Kotaku
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 brings gamers back to Sin City to rescue it from the clutches of another group of terrorist who've decided to start blowing stuff up. This time around, the game spends more time developing the characters and gives players a chance to shoot through the campaign with a friend in co-op mode. Ubisoft Montreal doesn't try to tinker with the formula, instead looking to add to what was an already popular title.
Vegas 2 can, at times, dip into the monotonous and the AI is spotty, but overall the game delivers a fun experience.
Loved
* Totally Tactics:The thing that separates Rainbow Six from other shooters is its heavy reliance on tactics and this game requires it in spades. You can use a snake cam to peek under doors and mark targets, clear rooms with flash bangs, grenades or smoke and almost have to slowly work your way from cover to cover to methodically clear a room.
* Deep maps All of those tactics would be for naught if it weren't for the incredibly detailed maps that let you find multiple routes into the same spaces, crawl through windows, and rappel, head first, down buildings. Vegas 2 has one of the most eclectic mix of detailed maps I've seen in a shooter.
* Multi multiplayer Not content to include just versus online multiplayer, Vegas 2 also has terrorist hunt which has you trying to find and kill a set number of bad guys in a time limit; and co-op play, which allows you to play through the entire game with a friend. And co-op Rainbow Six can be quite a blast.
* Customization This Vegas has all of the weapons, camo, clothing and gear as the last, plus a bit more, including 11 new weapons. Another nice touch is the ability to hop into an outfitting menu as you ride in a helicopter to the next mission, without having to stop the briefing. You can also now carry over the experience earned in single player to multiplayer, and vice-versa.
Hated
* Uneven AI: The game's artificial intelligence, both friendly and enemy, can at times be brilliant, flanking your position, laying down cover fire, clearing a room of bad guys with tactical sweeps. But just when you think you've met your match, you'll run up on an enemy who literally just stands there staring at you until you decide you should probably shoot him.
* A winding tale: There's something to be said for a game that delivers a lot of substance, but sometimes there's even more to be said about a producer who knows when to start cutting. Vegas 2's plot is so convoluted that it can feel monotonous. Worse still, it is so packed with false endings that the real one, which wraps up with an almost humorous monologue, feels flat and anti-climatic when it finally arrives.
* Finishing touches The game doesn't quite look and feel like a true sequel. The graphics aren't really improved, with draw distances that can be surprisingly short, and there is still a bit of slow down and stutter at pivotal moments.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a fine addition to the Rainbow Six library, giving gamers a lot of new maps to stalk through, hunched over, with a buddy or on their own. What it doesn't do, really, is introduce anything new to the formula. There are plenty of neat little tweaks and co-op play, while not fully drop-in, drop-out, is a fantastic addition. But in the end you're still playing Rainbow Six Vegas, with the same look and feel as the original.
If you weren't a fan of the original, then Vegas 2 probably isn't for you. If you were, this is a must buy if for no other reason than to go through the game with a friend in co-op.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, published by Ubisoft and released on March 18. Retails for $59.99. Available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, reviewed on Xbox 360. Played single player campaign to completion, tested multiplayer modes. Did not create any baby heads.
Comments
Brian Haet Vegas
OMG! CANT WAIT TO PLAY this GAME!
it's unbearable!
I agree with the guy too... Rainbow is love/hate... the AI is so corny... I mean they just spawn, randomly, at key points in a map... lame...
Meh what other half decent NEW shooters are there at the moment?
I'll buy it for sure. Gotta love those co-op games baby!!!
For me R6:Vegas was all about the vs multiplayer. If at least part of my friends list moves over from COD4 to it, it'll be a success.
I really like this game but it's true that the AI can be a little stupid at times. You can litteraly sit and shoot 5-6 terrorist slowly coming down from the same rope one after another. You would think they hide or go down another rope, but it seems they all like the one I'm shooting at.
I have also experienced horrid framerate drops, but only in a single mission so far. Other than that the game is a joy to play.
AI in the first game was pretty terribad too. You'd notice bogies stopping after you ran too far away from them. Really a shame, I hoped for an upgrade in that department.
Very fair review.
@Vau:
my favorite was when they became invincible... it was weird...
I do believe that IGN said the 2 player co-op was lacking, not sure if they were just bitter about going from [4 player / no cutscenes] to [2 player / with cutscenes] tho.
I played the hell out of Part 1, so much that I neglected Gears of War (on the multiplayer side). So this game is a must buy and i'll be doing plenty of T-Hunts & MP matches along with working towards all achievements.
I am also looking forward to the leveling up ala COD4. I like how it is across the board and no matter what I do i'll be seeing my rank go up & up. What happens when it is maxed out? I dunno, but I certainly am not going to do any "prestige" style option.
Hey Cresecente, how long did it take to play through the single player campaign?
Pretty decent review...might pick this up. Played the shit out of the first one but COD is what is up these days. If COD had some type of cover mechanic like RSV than there would be no competition. I love the fact you can get on a flat wall and have the 180 degree view. One thing RSV did completely right...oh and the ability to customize your character up to be a complete baller. Shit, two things COD needs.
