Rainbow Six Vegas 2 shines all its colours, in this realistic and immersive tactical shooter.
Contains: Strong Bloody Violence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a Tactical First-Person shooter which gives you countless opportunities to approach each situation the way you want.
----------------------------------------------
STORY - 1/5
----------------------------------------------
Although the story promptly moves five years forward to Las Vegas, United States of America on July 2, 2010, the same day of Logan Keller's arrival to Las Vegas in Rainbow Six Vegas. Terrorists have seized control of Las Vegas to instill widespread panic in both the public as well as law enforcement agencies, such as the National Security Agency, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Rainbow, as well as the local SWAT. As the plot unfolds, however, the setting moves away from Las Vegas to other places, such as a small town in Nevada, unlike in the first Rainbow Six: Vegas, which was mainly in Las Vegas.
If your a big Tom Clancy fan, you'll appreciate the way the plot evolves and the detailed descriptions of hostage situations shown to you, and you'll be immersed in what the story has to offer. For me though, it was a basic and uninteresting story which didn't captivate me into feeling the lives at risk.
----------------------------------------------
CHARACTERS - 1/5
----------------------------------------------
Bishop is the main character, and your given the opportunity to custimize him however you want at the start of the game. Lots of options for you to pick and choose from, so you can create the image you would like to see participating in all the tactical espionage.
Apart from that, the members of your team aren't the type that will hold the attention of you and aren't the least bit stimulating like the action is. You have an intelligence officer to provide plenty of detailed hints into approaching a hostage situation, and tips into infiltrating a room as quick and easy as possible, for effective and efficient procedures, but none of the characters have any appealing voice talents to make you feel more engrossed for the situation your deailng with at present.
----------------------------------------------
GAMEPLAY - 4/5
----------------------------------------------
The gameplay all relies on tactical approach and clever co-ordination to infiltrate and effectively dispatch your enemies, and there are plenty of options to do so in each presented scenario. Its your job to identify enemy patterns and co-ordinate assaults accordingly in order to establish a firm position without sustaining injury to yourself and your 2 squad members. You have a neat little gadget to see who and how many enemies are on the other side, then make a move to take them all down with precision.
Patience is sometimes what you'll have to do, since running in with all guns blazing will result in immediate death. Its fair to say Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is realistic in every way. Even on easy difficulty, it only takes a few bullets to erase you from the equation. You can command your team mates to take up specific positions and complete procedures like throwing a flashbang through the door to be able to immediately enter the room and quickly neutralise all enemies. When the situation seems a little bit overwhelming and there are many enemies in big open areas, you can choose to take up a different position from your squad and flank the opposition, and find a better advantage point, like a skylight entry. Order your team to lead the attack and take cover, and then when the enemies are busy with them, absail down and accurately dispatch the lot of them. There is so much variety to approach each circumstance, and all the tactical action is used to its full potential, and executed perfectly.
The gunplay itself is solid, and when you shoot enemies, bullets will cause realistic blood sprays, and make indents in the surroundings nicely. A wide range of real-life weapons and a well implemented experience system make for some really satisfying encounters with enemy intelligence.
-----------------------------------------------
GRAPHICS - 3/5
-----------------------------------------------
There are plenty of better good-looking games out there, but Rainbow Six Vegas 2 still holds its own, and provides solid looking environments for all of your tactical encounters. Some areas look weaker and less detailed than others, but there is still credit in the graphics, which bring certain areas to life, some more than others. Fantastic blood effects bring the gameplay alive with realism, and capture what's intended to be displayed effectively. There are also some frame rate issues, but despite its negative influence, doesn't take much away from the positive outlook thats represented.
-----------------------------------------------
SOUND - 4/5
-----------------------------------------------
You become immersed much more with the silence during the gameplay, and it works well, especially when attempting some stealth action, and easing the pressure from your shoulders as you carve a route to your goal without the enemies even recognising the loss of their team. Weapons produce satisfactory sound effects and add to the game's realism theme, an voice acting isn't too bad either.
-----------------------------------------------
CONTROLS - 4/5
-----------------------------------------------
The button configurations have been delicately put together, and are well organised and easy to make good use of. Squad commands are nicely added to the D-pad, and while they can get confusing for what one means what, the game has a hud feature which helps out from time to time.
Aiming and shooting is accurately implemented and follows other games for the aim-and-shoot function.
------------------------------------------------
ATMOSPHERE - 4/5
------------------------------------------------
For most of the game, a tense atmosphere is generated coinciding with the tactical espionage action, and makes hostage situations delicate to handle. You'll need to assess the amount of enemies and the position of the hostages if you are to succeed, and try to out-class the enemies with precise shooting and skill awareness. Overall there is just a great sense of realism which make the action that bit more enjoyable.
------------------------------------------------
ENEMY AI - 5/5
------------------------------------------------
Your patience for each unfolding sequence is down to the intelligence of your enemies, and make taking cover a vital tactic in order to survive. They aren't stupid, and will stay in cover in order to not get injured themselves, and often blind fire to try and keep you back. Depositing a grenade at their position works well as you'd expect, but each enemy tries something new for the corresponding location that they are caught up in, and force you to constantly keep changing and adapting your tactics that suit what the opposition is doing. Enemies are extremely accurate with their weapons, and make eliminating them, that bit more satisfying.
Friendly AI are also effective, and will respond to your orders in realistic fashion, and if you tag certain enemies using your gadget, can make good use of given opportunities, and dispatch more dangerous targets first.
-------------------------------------------------
LENGTH - 3/5
-------------------------------------------------
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 features a slow-paced campaign full of tactical First-Person action, and will take you an estimate of 10 hours to complete, depending how patient and co-operative you are with each enemy enforcement scenario, and your pace at which you execute procedures.
--------------------------------------------------
REPLAY VALUE - 4/5
--------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed the game, then there is definite reasons to encourage you back into the offering of tactical conflict with terrorists. There is an experience points system where each kill awards you XP. Gaining XP results in promotions which reward the player with new equipment, such as body armor and different clothing.
Players also receive bonuses from the A.C.E.S. combat system, a separate but related advancement system from the XP system. A.C.E.S. advancement is based on the methods used to kill opponents, and weaponry unlocked differs depending on which tactics are used. Headshots and long range shots, for example, will be more rewarding than average range kills.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a game worth recommending to all fans of the action genre, and the tactical elements are sure to increase your immersion in every opportunity available to utilize it.
==========================
OVERALL SUMMARY - 8/10
==========================
Good Points: Numerous methods to approach each situation, Excellant tactical action that requires skill and patience to master, Enemy AI tests your abilities, Lots of cool customization options, Very realistic.
Bad Points: Uninteresting story and characters, Explosions look weak, No cutscenes.