Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

"The King of Tactical Shooters Returns"

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series has always been one of the best tactical FPS's ever released, and now 10 years since the originals release we are back in Vegas. R6V2 (as I shall now call it) is a game that doesn't add a whole lot from the original, but it smooths out the rough edges of the previous game.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics in R6V2 are not the top of the line, but they get the job down. They are a significant jump from Vegas 1, but they could have done a fair bit more. The thing that baffles me is that all other games that use the Unreal 3 engine (Gears of War, Army of Two, Unreal Tournament) look leaps and bounds better, but unlike those games R6V2 has some variety in textures and such. There is, as with all games using the Unreal Engine, texture pop up. Not a terrible thing, doesn't take long to pass, but the few seconds you have it are pretty ugly. None the less the graphics still look great, just showing their age.

Sound: 7/10
The one feature that did disappointed me a little bit. The sound is absolutely fine, nothing wrong at all. Everything sounds as it should, not as sharp as say Call of Duty 4, but as with the graphics they get the job done. The thing that really really annoys me, and shows Ubisoft's laziness, they have used sounds from the first game. Not all of them, but they seem to have done little to make them better. Another thing that annoys me is that some of the speech the terrorists say have been reused, but they have added some new ones too.

Game Play: 10/10
R6V2 is a very tactical game. It is neither Halo nor Call of Duty (run 'n' gun games), you try running around pointlessly you WILL die and fast. R6V2 is a very realistic game (in the sense of guns), and you are offered a VERY wide range of guns to choose from, you can choose SMGs, LMGs, Assault Rifles, Pistols and Sniper Rifles.

R6V2 has the best customization in a FPS ever. EVER. You can make a male or female character and pretty much go nuts with the customization. You could give your character helmets, masks, tank tops, cargo pants and so much more. You can also choose armors, which will affect not only the look for your character but his protection and mobility. Where lots of heavy armor and you will be a tank, but slow. Wear no armor and you will be a weak, but speedy devil. You can then even choose what camouflage they wear. If you own a Xbox Vision Camera you could place your own face on your character!

The game play in R6V2 is slow paced, but thanks to the newly added sprint feature which allows you to get around the map faster and generally makes the whole game faster. The game is based around a cover system similar to Gears of War's cover system. You basically hug a wall which turns your vision into 3rd person so you can see your character on the wall and a little bit in front of the wall. This way if you see an enemy coming down a corridor you could blast him before he could even see you, which isn't very realistic, but the system works extremely well. The gun play in this R6V2 is absolutely outstanding. Guns perform realistically and fire fights are incredibly fun and intense.

R6V2 has a single player, which is of average length, but it doesn't seem to be the main focus of the game. You play as Bishop, a leader of a Rainbow squad. You command two teammates into battle across multiple areas of Vegas. R6V2 leads you into the less glamorous side of Vegas. Into strip clubs, recreational and convention centers and run down, old areas of Vegas. There is also a co-op side of R6V2's story mode, which has player one controlling Bishop and the other two members of the team and player 2 controlling Knight.

One of the two stars of R6V2 is Terrorist Hunt, which can be played by yourself and 4 player co-op .The simple, but genius mode of Terrorist Hunt pits you (and up to 3 other players) on one of the games many multi player maps against a customizable amount of terrorists. All you do is kill them and do it again. As simple as it sounds, it is extremely fun and will greatly add to the replay value of the game.

Multi Player! Glorious multi player. The best part of R6V2 is multi player! The game has 13 (+2 bonus maps) and 5 modes. The two new modes are Total Conquest and Team Leader. Team Leader pits you and another team against each other, the catch is both of your teams has 1 team leader who you must help get the extraction point. You get as many respawns as you want as long as your team leader is alive (if you are killed by the other team's leader you don't come back). Once their team leader is dead the opposing team (or yours) doesn't get respawns. The game then basically turns into a "hunt the other team down 'till the last one!" kind of thing. The other mode, Total Conquest, is a game of capture and hold the points. You must capture 3 satellites and hold them for 30 seconds. If one of the nodes are captured during the 30 seconds the clock is reset and you must get it back.

The game works around a levelling up system which if you complete any positive action you get experience towards your next rank. A change from the first game though is you now gain EXP in single player AND multi player, which now allows you to get new guns and armour. The game also has an A.C.E.S system which basically rewards you in three different categories: Marksman, Close Quarter Combat and Assault. Every one of your kills will fall under one of these categories. Each category has its own rewards, get Marksman kills and you will get sniper rifles, get Close Quarter Combat kills and you will unlock shotguns and get Assault kills and you will get pistols assault rifles and even at the end of it a shield! The A.C.E.S system doesn't take long to max out, but it is fun to do so.

Although they have added enough to be a sequel and more than enough for me, I wish there was a melee button. There have been so many instances where I've been in a fire fight where an opponent and I are in a very close range fight with a sniper and no way to defend myself. A instant kill melee button wouldn't work, just some way to defend yourself in close range.

Rent or Buy: Buy Buy Buy!
R6V2 is a classic example of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". They may not have added much, but I'm incredibly surprised that so much great content fit on just 1 disc! Although I will say if you do not have online or some friends I do not recommend you buy it just for single player. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is average and you will probably only go through once or twice and without friends I doubt you will even get through a T-hunt by yourself. But if you have LIVE, well that's a whole 'nother story! This game will last you months and months and months thanks to on-line T-hunt and versus modes.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a great jump from the original and is a must buy for anyone who loves First Person Shooters.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/08

Game Release: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (US, 03/18/08)