Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

Vegas is back, baby!

Terrorists have invaded Las Vegas.  Maybe it's for the shows, maybe it's for the buffets, but either way innocent people are getting killed.  It's up to the Rainbow Six team to figure out who is behind the attacks and bring this to an end.

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Recommended Age Minimum Age Available On... 14 12 PS3, Xbox 360, PC Overall Fun Length Frustration   Violence Sexuality Substances Gambling 7 7 6   7 1 1 3 Mods Religion Anti-Law Community Sports Magic Miscellaneous 0 0 0 4 1 0 5

1.     Gameplay

• Overall Fun - 7

Rainbow Six: Vegas ended on a big cliffhanger.  After defeating the terrorists and stopping a missile from devastating every major city on the west coast, the player finds out that a former Rainbow operative is actually behind all of the attacks.  Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 completes the storyline but without the flair and urgency of the first game.

This bomb doesn't seem very earth-shatteringly important.

Both games take place around the same time.  When terrorists attack Las Vegas, Bishop (the player) and his two-man squad have to try and track down the terrorists and prevent them from killing hundreds of innocent civilians.

It starts with the player trying to track down a few bombs that were made within the city limits.  One of the bombs, a chemical weapon, is detonated in a crowded sports stadium before the player can stop the terrorists.  The other, a conventional explosive, is safely detonated on a Las Vegas monorail without killing anyone.

Vegas doesn't need another monorail anyway.

After these bombs are detonated the game goes a bit downhill.  The player is constantly chasing after more bombs and trying to save more civilians, but the overall goal is simply “find the terrorist leader and bring him down”.  The twist and eventual conclusion of the game doesn’t add to the sense of “this needs to get done or millions of innocent people will die” that was blatantly evident in the first Vegas game.

Storyline aside, the mechanics of the game are definitely improved.  The cover mechanics are still some of the best I have ever used in a tactical first person shooter and the gameplay overall is very smooth.  There were definitely some frustrating aspects to this game, but the cooperative gameplay made up for most of them.

One of the best features about this game is the ability for the player to fully customize their character.  The player can pick from different types of armor, clothing (that is worn underneath the armor), helmets, and camouflage.  The number of weapons available to the player is huge and each one looks and feels unique.

• Length - 7

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is decently long.  The storyline has some good twists and turns and the game is designed so that the player has to take each room slowly.  Players who try and rush in loudly will find themselves mowed down very quickly.  The game has a slightly repetitive feel of “breach, enter, clear, repeat”, but the layouts of the room make the game have some serious variety.  The way that a player breaches and enters a small nightclub will be entirely different than the way a player enters a large convention center.

Using cars for cover is always a good idea.

Cooperative play will definitely increase the fun and longevity of this game.  There is a multiplayer game mode, but I never found much reason to use it.  There is a mode called “terrorist hunt” (which also appeared in Vegas 1) where the player has to kill all of the enemies within a certain level.  Playing this cooperatively can be a lot of fun, but the enemies unfortunately follow very predictable paths.

• Frustration Factor - 6

The most frustrating aspect of this game by far was the AI.  The enemy AI was very predictable but sneaky.  Enemies will almost always run towards the sound of an explosion and can be quickly and effortlessly killed when they all rush through a doorway at once.  They will pause if they hear a new sound, and if they decide to wait for the player to come forward they can usually be dispatched with frag grenades.

The only thing that made this game frustratingly difficult at times, even on the easiest difficulty levels, was the fact that the game would spawn enemies behind the player.  It felt extremely unfair when I cleared a small room only to have an enemy spawn behind me and shoot me in the back with a shotgun for an instant kill.  The only real way to prevent this is to have another character (either a human ally or a friendly AI) follow you around so that any enemies that did pop up behind the main character could be quickly and easily dispatched.

It's never the one you see that kills you.

While the enemy AI was bad, it was nothing compared to the friendly AI.  The friendly two-man squad would frequently ignore enemy characters that were standing right next to them.  The player can order the friendly AI to throw frag or smoke grenades at a location, I seldom used this.  The few times I needed my squad to throw a smoke grenade at a location, they refused the order saying they were “unable to comply” despite the fact that they were standing right next to me.  The even fewer times that they did comply, their grenade would frequently be thrown straight into a wall or obstacle and bounce back right on top of them.

What made things even worse was that I didn’t realize how absolutely pivotal the friendly AI were until I didn’t have them anymore.  There is an entire chapter that the player has to complete alone.  Without the friendly AI making sure that enemies didn’t sneak up behind me, I was constantly left watching my back and front at the same time.  Scenarios that would normally be as simple as “you cover this door while I shoot from here” turned into “let me hide in this room and hope that I don’t get taken out by snipers.

Fortunately, these problems are completely solved by the presence of another human.  While playing the game cooperatively I would frequently order my AI squadmates to sit back at the beginning of the level while my partner and I played through the entire chapter.  The only disadvantage is that the game requires the AI squadmates to be present at certain times, so my friend and I would have to wait five minutes while my squad caught up.

