Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.

This is the third time I have started writing this review. I was 80% complete with my last attempt then I did a Ctrl+A, Del and Ctrl+S. The problem with this game is that the more I think about it the more I loathe it. You can lose your house, life savings, job and car from gambling one night in Vegas, however Ubisoft's second trip to Sin City isn't as risky as I would hope it would be.

If you have never played an original Rainbow Six on PC or the original Vegas game, there is much for you to like here. If you have already walked down this road with me then you probably would want to hold off until this game gets released for the $20 bin.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (R6:V2) is not a true sequel for the original Vegas game. Most of the R6:V2 story runs parallel with the original Vegas game except for the first mission which is set five years earlier and explains (poorly) the motives of the bad guy. Not that you really care about the story since there hasn't been an original story in any Rainbow Six game since the first one. Yes there is a bomb. Only Team Rainbow can stop them. Someone is a mole that is threatening the free world.

OK the story is the same as all the others but what about the actual game itself?

Firstly the level design is very similar to the original Vegas. One or two hours into the game you are fighting your way through a strip bar and a sense of Deja Vu was overwhelming because parts of the level resembled the original Vegas' Chinese restaurant too much. I thought for a while that I was doing the same level except fighting in the opposite direction with reskinned walls. Throughout the entire single player game I couldn't remember any decent or distinct level to play. It is also annoying that most of the levels are linear, sure, there are rooms that you can approach from multiple entries but you spend most of the time just going through the same halls and doorways. Maps for multiplayer are much better although some are taken directly from the single player part of the game. The levels are smaller but linear isn't a word to describe them. Two Raven Shield levels also return; Import/Export and Presidio reappear and are among the best for terrorist hunts.

Now for the guns; the player has to unlock them through killing terrorists in single or multiplayer. For most people this is not a bad thing. For players of the original PC series this is awful because it removes the flexibility of play from the original games. For people who have played the original Vegas this sucks even more, you have to play though what is essentially same game for the same guns. The good news is that weapon customisation is the same as Vegas, meaning that most weapons have silencers that you can add or remove during a level while other attachments such as scopes can only be added at the beginning of a level or at an ammo create. Also you can drop your weapon and pick up fallen enemies' guns if you are low on ammo.

Gun play is exciting in this game though. Not Raven Shield one shot and you are dead exciting, more of a fast paced action movie exciting. Your health regenerates but you cannot take much damage, even on the "casual" difficulty. That is much more forgiving than old Rainbow Six games where you had to carry your injury until the end of the round. Human movement feels natural in a sort of exaggerated way. You can quickly take cover with a full weapon load, firing from cover is always seamless. Enemy AI and squad AI is also passable, your squad (the same Brit and Korean from the previous Vegas game) can execute room clearings quite well and know how to use cover. The enemy AI likes suppressive fire and aggressively uses their superior numbers for flank or rushes.

I didn't have much time for the multiplayer aspect of the game. There is co-op terrorist hunt and story mode which supports up to 4 players. Co-op on the worst games can make the game tolerable. R6: V2's co-op is a blast. Your teammates aren't stupid and know the best places to take cover from. Also with the customizable character creation, you will be seeing some ugly freaks in puke green tank tops, orange boonie hats and ordinary camouflage pants. The adversary modes are reasonable to play. Your stock deathmatch and TDM are here. Other modes include Attack and Defend, one team attacks and objective and the other defends. Objectives include bomb sites, hostages and items. Other modes include Team Leader and Total Conquest. I haven't played Total Conquest but Team Leader is an escort game mode where you spawn off your TL and defend him until he reaches the extraction zone or kill the opposing team leader.

There is also dedicated server support. Woop!

What is the bottom line for Vegas 2? I implied that Ubisoft took no risks when making this game since it is so similar to the original Vegas. The original Vegas is a good game to start with and had a longer single player campaign. More importantly the Vegas 1 is now only 20 dollars since it's now a re-released budget title. R6: V2 multiplayer is good and there are players but judging from other Rainbow Six titles the PC version doesn't last for too long before it folds. My suggestion is to join a clan or find a dedicated Rainbow Six community to see how easy it is to organise pub games.