gripes about the stat system, which down grades most weapons capabilities for the sake of balance in game play. But lets face it, no weapon is going to be accurate when you are blindly firing around a corner.

And that’s the big addition to this game, a cover system. Similar to Gears of War and Perfect Dark :Zero, RS:V allows you to take cover pretty much behind anything (note: just because you CAN take cover behind a palm tree, doesn’t mean you should). From this point you can blindly fire around a corner, or pop up and take a few shots at the enemy. Unlike GoW however, the cover system lacks a “SWAT Roll” or the ability to side roll from one cover to the other, which is very strange as it is a SWAT game. Once again, the AI can use the system as well and to great effectiveness. Mix in their use of smoke and flash grenades and you have a very effective opposing force.

Multiplayer is the standard fare for the series. 4 Player Co-op and Terrorist Hunt. Competitive multiplayer has Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Capture the Biohazard Canister, and Attack and Defend. The main draw to MP is the ability to get new equipment and customize your characters body armor (protection vs speed) and clothing (uniqueness in character)you wear. Firefights are intense and fast paced but I tend to stay away from the no respawn matches in favor of the longer score “X” kills to win.

The entire game improves well enough on the series and takes you though a roller coaster of gunfights that will leave your hands clammy and your heart pounding. Right now, I would call this the best shooter out for the PC.

Final Score: 92% (out of a possible 100)

+ Awesome graphics, Well designed levels, Cover system.
- Steep system requirements, In game advertisements, Talkative AI.
? How about a heavy metal soundtrack?