by  xsynergyx
| Nov 10, 2007 |
This game was a disappointment. I was extremely pumped, waiting for it after numerous delays of the game. Eventually, the delays stopped and I had to wait a few weeks for it to hit store shelves. I quickly went to EB Games to buy it, even after seeing some bad, personal input from other people. I hesitated at the cashier, but I went with it. Later that night I played it and boy was I let down. Okay, it wasn’t horrible, but maybe my expectations were too high due to the awesome videos and gameplay from the Xbox 360 and PC versions. The first time around, I didn’t really appreciate the game, but let’s get more in depth. First off, you’ll be playing as Brian Armstrong and Shawn Rivers. As Brian, you’ll be holding a semi-automatics and as Shawn, you’ll be holding snipers. Both have their fair share in weapon choices, as well as a pistol of your choice and some type of grenade. Your goal? Stop some idiot from polluting Las Vegas’ water and indirectly murdering thousands and thousands of people.
Let’s start with graphics. Well, the opening cinematic cutscene is pretty cool and I’m pretty sure it’s the same cinematic in all the other versions. However, the cinematic cutscenes in the game were rather short, only showing maybe a helicopter flying over Vegas with the expectation of the first one. Not only are they short with no real meaning, but they can get rather grainy and low quality. Onto the actually gameplay graphics. Texture is okay on some parts like in the first level, but when you get into the villa, the walls look really lame, with no texture and it just looks like a slab of one colour really. At first, you’ll hate them, but when you continue into the game, parts like in the underground facility look rather nice. The gun that you are holding has some nice edges and good lighting. Character models are alright. Some parts can be choppy like your helmet and enemies are alright. However, it seems that there are only one or two enemy types(at least from my memory) and it creates a repetitive feel, which is no big deal, but Ubisoft could’ve made it more interesting. Gun fire is not bad, explosions are only alright. Unlike Medal of Honor: Heroes grenade explosions, these just have grey spikes shooting from the ground with maybe a chunk of ground shooting out(even though no chunks actually come out) and a little tiny blast in the middle. The smoke doesn’t linger long either. All in all, the graphics average out to an average level for the PSP.
Onto some minor and major issues on the game. First off, you may notice that sometimes the enemy, instead of walking, will simple slide on the ground. It looks really weird, but just a minor error as it doesn’t bother me too much. How is the Al? Extremely stupid if I say so myself. You can be standing right in front of them and they won’t see you or react, even on hard mode. You could try and shoot them and they’ll simply say “Who’s there?” and if you’re out of sight, they’ll continue to say “All clear,” and continue walking. Talking about Al and hard mode, they make the game a bit hard, even though the Al is stupid. Why? Okay, well say that a grenade is thrown directly at your feet in real life and explodes. Will you die? Well, in this game on hard, it’ll take multiple grenades, exploding right at their feet, to take them down with just grenades. Too hard for my liking. A semi-major issue is that when you kill someone, there seems to be the chance of the game lagging. Half of the time, if you kill someone, the game lags, the gunfire stops for a spilt second and when the lag is done, the enemy will be on the ground, dead and your gunfire, even though you stopped firing, will be cut short. This lasts a split second, but it becomes a pain in the ass when repeatedly happening to you. Some other minor issues I noticed is that unlike Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror/Logan’s Shadow, you can’t shoot with a sniper whilst backed up against a wall.
How is sound? It’s alright, but I definitely need to get into the audio. It’s rather annoying. All the woman really says is “Shawn, Status?” or “Brian, Report”. Sometimes she might update your objectives, etc. and tell you some things about the mission. Bombs and gunfire is fair enough, but Al sound is very limited when talking. There seems to be one name for every bad guy out there. I forgot the name, but they’ll say “_____ is that you?” or “Who’s there?” and afterwards either an “Oh, crap!” or “All clear,”.
I guess, I’ll just start to sum up the game. The campaign isn’t too short. Longer than some First-Person Shooters for the PSP anyways. Missions consist of parts and sections. A big issue that I’d also like to bring up is that I don’t understand why they call it “Rainbow Six: Vegas”. Why? Because you never see Vegas. Sure you see some flashing lights in the far distance, but you never actually get into a casino or into one of their fancy hotels. Graphics are good half the time, but bad to average the other half. Gameplay is okay, but it doesn’t generally feel like a First-Person Shooter, even with the regular control scheme that consists of the face buttons controlling where you look and the analog stick controlling where you move. Why? The lag gets annoying and the lock-on feature with the addition of the lock-on for the head, doesn’t give it a very nice feel and makes you feel like you’re cheating the enemy. The load times are pretty short, but it doesn’t make up for anything. Al is stupid and Ubisoft did a horrible job on trying to make the game “Hard”. Menu is set-up nicely however. Overall, the game doesn’t give you a nice experience, but leaves with a “That was boring” feel. I played it again, just to test it out again for this review, but never got halfway before I set it down, unsatisfied.
What do I suggest? Go with some other First-Person Shooter for the PSP like Medal of Honor: Heroes. If you want Rainbow Six: Vegas, either go for the PC, Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 versions. Even though I haven’t played any of them, the reviews prove that they are awesome. So don’t waste your money on this game. I flushed $60 down the toilet and I don’t think you should suffer. Hey, it’s my opinion, so all you can do is heed my advice and my recommendation is that you don’t buy this game.
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