2.     Parental Notices

• Violence - 7

The player will have a wide variety of weapons available to use against the terrorists.  Everything from shotguns to high-powered bolt-action sniper rifles to riot shields and pistols.  However, the violence in this game is rather formulaic.  Players line up the shot against the enemy, fire a round, if the round hits there’s a puff of red blood, and if the round is lethal the enemy crumples to the ground.  There’s no gore and within a few seconds the bodies will simply disappear.

Grenades make terrorists dance.

The blood will occasionally get painted on the floor and walls, but only if the person getting shot is close enough to the wall.

It's like he fell asleep...

The player can throw incendiary grenades that will light enemies on fire.  The enemy and environment aren't visually affected by the flames.

Shadrach didn't make it very far out of the furnace.

The player will find dead civilians and police officers frequently throughout the game.  They help explain why there are few civilians in areas that should be heavily populated.

I think you should put the gun down and help him...

• Sexuality - 1

There are a couple of places where sexuality is present but they are extremely subtle.  The most obvious example was in the “neon graveyard” where there is a sign advertising something called “opocolips” or “Apocolips”.  I’m not sure exactly what it’s for, but there’s a woman’s behind with female lip prints on it.

Even though I've played this game nearly a dozen times I only noticed this recently. It's pretty subtle.

Other than this, sexuality is not an issue in this game.

• Substances - 1

The player is able to heal his teammates by injecting them with some sort of substance.  The nature of the substance is never really discussed, but my guess it is probably some sort of adrenaline shot.

Stabbing a guy in the hip with a syringe isn't high on my "to do" list.

Other than that, substances are not an issue.

• Gambling - 3

Considering this is Las Vegas, gambling is present in multiple levels throughout the game.

If this casino wasn't filled with terrorists, I'd be stuffing my pockets with chips!

However, aside from adding to the look and feel of the locations, gambling is completely irrelevant.  The player can’t use any of the slot machines or card tables and, really, the terrorists that are shooting at the player seem to take priority.

3.     Other Factors

• Mods - 0

There are no mods available for this game.

• Religion - 0

There is no mention of religion in this game.

• Anti-Law - 0

You are a member of the elite Rainbow Six.  You are the law enforcement!

• Online Community - 4

The online portion of this game can be split into two distinct sections.  In the online cooperative game modes, the player can join someone online and play through the entire campaign with a friend (or a stranger).  The player can also attempt “terrorist hunts”, which put the player in a particular location and the player has to kill all of the terrorists in that location.  Playing through the terrorist hunts cooperatively was one of the highlights of this game, second only to playing through the campaign cooperatively.

The second section, the online versus mode, puts players against other players in a handful of game types.  While the players were all respectful and played the game as it was intended, this game isn’t designed for the fast-paced nature of versus game modes.  Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is meant to be a slow, mythodical, tactical shooter but versus modes tend to be fast-paced run-and-gun scenarios because there are so many very skilled players all trying to complete the same objectives.

Sneaky sneaky.

As a result, versus modes usually result in a camp-and-snipe scenario.  Two teams will find equally defensible positions that are impenetrable by any sized force.  While one or two players defend the new “camping” spot, the rest will take out sniper rifles and attempt to dispatch the enemy team from range.  The enemy team uses the same tactic, and the scenario only ends when one or both of the teams run out of ammunition.  It’s slow and boring.

• Extreme Sports - 1

The player is able to rappel and fast rope down certain heights.  The most extreme examples are when the player fast ropes down from the helicopter and when the player rappels down walls upside down.  It’s not completely unrealistic, but it’s not the kind of thing that an average person would be able to do.

Hang on tight!

• Magic - 0

There is no mention of magic in this game.

• Miscellaneous - 5

Civilian Deaths

The player will infrequently run into a few bodies of civilians and police officers that were caught in the crossfire.  There is unfortunately nothing the player can do to help these people.  However, these are very easy to miss since there are usually terrorists around shooting at the player.

Milk cartons are deadly this time of year...

Hostages

There are a number of times throughout the game when the terrorists will take and hold hostages.  The player must breach into the room where the hostages are being held and kill the terrorists without letting any of the hostages die.

Spoiler: The hostage negotiator in this image dies.

This is made even more complicated because if the player waits too long, the terrorists will shoot the hostages and the player will fail the mission.

Rainbow Six: 1. Terrorists: 0.

There is even one section where the terrorists strap a bomb to a person.  After killing the hostage-takers, the player must order his squad to defuse the bomb while the player kills more terrorists.

He's very relaxed for a guy with a bomb strapped to his chest.

Terrorist Attack

The terrorists manage to detonate a chemical bomb in the ventilation of a crowded sports stadium.  The player can hear the civilians inside screaming as the bomb kills them.

The game never explains why no one evacuated the stadium during the middle of a very obvious terrorist attack.

While it sounds horrific (and it is), it serves to prove to the player that the terrorists are evil people who are willing to kill innocent people for almost no reason.

Torture / Murder

Early in the game, the player will be attempting to find the location of two bombs that terrorists have created and are planning on using within Las Vegas.  An undercover operative is taken by the terrorists and brutally tortured for information while the player listens via the operative’s hidden microphone.  Eventually, the player finds the operative murdered.

That doesn't look so bad. Just walk it off!