PixlBit

Seeing what they have planned for this series has me excited. It's not often that a title can call into question the moral ambiguity of FPS as a genre.

I thought the interactive sequence at the beginning was beautiful and terrifying. The actual game-play representation that followed, on the bridge, looked really fun. I liked the direction they took Splinter Cell Conviction in as far as mechanics go, so I have no doubt the direction they're taking Rainbow Six in will be awesome as well. It's more cinematic, varied, and sophisticated in the sense that the mechanics revolve around the environment and how you will need to interact with the environment.

For example, when they needed to get down onto the bridge from their sniper nest, they quickly repelled down, shooting enemies along the way. Older design techniques or styles would've had you enter an elevator and wait while a short loading screen took you down. Or there might have simply been a cut scene and removed the player from the action altogether. I love the philosophy of making the mechanics and game-play serve the story and situation at hand, as opposed to having the story or narrative be restricted, interrupted, or broken by a game mechanic. I really loved the whole vid, it looks like the game is going in a great direction. It looks like the kind of game I would want to make, and want to play.

This is what I'm talking about. Rainbow Six is yet another FPS, but they are taking cues from games like Heavy Rain, and integrating augmented reality tech that is rapidly becoming a reality. This is how you innovate in a stale genre, by bringing in ideas that at first seem out of place.

I agree Jules. I personally believe the best way to deal with staleness is to say "To hell with the status quo" and just start throwing design ideas at the wall and see what sticks, what is fun. That's how I see level design and mechanics anyways, I'm not a writer so I don't plan to ever worry as much about plot but as long as the people who write the plot and plan the pacing of the unfolding narrative do a good job of it, than a level design team can build an experience suited to the narrative and throw whatever they have at the game to make it fun. There's no point in making Rainbow Six Vegas 2.5 just so you can satisfy the minority of fans that want a never changing "purist" formula.