Ubisoft announces Rainbow Six: Vegas, the coming installment in the tactical shooter series that will take Team Rainbow to Sin City this autumn. The first screenshots are up on Worthplaying, and here's word:

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM— 6th March, 2006 — Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announced that it is developing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Vegas for PC, next-generation and current-generation video game consoles. Scheduled for an Autumn 2006 release and developed by Ubisoft’s award-winning Montreal studio, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas is the fifth iteration of the multimillion-selling Rainbow Six tactical shooter franchise.

The stakes are high when the world’s most elite counter-terrorism unit enters Las Vegas, where over 36.7 million men, women and children visit each year. “Sin City,” the home of the famous Las Vegas Strip, flashy hotels, high-rolling casinos and world-famous celebrities, becomes the setting for a terrorist threat of global proportions. What happens when one of the world’s most famous cities is held hostage by terrorists?

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas will be Team Rainbow’s next-generation console debut on the heels of the critically acclaimed Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™ and the highly anticipated Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent™. Today, with more than 13.5 million units sold worldwide, the Rainbow Six franchise is known as one of the best multiplayer experiences and is hailed for its immersive single-player games.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas will push technology through graphics, artificial intelligence, physics and animations created by Ubisoft’s award-winning Montreal studios, which house some of the world’s best talent, including Senior Producer Chadi Lebbos who was the lead on Rainbow Six 3®

“Rainbow Six is back and better than ever,” said Tony Kee, vice president of marketing at Ubisoft. “Building upon the online success of the Rainbow Six franchise and harnessing the power of the next-generation experience, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas will be the benchmark against which all next-generation games will be measured. With Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter being released this month to wide critical acclaim, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent also due out this year, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas makes a perfect addition to the Clancy series in 2006.”