I am an R6 fan, not a Vegas fan. But Ubisoft let John Slaydon screw the series into the ground and then decided that too much of a bad thing wasn't enough. Some games work great in 3rd person such as SOCOM and Gears just to name two. Vegas isn't one of them. A stolen cover mode that was itself taken from another game hardly suits the series.
The first Vegas was aptly named and Vegas2 is no different. Just like it's name the title comes off as flashy, but hollow and devoid of real substance. You will wake up the day after the experience and wonder where your money went and why you wasted time there.
the tone of this review makes it seem like co-op didn't exist in the first rainbow 6 vegas when it did... 4 players instead of 2 too.
I sold the first game because it was so unpolished, T-hunt was awesome fun so I was awaiting a solid sequel...
Looks like I'm waiting for a solid third installment :(
COD4 is getting old. I, as many others, will make the switch effective immediately...
...until Resistance 2 comes out.
The game is $40 at Fry's this week. Go get it.
No sportsbook mini-game, no deal.
I loved Rainbow 6 Vegas, I am really bummed they went from 4 players co-op to 2 player co-op though :-(
I really hope in the next game they move away from Vegas (Rainbow 6 Washington) or whatever. I felt that having this second game again in Vegas was a bit weak.
I'm just curious: when did the R6 series become so mainstream that it departed much of the previous associated realism of the series? :( I miss the days of R6 and R6:RS.
like that A.I. suicidal maniac, the one that was to shout "take me down, I don't want to live anymore" but they forgot to hire a voice talent for.
Or maybe, maybe he just wants to be my friend, but he's shy, that's why he isn't saying anything, and instead of making conversation, I choose to shoot him in the eyeball.
I tried the demo for the first one a while back and was severely annoyed with the visibility...
"Either deal with a dark room where you can't see anybody, or deal with a blinding light in your thermal goggles because you're in a goddamn factory boiler room!
Either way, enjoy dying."
Not my kind of game. :/ I love splinter cell though, they did everything right with that (which is why I was kind of disappointed to find this so frustrating).
Co-op is definitely not an addition. It was better in R6 Vegas 1 where you could play with four people and didn't have to deal with your semi-retarded AI teammates. Now you can only have two players and there's no way to get rid of the AI. If they die, you fail the mission.
Have you reviewed any cross platform games on the PS3? Maybe I've missed some but they all seem to be reviewed on the 360. Not bitching, just wondering...
can you play the co-op story with 2 friends?
Wow...I had no idea they only have 2 player co-op now...my plan was to do for my PS3 what I'd done back in my 360 days - one copy for each machine and four player madness ensues.
Stupid move from my viewpoint, Ubisoft...you just lost four sales.
I personally can't stand it when a franchise REMOVES a feature...particularly one that seemed popular.
I was going to ask someone to verify that it truly was only coop with 2, but with the number of responses I guess they really did kill this one for me.
No game improvement? No added features? Its not a sequel. Its an expansion pack. Call it what it is. Just like GRAW 2.
I'm not spending 60 dollars for an expansion pack.
Funny how this isn't coming out on PC...yet.
No surprise considering how poorly UBI treated the PC community with the first R6:V.
While the SP was good, the MP was buggy as hell and didn't get fixed until 6 months after it's release.
With that in mind I'll be happy playing COD4 with all the new custom maps that are available.
UBI fooled me once, but won't get me again.
I loved the game's multi. It was so tactical. Almost like next-gen CS on consoles.
I also liked the simple singleplayer that had fun gameplay but an average story. It was a so-so thing. But good enough to keep playing.
Oh I mean Vegas 1 by the way. Don't have this one yet but will :P
The thing that bothered me about the original is that is seems to love itself for its realism, yet the premise is so ridiculous it could never happen. Specifically the hundreds and hundreds of terrorists invading Las Vegas seemed ludicrous. I mean I guess a lot of people have conventions in Vegas but a Mexican terrorist one seemed far fetched.
A lot of the bitching & complaining about this game, no big surprise there. Everytime a new part of a game comes out people will always find something to yell about.
Meh, I'll find something else to play while waiting for COD4 maps, I'm sure many folks on my friends list will stick w/ COD4.
HOLY CRAP!
Did anybody notice that you can copy and paste normally on the comments now??? No more being forced to copy and paste either 1 word or the whole paragraph! AWESOME!
Sorry for the OT....*reads article*
Whats the multiplayer graphics like this time around? Last time they looked pretty bad compared o the singleplayer. The reason I ask is I live with someone who plays some games but is so f'ing picky and if the graphics aren't up to his strange standards then I probably wont get it because i'll be stuck playing all by my lonesome :(.
Rainbow Six died when Lockdown came out and Vegas was UbiSoft pissing on its grave.
Man I wish someone would make a CQB game like the old school Tom Clancy. Where you had to plain and make sure your squads had the right gear, plus no spawning enemies, everyone was generally accounted for when you went in.
