he best tactical shooter known to man finally makes its way to the PlayStation 3. But despite the extra seventh months of development and additional content, this Vegas visitor doesn’t cash out with as many chips as its Xbox 360 counterpart.

Make no mistake, Rainbow Six Vegas still offers a riveting single-player campaign that you can experience with up to four friends online (albeit without the cutscenes and story development) and the deepest multiplayer action available on consoles. The PS3 version even comes with two new multiplayer modes and 10 extra maps, five of which have yet to be released on Xbox 360.

So what’s the problem, you ask? The first thing you notice upon stepping off the helicopter and taking the safety off your rifle – the graphics. While the game still looks like a next-generation title, it lacks many of the subtle points of refinement the Xbox 360 version offers. Environments are noticeably muddier and jaggier, as if Ubisoft forgot to use anti-aliasing. This especially stands out on the edges of buildings and on telephone wires. Despite Sony’s boasts about the PS3’s fantastic particle effects, the game also skimps on environmental effects like the dust clouds you see littered throughout the dirty Mexican streets that serve as the location for the first few missions.

In an apparent effort to appease the SOCOM nation, the Ubisoft team also strayed from the fantastic Xbox 360 default control scheme, which used the left trigger as your cover button and the right trigger as your fire button. If you want to experience the game with optimal controls, switch to the Tactician scheme.

Despite these minor flaws, Rainbow Six Vegas offers a fantastic FPS experience that rivals anything else on the PlayStation 3. If you haven’t played the game on the 360 already, this is a must-buy for any self-respecting fragger.