What's on Shenji's Mind: Visiting Las Vegas Behind the Sights of a Rifle

Yes! Got my ticket to Las Vegas for some commando action

Las Vegas, known as "Sin City" is the city that never sleeps. It is also a city that offers a spectacular sight with its neon rainbows and it is also city famous for its variety of casinos. The last time I visited Las Vegas for my family vacation was back in 1997 when I was 9 years old. This time, I'm revisiting Las Vegas not for a holiday...but for some commando action. Just recently, I manage to get my hands on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six:Vegas and boy, was I amazed by what I experienced during the game.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the fifth stand alone game in the Rainbow Six series. Currently, this game has been released for the PC and X-Box 360 console. It will also be released for the Play Station 3 and Play Station Portable soon this year. Unlike its predecessor, Rainbow Six: Vegas offers ultra realistic combat experience through its gun recoil, smart enemy behavior and team command. In this installment, Rainbow Six Vegas tells the story of team Rainbow working around the clock to prevent a Mexican terrorist from detonating a biochemical bomb that will unleash a wave of terror. For those of you who never heard of Rainbow before, allow me to give you a brief introduction.

Rainbow is a multi-national counter-terrorism unit which consists of elite special operatives and counter-terrorists experts from the American, European and Asian continents. It was established in 1999 and it was organized to prevent global terrorism. Rainbow is directed by John Clark, a former member of the C.I.A. In Rainbow Six Vegas however, John Clark is said to be retired and he has handed his position to Ding Chaves, a former U.S. Ranger who has been leading the Rainbow tactical strike team into action.

The moment I got Rainbow Six Vegas running on my computer, I was introduced to the team that I will be serving with. Instead of serving under the wing of Ding Chaves unlike other Rainbow Six series, I was assigned to Logan Keller's squad. Logan Keller is an American and he is the man in the thick of action. In the earlier parts of the mission, Logan and I were assigned under Alpha squad which consists of Gabriel Nowak, a Finnish electronics and reconnaissance specialists and Kan Akahashi, a Japanese heavy weapons and demolitions expert. Later on in the campaign, Logan and I were than transferred to Bravo squad which comprise Jung Park, a Korean electronics and reconnaissance specialists and Mike Walter, a British heavy weapons and demolitions expert. Throughout the campaign, the team was supported by Joanna Tores, a cute Canadian information officer who feeds the team crucial information vital for the mission's success from the helicopter.

Before we hit Vegas, I was with Alpha squad in a chopper on the way to the Mexican border. According to Joanna Tores, the team was supposed to apprehend a female Mexican terrorist by the name of Irena who was responsible for the French embassy bombing in Bogotá and responsible for several executions. As we were deployed into the insertion point, we faced stiff hostility from Irena's mercenaries who were patrolling the streets of Mexico. Upon reaching the mines where it was believed to be Irena's hideout, the fire fight with the mercenaries escalated.Nevertheless, with our superior combat techniques, we managed to dropped every tango ( term for enemy) and we eventually got Irene to surrender. Unfortunately, we were ambushed by more of Irena's mercenaries which left both me and Logan burried under a heap of falling rocks while Ken and Gabrielle being taken prisoner. However, we were fortunate enough to be left alone as Irena and her mercenaries thought we were dead. After gaining our concious back, Logan and I continued our search for Ken and Gabrielle with the help of Joanna via the communication head set. In the middle of our search, Joanna patched us through the broadcasting signal established by Irene. On our com screen, we saw Ken and Gabrielle being held hostage and at the same time Irena warned Rainbow to stay away or she'll execute the captured Rainbow operatives. After ending her threat, she shot Ken in his leg. Although we eliminated the remaining mercenaries, Irena managed to flee and Ken and Gabrielle were no where to be found. We were ordered to seize any further search for the captured Rainbow operatives and proceed to the extraction point. After being extracted via helicopter, we left the Mexican border. Logan had a conversation with Ding Chaves and he wasn't very pleased with that order telling him to discontinue the search for Ken and Gabrielle. Joanna and Ding then updated the both of us saying that Irena had her mercenaries smuggled into the United States border through the use of Coyotes ( Mexican smugglers) hours ago. Intel intercepted their whereabouts in Las Vegas and we were told to stand by within 24 hours.

On the following day, Logan and I were on our way to Las Vegas. Joanna briefed us on the situation on our way. According to her, a group of highly trained armed man dressed in tactical outfit has taken over the Calypso Casino. Several hostages were taken and one of them was a weapon technician who was very important to the FBI. Las Vegas Police Department had the perimeters of the casino secured but they were ambushed by the men in the tactical outfit. SWAT has been deployed to assist Las Vegas Police Dept. minutes ago but we lost contact with them. The moment Logan and I reached our insertion point, we fast roped down from the chopper and rendezvous with Mike Walter and Jung Park who was not far away from us. After regrouping with them, we made our way to the front of the casino but were fended of by enemy fire. The enemy was not only well equipped but they were well trained since they moved according to commands and they're fire teams were completely organized. Resistance was tough but we managed to break through the enemies defense. The team were trading fire with the bad guys behind abandoned civilian and police cars. Several dead SWAT officers were seen lying on the floor and it clearly explained why the team lost contact with SWAT earlier on. After clearing the wave of hostile in front of the casino, the team advanced to the entrance of the building. Seeing that the front entrance of the casino was barricaded by the enemies, Logan commanded Mike to set up a demo solution on one of the walls. After making a big hole in the wall, the team advanced into the building and ever since than, I knew that what awaits inside the casino will be more armed and specially trained terrorists getting ready to take us on; my journey of liberating Las Vegas from the brink of genocide has just begin.

So far, the story plot has been great and I'm so eager to find what will happen later on in the story. Frankly speaking, this has been one of the toughest Rainbow Six game I ever played, nevertheless I still love the game as it is ultra realistic and it revolves around the Special Forces world. I heard that this game was a cliff hanger and there will be a second part. Well, I'm going to finish this one first and find out where will the second one take us to. Wish me all the best!