Excellent review. From what you wrote it seems that the game should have been an expansion for the first one and be only 30 bucks. Thats my opinion.
Ive played a few Tom Clancy games and to be honest they all seem to run together. Im Sam Fisher a co-overt op who is working as a part of Ghost Recon and its uber secret affilate the Rainbow Six out to hunt spies and WMD in Las Vegas. I mean that is what it feels like.
Plus everytime GRAW or R6 makes a mechanic or game idea someone else does them better. Personally I think GoW's cover system is easier to use. And COD4 has got the modern warfare thing down to the T.
@HurricaneDave: Like Rogue Spear? Man that was a great game.
i loved the series and loved the first one. i, however, cannot get passed the fact they've removed the pre-planning involved to solve each mission as they did in the classic R6 series. besides tactics, this is what set this game different from other shooters out there and the possibilities were endless (well, there was ghost recon, but they've also removed this as well). i guess every one wants that cinematic story from a personal view through linear maps. does anyone else miss this? i want it back
@HurricaneDave: seems you beat me to it. i guess i'm not the only one. i loved that style of gameplay. i wish the devs would at least change the structure of the maps, making it more open-ended, to incorporate this type of strategy. who's with us?
@HurricaneDave: If you haven't played SWAT 4 yet, get right to it! It's still a great game in co-op, and it's exactly like you described. Old school R6-"breach, bang and clear" gameplay.
I'd say it feels more like mission pack than a new game.
It IS out for PC.
It just wasn't mentioned up above.
I was a little addicted to the first one.
The cover mechanic is the thing that did it.
And the animations are so smooth and nice.
Tomorrow I will get it and be happy.
@Modus_Operandi:
GR = a special force for doing special missions in a war, mostly recon... out of sight
RS = an elite counter-terrorist team, made to deal with urban, swat like settings... in your face
SC = a one man deal. A real "ghost" so to speak... out of sight and out of mind
SC could be operating with RS or GR... actually they could all operate together as well. On many different fronts.
@houkah: I said specifically, all three times, that I was talking about co-oping through the entire game's campaign. You couldn't do that in the original, you could only do co-op terrorist hunt and co-op individual single player missions, story and friendly AI-free.
Co-op campaign is an addition.
@Modus_Operandi: Nice job comparing two different types of games. *applause*
@Sullyville: It isn't out for the PC until April 15, which is why it wasn't mentioned.
@Modus_Operandi:
by the way i hate the "they copied"
everyone copied off PONG... They all copied movement... all of them!
Looking at the graphics, you won't believe that Bioshock and this thing are both based on the same engine.
Especially visible during the dam stage in the first game where water looked like it was from 2001.
Anyway, will wait for the PC version.
Any new additions to the lobby/matchmaking? :(
Obviously I'd prefer Halo3 style, but CoD4 works fine too!
But finding a game with 3-4 slots open, with like <2 min left, then quickly joining and inviting a friend, praying we got on same team...it's kind of a pain
Got a chance go play through the game last week and would agree with most of what's been said. My $.02:
Pros
-Co-Op
-Multiplayer
-ACES
-PEC
Cons
-PAINFUL AI (both your team and the enemy). On the "Realistic" setting it basically means enemies 1 shot kill you at insane distances even when that shot hits you in the foot or arm. I can't tell you how many times i got "sniped" from some clown 100 yards away with a pistol. Realistic my ass. Same goes for your team, it seems that this round you're picking your assbag teamates off the ground more often than not.
-Storyline. Or lack there of. CoD4 really shines in comparison.
-Graphics. U3 Engine looks mediocre at best, albeit better than the original.
-Various. From funky texture and graphics glitches to missing audio (there are times where the audio simply cuts out for a few seconds) there are plenty to go around.
Bottom line, it's a fun game (especially the co-op) and the PEC and ACES that run throughout all aspects of the game (not just multiplayer) are a huge plus. If you liked the first you'll like this one. If you're new to the R6V world, pick this one up, as neither have storylines worth mentioning.
I said this in the Comcast map thread, but I'll say it again:
I'm buying this game as soon as I complete my stupid research paper for Sociology. I know if I buy the game before that, I'll never get it done and I'll be in big trouble.
@Stefanten:
Not just SWAT 4. Get SWAT 4 and teh STechkov Syndicate add on. Then get the SSF Mod for both.
SWAT 4:
[hot-swat-mods.com]
SWAT 4 TSS:
[hot-swat-mods.com]
@Brian Crecente:
You could do the whole co-op campaign in the first one - you just needed to do it one mission at a time. The only new addition is the cutscenes and the AI. And I don't consider the AI a good thing - I'd much rather have three friends than one friend and two "very special forces" bots.
@ImmortalZ: they weren't. not really. vegas like splinter cell, utilized a very early interation of unreal 3. just looking at how much better looking and performing u3 games were after those two titles. the two earlier games i mentioned were barely playable on an x1800xl 256 at 1024x768, but bioshock and ut3 are actually pretty good at 1280x800.
we dont need any more shotters!