Excellent though generic tactical shooter with solid multiplayer.
Played out in first person, you must make your way through various locales in Vegas using all the cover you can get your hands on, cause if you don't you wont last long. Ubisoft have lifted Rainbow Six to above average First Person Shooter status by means of a few small additions that go along way. The first being a continuous story, when you complete a mission a chopper will pick you up where you must sit in the helicopter until you arrive at your next mission. Not only does this give you time to choose new guns and sight see Vegas from above, but it also adds to the realism. There are no mission briefing screens; it is all done on the fly via a small screen in your top corner where intelligence is fed to you. Another is the snake cam, where you can look under any door and 'tag' enemies. You can order your squad-mates to 'stack' against the door and when they bust in their priority targets will be the guys you tagged. Many of the rooms have multiple paths and entry points so you can choose from a variety of strategies.
The AI from enemies and teammates is quite good which goes along way in this kind of game. Enemies will use cover to their advantage and if you have a sight on where they will pop up they will often blind-fire or move to a different location. The artwork is also good, though nothing outstanding it is everything you expect from this generation of gaming. Whilst some of the textures are blurry, particularly the outdoor sections the design is really good, particularly in the casinos. Probably the biggest thing holding Rainbow Six back is the trail and error gameplay, particularly early on. There are two settings: normal and realistic and even on normal this game is hard which in a sense adds to the realism and lengthens the game time, though some areas go over the top as you are forced to replay some sections many times over which really detracts from the experience. There doesn't seem to be a difficulty curve at all, it seems to get easier, the further you get though the game. Most of this is probably because there are a lot more open levels earlier on and respawning terrorists can pop up behind you.
Everyone knows an FPS isn't complete without multiplayer and rainbow six offers a good variety in terms of game types and levels. If you've played multiplayer in a First Person Shooter before then you'll know what to expect. On a whole multiplayer is a good though fairly standard affair. It's a shame co-op isn't available in the campaign as Rainbow Six is a Squad based game and with so many ways to tackle each situation this would be a great inclusion.
All in all if you like terrorist/spy type stuff and shooters, and you're up for a challenge you won't be dissapointed with Rainbow Six: Vegas.