Name: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Genre: First Person Shooter
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC (Reviewed on Xbox 360)


I have made no secret of my love for all things Tom Clancy. From the original Rainbow Six on my Dreamcast, to Splinter Cell on the first Xbox, and the next-gen brilliance of  GRAWs one and two, Tom Clancy has consistently provided a gaming experience that few other franchises can match.

Two years ago, due in no small part to the debut of a game you may have heard of called Gears of War, the release of Rainbow Six: Vegas managed to slip under the radar of most gamers; which is kind of a shame because although GOW was revolutionary, R6V was an awesome game in its own right. Fantastic squad control, a diverse weapons selection, and excellent multi-player modes helped make this first venture of the Rainbow Six team into next-gen territory truly memorable.



Well, the Rainbows are back in Sin City in Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. Ubisoft has billed R6V2 as “part sequel, part prequel" since the story occurs before, concurrently, and after the events of R6V. Players no longer assume the role of Rainbow member Logan Keller, and instead play the part of team member “Bishop”. This decision was made in order to allow for a set of character customization tools, allowing players to create their hero for the duration of the campaign. There are those that will say that R6V2 is really not much more than a retread of R6V, since the two games’ have almost identical gameplay, graphics, and control scheme. But I like to think of it as more of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t bother fixing it” kind of thing.

The game begins with a training mission in Pic des Pyreenes, France, where you’ll be reintroduced to the control scheme. Upon completion of this hostage-rescue mission, the game jumps ahead 5 years to July 2, 2010 (which just so happens to be the same day Logan Keller arrived in Vegas in R6V). Terrorists have seized control of Las Vegas in an attempt to undermine law enforcement agencies. As the plot unfolds, gameplay moves out of Las Vegas proper and into the smaller towns of Nevada, which is a departure from the very Vegas-centric storyline of R6V.



Single player campaigns have not changed a great deal from the first iteration of this series. As Bishop you’re responsible for moving your teammates from your insertion point to the objective, while hitting various checkpoints along the way. Thankfully, Ubisoft added a sprint function for Bishop, deployed by pressing the left bumper. The AI has been improved from R6V, as your teammates will now, for the most part, cover you while you are moving.

All of the squad-based elements that gave R6V its fun and replay value are back and expanded upon in R6V2. Moving your squad is as simple as aiming your reticule and clicking “A”. Squads can advance in either Infiltrate mode, where your teammates will only shoot if fired upon; or Assault, where they will fire on any enemies they see. R6V2 does see one marked addition to the squad controls: the ability to tell teammates to throw smoke and frag grenades. This is a most welcome addition, as I kept finding myself running out of explosives very early in most levels.



The biggest change to the single-player mode of R6V2 is the addition of experience points and leveling which had been touched on in the multiplayer version of R6V. Using a model that is more reminiscent of the on-line XP system from Call of Duty 4, R6V2 allows players to unlock new weapons, better equipment and different colors of camouflage by attaining promotions. Adding more depth to this system is the A.C.E.S. point system. Points are meted out in three categories: assault, marksmanship, and CQB (close quarters battle). Each of these skill sets can be leveled on their own, but earning experience in these areas will also contribute to your overall experience points. One of the cooler features of this set-up is that if you are killed before reaching a checkpoint, you still keep all the experience you obtained before being killed. So theoretically, you could endlessly level your character without ever advancing the story (although I can’t think of a good reason why anyone would want to do that).

The co-op mode has been greatly improved on for R6V2, as it allows for the entire campaign to be played cooperatively (you may remember that co-op in R6V omitted some cut-scenes and all of the in-game communications). The trade-off for this full-game co-op is that only two players can play a co-op mission at one time, as opposed to the four that could work together in R6V. The second player takes the role of Knight, Bishop’s squadmate. The AI teammate will remain, taking his commands from the first player.

R6V2’s other multiplayer modes are also back, and bring a fairly strong showing. There are over 10 new close-quarter maps, two new modes and (as mentioned earlier) a vastly improved upon reward system. In fact, any experience earned playing multiplayer will carry over to the single-player campaign.



Now don’t get me wrong- R6V2 is by no stretch of the imagination perfect. It seems like Ubisoft made a concerted effort to do away with the brown/grey issues that plague many next-gen shooters, and as a result, some of the backgrounds have problems with anti-aliasing (aka jaggies.) Also, although the AI has been greatly improved, there are still some problems with it. Teammates will occasionally stop shooting at bad guys, orders to throw grenades are sometimes ignored, and there are intermittent problems getting teammates to move out.

All those negatives aside, R6V2 is a must-have for any Tom Clancy fan. Although not a quantum leap forward from the original R6V, it still delivers enough of what made that first title great, while adding some elements that make it a more complete and robust gaming experience.

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