This is one of the reasons to own a PS3.
For the most part, Rainbow Six: Vegas on the PlayStation 3 is identical in most respects to its counterparts on other systems, but the wait for PS3 owners has paid off a bit in terms of value. While Xbox 360 owners are able to purchase the Red and Black map packs for $10 a pop, all of that content is included right on the Blu-ray disc. This includes a couple new modes and a large handful of new maps, giving you some 20 maps to play on. While not every map is available for every game mode and three of them are "redux" versions of other maps, we doubt anyone could complain about the amount of content to be found here.
And as has been the case with most other Rainbow Six releases, the general quality of the maps here is very strong. While purists may be a little turned off at the rejuvenated (but not necessarily better) Presidio or other classics found here, most of the selections are great competition grounds. Everyone will of course gravitate towards their favorites, but you can't go too wrong with any of them.
When Ubisoft began work on Rainbow Six: Vegas for the then-unreleased next-gen consoles, it revamped a good deal of its gameplay mechanics and worked on creating a smoother and more natural experience. The biggest addition is its cover system, enabling you to put your back up against most any wall, barricade or flat-sided object in the game. The camera shifts from the normal first-person view to a third, and by pressing towards an edge of cover you'll pop up as your view zooms in to an over-the-shoulder view.
It's a system that works very well and naturally, thanks to a few subtle but very important control options. For one, you hold L1 to stay in cover and release it to move freely again rather than having it act as an on/off toggle. This means that if you suddenly come under fire, it's easier to react quickly and back away rather than having to remember to hit the cover button to "unlock" yourself from your surroundings. Secondly, you're still able to freely aim in any direction while taking cover, which makes it less inhibiting than some cover systems we've seen in the past.
Overall it's a fantastic system that works really well, though it's not without flaws. These are mostly related to objects not being able to be used as cover even though it seems like you should be able to, or in some rare instances with jagged doorways, ducking behind a different section of cover than you meant to. While you'll certainly run into these, they in no way lessen the overall experience, though you may be taken out while online every now and then because of them (just like everyone else). The other major change to the entire game is the ability to repel down the sides of buildings, windows and such. It's a pretty cool feature in the single-player game as it opens up multiple pathways in many cases and allows you more freedom in your plan of attack. In the multiplayer game, it changes the returning maps, as you'll now be able to navigate between certain areas much more quickly. For instance, in Streets you're able to hop right out of the windows from either building and descend to the ground rather than having to run down a couple flights of stairs. It's certainly more dangerous, but it's also much quicker.