Have time for a quick and informal poll, readers? How many of you spent, say, over 30 hours playing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3? If you did, how much of that time was spent with the multiplayer game? If you're like most fans of the franchise, there's a good chance that you spent far more time fragging your buddies than you did taking down computer controlled tangos. Although the game is (still!) among the Top 10 games on the Xbox Live charts, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 -- and its spiritual sequel Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow -- just didn't offer a compelling single-player game. Now, as the franchise is about to enter the next generation, the developers at Ubisoft's Montreal studio have decided that it's time to give players an intense, story-driven campaign mode (along with an awesome multiplayer experience, naturally).

During our demonstration, the game's producer mentioned that the team drew a lot of inspiration from the television show 24. Unlike the previous games, which featured a disjointed collection of seemingly standalone missions, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas will take place over the course of 24 hours, with one mission flowing almost seamlessly into the next. You won't have to sit through pre-mission briefings or watch those pre-rendered CG movies anymore, as the necessary information will be fed to the player as he leads his team through the game's levels. If there's something you need to know, a video from information officer Joanna Torres will pop up in the corner of the screen. You can also glean elements of the story by listening to the chatter of your enemies (before having your team cap them, of course) and overhearing TV news feeds.


Vegas will also be the first appearance for a new team of Rainbows, although that's not to say that old buddy Ding Chavez won't be making an appearance. He's been promoted to the leader of the whole organization, and he's put Logan Keller in charge of the Rainbow Six field team. You'll be playing as Logan, and you've got two squadmates under your control. There's Mike Walter, the demolitions expert, and Jung Park, who will handle recon duties. It's unclear how different these two characters will be, although the producer did mention that they'll carry specialized weapons that will come in handy during particular situations.

The game's story is pure Rainbow Six from beginning to end, although we were told that there will be plenty of surprising twists and turns as you progress (there's that 24 influence again). While chasing international terrorist Irena Morales across the globe, the team is redirected to Las Vegas, where a terror plot is slowly unfolding. Since the city is so densely populated, a major attack could kill the majority of the population (and plenty of camera-toting tourists), and the team's got to act quickly if they want to save the day. The developers have done a number of things to heighten the feeling of tension, including having some time-sensitive scripted events and a dynamic music system that ramps up during firefights.