Even if, in a parallel universe, there was no Xbox 360 version of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas and this version were console-exclusive, it'd still be disappointing in comparison to the series' glory days on the Xbox. In spite of the rave reviews on other platforms, the PS3 version is largely hobbled by the limitations of the PlayStation Network and some glitches that can make the game more frustrating than fun. It's not all doom and gloom, however; PS3 owners still get the same great single-player storyline.

In the single-player campaign, you'll take on the role of Scott Logan and fight your way through a terrorist invasion of Sin City. Throughout the experience, you'll get a feel for the fundamental controls of not only the traditional squad-based action of Rainbow Six, but also an appreciation for Ubisoft Montreal's amazing implementation of cover. You won't find a shooter on Sony's console right now that has this level of cover mechanic depth. It's central to the Vegas experience and is laudable in regard to what Ubi's Montreal team has done to help advance gameplay mechanics in console FPS titles.


While there's no rumble in the Sixaxis controller, Ubi Montreal did a great job of translating the controls effectively to the PS3, outside of the tacked-on motion controls for the Snake Cam. Unlike other recently ported shooters, Vegas controls like an FPS on PlayStation should; that is, your weapons are largely mapped to the shoulder buttons. While on the 360 the fire button maps to the right trigger, here it's mapped to R1, which feels more ergonomically natural on PS3. Your grenades are mapped to R2, which feels more intuitive for PlayStation gamers than the Circle button (it's the B button on 360). Your cover button is mapped to L1, which feels much more comfortable than L2. In other titles that we've seen ported over from the 360, the programmers cloned the shoulder layout of Microsoft's controller, which works very poorly with the design of Sony's gamepad. It's a subtle thing, but one that we noticed (and were happy about) throughout our terrorism-fighting experience.


Visually, Vegas PS3 is a bit of a toss-up. It's by no means an ugly game, and you'll find worse-looking multiplatform titles that have been carelessly spit out onto the PS3, but it's got its issues all the same. It looks muddier than the 360 version, and very dimly lit. We found ourselves playing with brightness, contrast, and backlighting on our monitors quite a bit to get things right, and there's no gamma adjustment in-game to remedy most of those problems. Characters just aren't quite as smoothly detailed as they are on the other console, and the framerate has occasional headache-inducing moments. On the other hand, the neon-drenched ambience of Las Vegas is still mostly intact.