Sparkling maps shimmer like a new dime
It’s true that when I first sat down on the 8 Vs.8 LAN set-up that Ubisoft had provided and the first map, Calypso Casino, booted up, I didn’t experience the same excitement as I did when I spent the first few minutes playing Gears of War multiplayer. Gears of War was much easier to pick up and play, despite not knowing the controls, but Rainbow 6: Vegas is far more in-depth in terms of the customisation, the size of the maps and the speed of the game is much slower and deliberate than GOW. It took some getting used to and just like previous Rainbow games you need to know the maps inside out before you feel totally comfortable with the new surroundings. I don't think I really got into Black Arrow until I knew the maps like the back off my hand and I'm sure Rainbow 6: Vegas could be the same, but now I can see the potential having experienced it before and think that the designs of the maps I've seen, and the sheer scope for tactical depth, could be the best yet.
The new sparkling locations are intricately detailed as you pass through rooms full of slot machines or computers, creep through the casino vault or control rooms, or head through the cluttered environments of the casino floors. Everything you shoot leaves a mark, every window will smash and every floor can be stained with human blood.
Click for larger imageAll of the maps I played, including Dantes, Calypso Casino and Casino Vault, had plenty ofstairways leading to more than one floor (no doubt to accommodate the fast rope and rappelling functions). You could hide behind doorways, nestle in amongst the slot machines, find an office that had a view over an open area, camp on balconies in sniping positions, or find a wall that offers a clear view down a long corridor.The amount of static objects littered around each of the maps allows you to move at a steady pace, from cover to cover, but the amount of routes available on the way to a set location ensure that you’ll constantly have to be on the look out all around you. Your team will always need to be close at hand should you get caught by surprise, and you will!
Click for larger imageDespite having access to a map, which can be expanded by pressing the back button, it was initially difficult to work out which direction was best suited for the particular objective. We started off playing attack and defend, which focuses on one team attempting to grab a briefcase and head back to their extraction zone, while the other team defends the area. I spent the first half an hour trying to familiarise myself with the routes on offer and constantly got caught out with people popping up behind me, sticking a bullet in the back of my head and then tea-bagging me just to rub it in.
There were so many different ways that you could attack and defend (partly due to the size of the map and partly due to the amount of entrances that surround the objective). You need to communicate with your team constantly in order to succeed in these missions and on numerous occasions I went running off armed with an M249 only to run into two or three of the opposition who would take me out without a problem. All of the maps that I played, although different, require the same sort of tactical thought when you are attacking or defending, otherwise you'll die very quickly.