Last night I finally got a chance to check out Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, the sequel to one of my favorite shooters. I’ve long been a fan of the Rainbow Six franchise, but Vegas introduced an exceptional cover system that allows for really tactical gunplay. This mechanism remains intact and unchanged in Vegas 2; in fact the core of the game is all familiar, but many of the rough edges from the first game have been improved.

First thing you’ll notice is that the graphics look better. While the engine remains the same, the textures are all improved - though it doesn’t look as good as Gears of War. Once you start playing, you’ll find that the XP system has been totally redesigned to include Single Player as well as Multiplayer, so those of us who like to cut our teeth in story mode before entering the online fray won’t be wasting our time. Speaking of online, drop-in/drop-out coop has been implemented, and coop players now get to enjoy the story, not just the missions. This was one of my biggest gripes with the first game, because I tend to play with my brother more often than not, but still enjoy a good plot. Overall, multiplayer has significantly improved over the original Vegas game.

Unfortunately, the use of the same engine makes this feel more like an expansion than a sequel. Everything looks and plays better, and there are some new weapons and a bevy of new maps, but it just doesn’t blow my skirt up the way the original Vegas did. I’m still more than happy to pay $60 for the game, because I’ve memorized most of the last one from playing it so much, but this might leave a more casual player disappointed. If you haven’t played the first, I’d skip right to Vegas 2, because it’s essentially a more polished version of the same game.

I think the similarity arises from the roughly 12 months between Tom Clancy releases coming out of Ubisoft. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially in a time when developers are starting to turn to episodic content as a way to keep prices reasonable as game development budgets balloon, but it is jarring to those of us used to three years (and major engine changes) between games in a series. On the console, it’s nice to get more levels for great games, but from a PC standpoint this has got to hurt, because third-party additions are often available for free - making an update like this seem like a grab for cash. Even so, I’m thrilled to play it, and look forward to thwarting terrorists with my brother tomorrow!

Image from Ubi’s R6V2 Site

Filed under: Video Games — Max @ 7:09 am