Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the fifth main game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released in November 2006 for the Xbox 360, December 2006 for Windows, and in June 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game's storyline follows a new team that is dispatched to Las Vegas, Nevada to defeat international terrorist Irena Morales and her army of mercenaries that are repeatedly attacking key locations in the city. A sequel developed by Ubisoft Montreal was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in March 2008 and on PC in April 2008. The game is also playable on Xbox Series X with online features still available.
Rainbow Six Vegas changes the series with multiple new features, such as a new health system where the player regenerates health while not taking fire (the player may sometimes be killed instantly, without a chance to regenerate health; this usually happens from grenades, as well as taking close-range fire from very powerful weapons like shotguns, particularly to the head). The player's vision is greatly impaired while damaged, similar to the health system in Gears of War. Furthermore, a third-person view has been included for moments where players can blind-fire around corners to lay down suppression or covering fire. Other changes include a larger enemy presence and much tougher artificial intelligence, a shift in focus to where kills will be much harder to obtain, a reincarnated aiming system similar to the aiming system of the old Rainbow Six games and a context-sensitive D-pad based command system for the player's squad and sections of gameplay where the player will scale buildings and cause environmental damage. The player can also give voice commands using the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 headset, but teammates are no longer audible through the headset.
There is no mission planning feature or save system; instead, the game uses a checkpoint system. The developers also opted to almost entirely exclude cutscenes, telling the story through video feeds on a heads-up display. The player also has various skills, such as the ability to rappel up and down buildings while shooting and the ability to fast rope into an area.
In the PSP version, the multiplayer has online limitations and supports up to four players (both via infrastructure and ad hoc where applicable), offering modes such as Survival and Team Survival. The maps are fewer, some drawn from past Rainbow Six titles, though overall the multiplayer component is more modest in scope.
The game was in development for more than 2 years. 180 people worked on the game.
Patches
During November 2007, the North American Support Supervisor announced on the Ubisoft forums that Ubisoft "has and will always provide support for this title", and also confirmed that Ubisoft was working on another patch. The patch was released on July 19, 2007, and updated the game to version 1.05. Since that time, Ubisoft has released the latest patch 1.06.
Collector's Edition
A Limited Collector's Edition of Rainbow Six: Vegas was released at the game's launch featuring alternative cover art and a bonus disc. The bonus disc contained a documentary on the making of Rainbow Six: Vegas and a Rainbow Six retrospective, which features information on all Rainbow Six games in the series.
Expansion packs
On April 18, 2007, the Player's Pack Red Edition was released as downloadable content on Xbox Live. The pack includes two new game modes. The first is "Assassination" whereby one team has to protect a VIP armed only with a pistol, whilst the other team needs to assassinate him. The second is Conquest (a "capture and hold"-style game, whereby each team has to hold as many strategic points for as long as possible). Three new maps were also included: "Doscala Restaurant," "Marshalling Yard," and "Roof." The maps "Killhouse" and "Border Town" have been redesigned and packaged as two new "redux" maps. The expansion pack comes directly after an update was released for the game. All original game modes and maps are compatible with those featured in the Player's Pack Red Edition. On July 6, 2007, the Red Pack was made available for download free of charge.
On June 26, 2007, a new downloadable content pack was released. The Player's Pack Black Edition features five new maps. "Red Lotus", "Wartown" and "Neon Graveyard" are the three newly featured maps. "Streets: Redux" has been redesigned in a similar fashion to the Redux maps found in the Player's Pack Red Edition, and "Presidio" is a map overhauled and upgraded from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield. On June 27, 2007, the Black Edition was retracted from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Ubisoft announced that it was pulled due to a pricing error and that the pack (which was originally priced at 800 Microsoft Points) was intended to be free. On June 30, 2007, the Black Edition was re-released for download free of charge; Xbox Live users who paid for the pack had their points reimbursed.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the fifth main game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released in November 2006 for the Xbox 360, December 2006 for Windows, and in June 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game's storyline follows a new team that is dispatched to Las Vegas, Nevada to defeat international terrorist Irena Morales and her army of mercenaries that are repeatedly attacking key locations in the city. A sequel developed by Ubisoft Montreal was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in March 2008 and on PC in April 2008. The game is also playable on Xbox Series X with online features still available.
Rainbow Six Vegas changes the series with multiple new features, such as a new health system where the player regenerates health while not taking fire (the player may sometimes be killed instantly, without a chance to regenerate health; this usually happens from grenades, as well as taking close-range fire from very powerful weapons like shotguns, particularly to the head). The player's vision is greatly impaired while damaged, similar to the health system in Gears of War. Furthermore, a third-person view has been included for moments where players can blind-fire around corners to lay down suppression or covering fire. Other changes include a larger enemy presence and much tougher artificial intelligence, a shift in focus to where kills will be much harder to obtain, a reincarnated aiming system similar to the aiming system of the old Rainbow Six games and a context-sensitive D-pad based command system for the player's squad and sections of gameplay where the player will scale buildings and cause environmental damage. The player can also give voice commands using the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 headset, but teammates are no longer audible through the headset.
There is no mission planning feature or save system; instead, the game uses a checkpoint system. The developers also opted to almost entirely exclude cutscenes, telling the story through video feeds on a heads-up display. The player also has various skills, such as the ability to rappel up and down buildings while shooting and the ability to fast rope into an area.
In the PSP version, the multiplayer has online limitations and supports up to four players (both via infrastructure and ad hoc where applicable), offering modes such as Survival and Team Survival. The maps are fewer, some drawn from past Rainbow Six titles, though overall the multiplayer component is more modest in scope.
The game was in development for more than 2 years. 180 people worked on the game.
Patches
During November 2007, the North American Support Supervisor announced on the Ubisoft forums that Ubisoft "has and will always provide support for this title", and also confirmed that Ubisoft was working on another patch. The patch was released on July 19, 2007, and updated the game to version 1.05. Since that time, Ubisoft has released the latest patch 1.06.
Collector's Edition
A Limited Collector's Edition of Rainbow Six: Vegas was released at the game's launch featuring alternative cover art and a bonus disc. The bonus disc contained a documentary on the making of Rainbow Six: Vegas and a Rainbow Six retrospective, which features information on all Rainbow Six games in the series.
Expansion packs
On April 18, 2007, the Player's Pack Red Edition was released as downloadable content on Xbox Live. The pack includes two new game modes. The first is "Assassination" whereby one team has to protect a VIP armed only with a pistol, whilst the other team needs to assassinate him. The second is Conquest (a "capture and hold"-style game, whereby each team has to hold as many strategic points for as long as possible). Three new maps were also included: "Doscala Restaurant," "Marshalling Yard," and "Roof." The maps "Killhouse" and "Border Town" have been redesigned and packaged as two new "redux" maps. The expansion pack comes directly after an update was released for the game. All original game modes and maps are compatible with those featured in the Player's Pack Red Edition. On July 6, 2007, the Red Pack was made available for download free of charge.
On June 26, 2007, a new downloadable content pack was released. The Player's Pack Black Edition features five new maps. "Red Lotus", "Wartown" and "Neon Graveyard" are the three newly featured maps. "Streets: Redux" has been redesigned in a similar fashion to the Redux maps found in the Player's Pack Red Edition, and "Presidio" is a map overhauled and upgraded from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield. On June 27, 2007, the Black Edition was retracted from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Ubisoft announced that it was pulled due to a pricing error and that the pack (which was originally priced at 800 Microsoft Points) was intended to be free. On June 30, 2007, the Black Edition was re-released for download free of charge; Xbox Live users who paid for the pack had their points reimbursed.
