Rainbow Six Vegas 2 DLC raises the stakes

Free Fan Pack for Ubisoft tactical shooter will offer a bundle of gameplay tweaks, new game mode for purists, and three remixed levels.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 hit the sales charts like a bullet upon its March release, earning the No. 2 spot on NPD Group's US retail rankings with more than 750,000 copies sold. While the tactical military shooter came in second only to fellow new release Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii, it couldn't keep momentum and fell out of the top 10 entirely in April and May.

Ubisoft hasn't given up on the game yet, as today the publisher announced the release of a free downloadable Fan Pack for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC editions of the game scheduled for July. Included in the pack will be three remixed maps of old: dark versions of Murdertown and CQB Training, and Calypso Casino, a level from the original Rainbow Six Vegas.

Maps aren't the only additions in the Fan Pack. It will also include a game update that adds a new gameplay option called High Stakes, which removes some of the game's more forgiving elements. For instance, High Stakes will disable players' radars, aim assistance, and health regeneration. Ammunition will also be more limited, and moving while shooting has a greater negative impact on accuracy.

Finally, the update includes a variety of balance tweaks, new features like a directional indicator when players are within range of a grenade, more spawning and chat options when hosting a game, and new ranks and A.C.E.S. levels for players who have already maxed out the game's current player prestige limits.

For more on Rainbow Six Vegas 2, check out GameSpot's review.

161 Comments

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 7, 2008 10:58 am PT

    i get hardly any lag!

  • thomas10soa

    Posted Jul 6, 2008 7:32 pm PT

    online still has major lag

    sigh...

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 4, 2008 10:34 am PT

    Got Calypso Casino & Breaching Charges, thanks Ubi'. Now, can we please have 'Casino Vault' & LVU???? Pretty Please with sugar on it!! : )

  • jameeler91

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 7:16 pm PT

    We can all dream baseballkid...we can all dream.

  • razza92

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 8:18 am PT

    are the new maps out yet? only says july...was hopin it was 2day the new maps were out..the patch got already doe

  • The_Rick_14

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 7:55 am PT

    @ZachLittle

    I think I recall them saying that they made "Random Respawn" an option for the host to select. They could still leave that off and have the spawns be the same as before. That's probably what happened.

  • ZachLittle

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 1:26 am PT

    is it just me, or did they mess something up with this new update. i thought they had previously fixed the spawn camp problem, but tonight i witnessed some pretty embarrassing matches where the other team was confined to one room only for the entire game. ubisoft, wtf?

  • BaSeBaLlKiD9874

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 9:39 pm PT

    i cant wait for calypso casino!!!!
    i really hope they come out with LVU campus and casino vault. those maps were the best!!!!

  • VFG

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 2:07 am PT

    I can't wait for the update. R6V2 is ripe for new content to boost online play again.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 11:29 am PT

    OH Yeah, gottem, damn that was a quick update!

  • taj7575

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 11:12 am PT

    it came out today

  • shock_18

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 10:48 am PT

    does anyone know what day this patch comes out? all it says is July.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 1:09 pm PT

    taj7575, I absoloutely agree! Leave the arcadie 'Grenade Indicator' (COD4) and such to other shooters, as the absence of these things are what seperate the R6 series from a majority of the run of the mill FPS affair.

  • taj7575

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:39 am PT

    ChiefFreeman

    great. Still one of the very best tactical shooters.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    yes, but its loosing some of its tactical style playing and for some reason the rainbow six series keeps following games that are not tactical whatsoever. gernade indicators? lol? also when they put the run button in this game, this game lost some tacticalness.

  • ChickenHounk911

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:36 am PT

    I like the fact that DLC is free! I am not complaining. I will download this ASAP! I haven't jumped online with this one recently, looks like its time to go back to Vegas!

  • taj7575

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:35 am PT

    AND bring back old game modes. TEAM LEADER? lol. that is a horibble and boring game more. sadly though, its the only thing i find myself playing nowadays.

  • taj7575

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:33 am PT

    i think ubisoft needs to stop bringing back maps that we used to "love", and start spending their time building maps we'll love even more, and they should take more time on their maps.

  • tefdesign

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:32 am PT

    My thoughts on the update after playing it..

    1 - The ACES level are all the way to 100. Nice..
    2 - I also noticed some gold elites with level 20 next to their names. Nice..
    3 - High stakes. The 3rd person cover mode does nothing but zoom the camera in close to your body. Fine on tall walls, but when on a corner or a crate, you can still see people coming easily..

    4 - Lag is still there, and plenty of "I shot that guy in the head" moments.

  • wando77

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:28 am PT

    @puckhog04

    Waaaaaay to go flower......argue with the guys that made the game and tell em there isn't aim assist.
    Halo isn't the only game with it at all. RSV2 does have it like cod4, frontlines and many others. (and yes cod4 does, there is even an option to turn it on and off)

  • zeke2040

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 9:01 am PT

    sweet, i can't wait for this update.

  • shock_18

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 7:23 am PT

    new aces levels . . does that mean more guns? i hope so.

  • shadyvillian

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 6:52 am PT

    i'm glad they made some ajustments to the game. It's even better that they raised the aces levels cause i maxed mines out ages ago. the game was feeling pretty boring after you beat it and max out everything. They should take an approach like bringing out a download that lets you play as another team in the rainbow universe instead of making you pay 60 bucks to do that anyway. Then having the nerve to call it a squeal.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 5:33 am PT

    LVU & Casino Vault are 'Must Haves'. I want breaching charges dammitt! : )

  • SirFatalChaos

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 5:07 am PT

    Oh boy, 2 V2 maps that I've already played, and a mediocre map that I played for V1.

    I wouldn't call that new content

  • plm3d_basic

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 4:15 am PT

    They need to add HDR lighting, higher resolution textures, shadows of the player, remove random spawning in terrorist hunt, and add dx10.1 to the pc version which looks like trash.

  • imrlybord7

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 2:46 am PT

    The fact that they are adding Calypso is awesome, because the maps the game came with sucked.

  • IBLEEDBLUE33

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 12:04 am PT

    By removing aim assistance I hope that means you actually have to aim down the sight. I always found it odd that your accuracy is better if you don't zoom in. RSV2 is fun but that has always been a major flaw in my opinion

  • jensen_slipknot

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 9:50 pm PT

    too bad I dont play this anymore since I hit Elite.

  • YoungDab

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 9:42 pm PT

    Stopped playin this a while ago/I was soppose to be the first person with the highest rank untill I seen that people boosted.Plus I hate searching for games using a server list with xbox 360.

  • shroom76

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 9:28 pm PT

    will enw aces ranks mean more weapons or more exp?!

  • Puckhog04

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 8:52 pm PT

    Remove aim assistance...? Last i played (which wasn't any more than a week ago) there was no aim assistance whatsoever. Just as there isn't any in any shooter nowadays really (save Halo...small amount of aim assist in Halo 3). Hasn't been any aim assistance in shooters for quite awhile. They can't remove what isn't there. I do like the new mode though. Removing the Radar is definitely something that should make it more challenging for veteran players.

  • ddashboy242

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    Good news looks like i got back into this game at the right time.

  • berkner_ram77

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 7:31 pm PT

    I still think Casino Vault was a must.

  • gobbo00

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 6:24 pm PT

    what happened to retrieval?
    COME ON the only thing bad about that game mode was you could camp the canister! That could be solved by having a timer on it so if you don't put it in, it re-spawns and you die.

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 6:03 pm PT

    They need to add a Ronald McDonald level. Maybe that, or a Captain Kangaroo one.

  • tcrslapshot1447

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 4:35 pm PT

    Im really glad their adding additional A.C.E.S. because it will be easier to rank up, but why more ranks? and why aren't they putting LVU campus back on?

  • legendarygaz

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 2:57 pm PT

    im sooooo glad there's an update the game didnt last long in my cd tray due to other games but i'd love to re visit calypso again.

    shame the LVU map wont be making a come back yet.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 2:55 pm PT

    the_gear "I agree DLC should be free, EPIC did it with Gears, but this still doesnt change the fact that this is a crap game. The online is awful in comparison to UT3 halo and COD4, which is why they could not afford to make this a costly upgrade"

    I assume that your comment is born from 1 of 2 reasons:
    1, You are absoloute **** at R6 Vegas
    2, You simply prefer mind numbing run-n-gun 'No brainers'.

    Personally i love the R6 series because they are different from the Halo's & COD's in the fact that they require more thought and a tactical approach as opposed to the mindless runnie-jumpie-shootie affair

  • mailbox2112

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 2:52 pm PT

    sweet, being an elite sucks more than people think.

  • ibsrfn

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 2:38 pm PT

    when is this coming out? or is it already available for dL'ing?

  • Senor_Kami

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 2:29 pm PT

    I wish more games would do this. Not free DLC, but patching and fixing blatant bugs that EVERYBODY ON PLANET EARTH have noted. The ability to patch a game should mean that, as long as the gameplay has potential to be fun, the game should be like a 9.0 when its all said and done. I hate when companies don't fix blatant glitches and balance issues that should be easy to take care of and distribute to people that own it.

  • swisdwag

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 12:46 pm PT

    Sounds more like a patch to me...hmph!

  • rav44

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 12:01 pm PT

    Oh My GOD!!!!!!!!!!! CALYPSO CASINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • the_gear

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 11:34 am PT

    I agree DLC should be free, EPIC did it with Gears, but this still doesnt change the fact that this is a crap game. The online is awful in comparison to UT3 halo and COD4, which is why they could not afford to make this a costly upgrade

  • ColdRush88

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 10:49 am PT

    More companies need to follow Ubisoft and make their DLC free.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 10:39 am PT

    I personally think the 'Grenade indicator' will cheapen the game and make it a more 'Arcadie' experience. The R6 games have always been tactical, forcing you to use your intuition and intelligence, as opposed to mindless running & gunning. They should leave the arcadie gimmicks to the COD type FPS's. I want Breaching Charges dammit!!! : )

  • RD1109

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 9:58 am PT

    The highlight of this story for me is the grenade indicator.

  • roan23

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 9:31 am PT

    Free DLC, that's what i'm talking about

  • WhiteKnight77

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 8:48 am PT

    As I stated on the Ubi forums, one has to wonder why these new features had to be added months after the supposedly finished game was released. While High Stakes might be a step in the right direction, it still does not address what many of us old school fans have been asking for for years. Yes, we still want a planning stage and 4 teams (not just 2) of up to 8 team members. We still want open-ended maps that allow for mulitple ingress routes to the objective(s) (this actually is a bonus for TvT games as you are not kept to one maybe two routes to the other team as you find with the linear maps found in the R6 series since Letdown).

    Even so, this update is not enough to get me to buy Vegas 2 at all (haven't bought an R6 game since Black Thorn for Rogue Spear).

    Still, I will wait for Blackfoot Studio's Ground Branch for some real gaming goodness.

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