coming from an "old time R6/RS" gamer this is comforting news.
good enough to expand TP to cover?
I'll tell what; I know it's easy to get all gooshy over a new game, only to play for a few days and see all it's flaws creep out until you change your mind (Like GOW did for me, see my next post in the GOW thread).
But I don't think that will happen with Vegas. I can only speak for the 360 version, but I think UBI has put R6 back on track. And I think it truly exceeds GRAW in mechanics and gameplay.
GRAW is an excellent game by all means. I love it. But the mechanics and intuitive control handling of Vegas is much smoother. I read all of the Vegas reviews, and I think they are all spot on.
The graphics are definately the best that can currently be wriiten for the 360. The maps are well thought out and often with almost photo-realisitic textures. And with the 360, there's no worry about turning down graphics options to get better FPS. And the maps are clearly designed for tactical and replayable gameplay. Everything has multiple paths and entry points. I don't think I've seen a room that didn't have at least two doors to breach and a window to rappel down to and snipe through.
Vegas really shines with it's character control and the AI. Controlling your character is simply effortless. With GRAW, there seems to need a little more thought about "I want to do this, where do I need to be and what button do I press" "Oops, I missed my cover".
With Vegas, it just flows so nicely. Think about a move and your guy is there. Their cover mechanic is awesome. Your in first person mode, but click the cover button, and it smoothly transitions to 3rd person view with your guy neatly tucked against the wall, ala Splinter Cell. Multiplayers won't want this 'camera cheat' aspect, but overall it's an awesome gameply feature that fits and flows nicely in the game. You can blind fire around the corner, or lean out and snipe a headshot. Overall, this 3rd person view style cover works so much better than GRAWS cover lean, imo. Completely realistic for those hardcore guys? No, but it's a
game, and it's a cool as hell feature that makes the game more enjoyable. A little burst of cinematic view as you duck for cover and blind fire around the corner adds to the game, not detracts from it's 'realism'. I don't hear anyone complaining about Splinter Cell, and that's
all 3rd person. Vegas offers the perfect mix of 1st and 3rd person views.
And now the best part of the game....
Your team AI. My god, UBI has finally nailed it! I thought GRAW was good, this tops it. The team AI uses cover and moves around so well, you'll think you're in multiplayer with some friends. The character animations are awesome. It looks like real people moving around. And there's absolutely no pathfinding issues. Even in GRAW, npc AI can often be found stuck in a corner, or wedged into a fence, hopelessly running in the corner, going nowhere until shot. In Vegas, these guys flow around the map effortlessly, ducking from cover to cover with realistic and sensible movements.
And door breaching was never so much fun and reliable. The problem with the early R6 series was your guys could open the door, then just stand there and get shot down. In Vegas, UBI finally has them doing it properly, and I'd say better than the SWAT games.
All the options are still there, explosive breach, enter and clear, grenade, flashbang, multiple simultaneous entry (ala the 'zulu' button, like in RVS). But now in Vegas it all works beautifully.
And the new feature of tagging tangos is awesome as well. Stick the camera under the door, and call out targets priority numbers to your AI team..."take him down first".
Calling out "go go go !" used to be filled with the fear of certain death, now it's full of positive potential, thanks to flawless AI execution.
And now you can offer first aid to a downed team member, and he can fight on. Taking a bullet in the hip doesn't have to mean instant death.
Moving your team around with the point and click still works great, and even better with your team using the map properly. The voice acting is great, and changes with the current situation. Soundtrack is good. It's just all good.
There's a lot of elements of other games in Vegas, which is a good thing. It's got Splinter Cell's wall rapelling and 3rd person corner views. It's got Gears of War's blind fire from cover and revive a downed teammate. And parts of it feel more military than police action, ala GRAW. In the opening mission through Mexico city, it has a very 'Blackhawk Down' feel to it.
So, bottom line is this;
I haven't liked a Rainbow Six game since Urban Ops. That's a long time ago. Ravenshield was good with it's adding the point and click, and and the Zulu go code. But somehow it just fell short in feeling like a true Rainbow Six game. And Lockdown was a complete joke. I hope some people were fired over that one.
But Vegas gives the R6 series some respectability again. I really like it, and it was going to to take a lot to pull me back to an R6 game.
It's all there;
Great graphics
Awesome gameplay features
Wonderfully realistic AI
Tactical replayability
And it's just the right balance between challenging and fun.
I can only speak for the 360 version, and single player; but it rocks.
Seriously, I have on my shelf GRAW, SC: DA, Gears of War, FEAR, Dead Rising, and some others, and I would say this is the best game out of all of them.
You can support it here if you want, but I won't see any of it. I'll be too busy playing. :wink:
