A big step up from Rainbow's last blunder. Fantastic multiplayer and, suprisingly, an intriguing story.
Gameplay - Single Player
This is, as you probably know, a tactical team based first person shooter. With that being said it is also the best of its kind. For those of you that are familiar with Rainbow Six games you should feel right at home here and it should take you no longer then 10 minutes to learn the new features. The most noticeable of these features is the cover system, a very intuitive, no-nonsense, one button system. Simply walk up to cover and pull the 'L' trigger. To leave cover you let go of the 'L' trigger, it really couldn't be any simpler. When your in cover you can peek out to fire, blindfire, and issue team commands. Speaking of team commands there are a few new ones that are particularly useful. You can tell your team to either fire-on-sight or to return fire only. They are both useful for different situations and are toggled with the bumper. The other new team command is you can mark targets before entering a room by priority. For example; you are approaching a room with two entrances containing a hostage and three terrorists. One terrorist is standing in front of one of the doors, another terrorist has the hostage at gunpoint and the last hostage is up on a balcony. You use your snake cam (yes thats right, Sam Fisher style) and tell your team that you want them to take out the terrorist near the hostage first and the one on the balcony second and you plant a breaching charge on the door with the terrorist in front of it. Tell you team to open and clear from the other door while you denonate the breaching charge. Three terrorists dead in less than a second. Gameplay - Multiplayer
The multiplayer is the same world renowned Rainbow Six multiplayer you have come to expect. Roughly 10 different gametypes including co-op, team based, or single and ranging from deathmatch to capture the flag this game delivers on all levels. The 4 player co-op is as good as it has ever been and the team based battles are even better than ever. With the revamped PEC mode, with less focus on class types, it makes playing the multiplayer rewarding as well. The game features 10 world class maps with locales in Las Veags, Mexico, Hoover Dam, and City Streets. Graphics
The single player graphics are outstanding, the environments are amazing. All the lights of Las Vegas really showcase what the 360 is capable of and the character models are very well done. The multiplayer graphics, while not as good as the single player's, are not bad either. There is noticably less detail and the character models are not as sharp, but its a small price to pay for such stellar gameplay.
Sound
Terrific. The score, to voice over, the guns, the explosions, and the other sound effects are all top notch. An orchestral score sets the intensity of battle and can also be used to notify when danger is present. The guns are all right on, being as it is a Tom Clancy game this should be expected.
This is a game that should not be missed, whether you are a Rainbow Six fan or not. You will not find multiplayer better than this, at least for a while to come. Phenomenal game Ubisoft, a well needed entry into the series after Lockdown.