Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 review

While Vegas 2 continues the story, it does it a little bit differently. Instead of taking control of Logan as you did in the original, this time youre a character called Bishop and the game takes place before, during and after the events of the first Vegas. This was done simply so they could introduce the face mapping that was initially only available in multi-player. Now you can have your mug slapped onto the face of Vegas 2s protagonist during the single player campaign. The story however is a bit of a mess.Despite the game taking place during events of the first game you still need to play Vegas 1 to actually understand whats going on. The story is sloppily put together with helicopter trips between levels where the plot is explained being quite useless when you cant hear characters dialogue over the whine of the helicopters rotors. As players of the original will know the game ends with you being betrayed by your team mate Gabe and while he does turn up during the opening level (set five years ago in France) its never really explained who he is and whats going on. Surely with a game series created by a leading novelist, the story could have been penned with more flair.Gameplay wise little has changed. You still control a team of two taking out terrorists in a variety of environments. The locales unlike the first game not necessarily making the best use of the Vegas location. Whereas casinos were your main port of call with the first game, here you find yourselves in warehouses and oil refineries. Nevertheless the way you approach each situation is varied enough to warrant their inclusion. Do you go in solo or ask your team to breach and clear? Or is a better option to split up from your team taking opposite doors, attacking on both sides? Therefore some thought is needed, but a great deal will come down to how competent the AI is. While some terrorists will take suitable cover, others will run at you like bullet magnets, and unfortunately its the same on all difficulties, including Realistic.Its not uncommon to come across other bugs in the game. At one moment our team completely disappeared, ordering them to follow did nothing, it was like they vanished into thin air? There are also the same bugs that have been found in all Rainbow Six games such as spinning guns, crazy rag doll physics and issues with the sound. When the end credits did finally roll we couldnt help but laugh out loud when it listed ten pages of QA testers. Were they all drunk?Most people will be interested in how the multiplayer plays, and it does fare better. Terrorist hunt with three other people is just as good as it was in the original and two player story co-op is more fulfilling than going through it solo. Ubi Soft have also spruced up the ranking up and experience. The standard ranks such as Colonel, Sergeant etc can all be earned, and now theres added ACES (Advanced Combat Enhancement Specialisation) ranks. Three in total, Marksman, Close Quarters and Assault, points are earned for each by completing the actions within each category. For instance, by using short range tactics you earn close quarters points, but for marksman points you have to perform headshots. Ranks can now also be gained through playing on your own in the single player story, which actually gives you a reason to play through it again.The ranking may be updated, but the multi-player game modes are almost the same. Deathmatches, Attack and Defend and Total Conquest are all present, and are now joined by Team Leader. They play well when you get someone with a decent connection, however if you dont (which happens almost always when you have a group of over eight) then prepare for a good minutes worth of lag before the connection finally stabilises (which is about the same time when most people quit).Releasing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 as a full priced game is a swift kick in the nuts to all fans of the tactical shooter. On the PC this would be nothing more than a half priced expansion pack, so why are we being forced to pay full price? The gameplay may have been fine with the original (and it still is here), but a year later its amazing that its escaped through testing with the exact same bugs. Vegas 2 couldve done with a few months more development time, at least, maybe then would we have got the Rainbow Six game we all wanted.