Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/2495
The Game
In 2006, the Xbox 360 and PC were graced with the latest installment of the Rainbow Six (R6) series, titled "Vegas." It wasn't until 2007 that PS3 owners got a taste of R6 Vegas, but eventually rave reviews stretched across the three gaming platforms. The original Rainbow Six game debuted on the PC in 1998. Since then, versions of the original game as well as its many follow-ups or sequels have been released on a number of different platforms, including the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. After ten years of games in the series, R6 Vegas 2 stays true to the first person shooter genre in which it began, with its intense tactical combat.
As with many great games, a follow up to R6 Vegas was inevitable and it has finally arrived. The story in R6 Vegas 2 begins five years prior to the events in the last game, thus serving as a prequel to its predecessor. Once more, the game takes place in the glamorous the city of Las Vegas. This time, the bulk of the areas you'll visit during the course of the campaign are considerably less glamorous, as the glitz of the bars and casinos have been replaced with the city's back streets, back rooms, and business centers. While this disheartened many fans of the series who anticipated an entirely new city for the setting of the game, they'll be glad to know that the avenue the game's developers have taken is not a disappointing one. In fact, the environments chosen for the game are a lot of fun to play in.
Many gamers seek rich story lines in the games they choose to play. However, military games are not known for having them. This trend continues in R6 Vegas 2 as the story element takes a back seat to its engaging combat. While cinematic cutscenes are used to portray story progression in most games, R6 Vegas 2 utilizes interactive sequences in between missions that inform you of your team's next objectives. During these sequences, you have the option to choose new weapons and body armor for use in the mission that follows. Once you're geared up, you'll be ready to take on the terrorists that saturate Sin City.
The Gameplay
Unlike run-and-gun shooters, tactical shooters take a more strategic approach to taking out enemies. Much like R6 Vegas, R6 Vegas 2 takes this element in the direction of real time strategy, as players will command their squad mates on the fly. These commands are simple to initiate and include ordering your teammates to prepare for entering a room full of terrorists. Then, after peering through a snake cam that allows you to see what's going on inside, you can order your team to open the door, toss in a grenade, then storm in and take out whoever is left standing. You can also order your team to rappel down the side of a building and surprise enemies by busting through windows. This aspect of the game is hugely satisfying and really gives players the feeling of playing the lead role in an action movie.
As described in the previous example, your goal is to strategically order the members of your team to take defensive positions that aid in your squad's victory. While scenarios exist in the campaign that will allow your teammates to do all the work, the game is designed to keep you in the action. In fact, you'll often choose to take point and be the first to rush in and clear a room full of bad guys. If your character dies in the process, you can choose a different strategy the next time around. For instance, you may choose to have your two squad members hold their position at one door to a room while you take position at another door, then storm the room from both sides at the same time. If that doesn't work, you may choose to provide cover fire from an elevated position while your team takes care of business down below. R6 Vegas 2 makes this kind of coordination easy and you'll have an absolute blast designing your own methods of attacking your pursuers. The beauty of tactical gameplay is that there is no one way to successfully take down your attackers. Much like a game of chess, the experience can be different every time you play the game.
With every good game come a number of bad elements. These elements may be in the form of glitches, oversights, lack of polish, or just plain neglect by the development team. R6 Vegas 2 is no exception to this rule and there are a number of annoyances that are worth mentioning. First off, your AI teammates do not always like to follow orders. For instance, after you've knotted up your ropes and give the order to scale a building, your squad may just sit there instead of acknowledging your command. This happened a couple of times during the campaign and was downright frustrating. And when orders are followed, your squad mates do not always follow them correctly. While one teammate runs to the covered area you pointed out, the other often stops and kneels in the line of fire. They'll also run into you a lot and blatantly refuse to follow orders when there is clearly nothing in the way of their ability to do so. These occurrences appear to be the largest issues you'll experience. Luckily, they won't happen very often and will not hinder you from completing your mission.
Another minor issue is with the game's voice command system that was introduced earlier in the series. What this does is allow you to issue verbal commands into your USB headset that your AI squad mates will follow in the game. This is a really cool feature that was spoiled this time around by its inability to recognize even the simplest of commands. Instead of following your order to "get over here," your team will "frag and clear" thus starting a firefight that you may not have been ready to begin. Other voice commands may simply be ignored, causing this feature to be utterly useless. Not to worry though; tapping your d-pad to give an order is just as easy and works flawlessly.
Boys with Toys
When it comes to shooters, the guns you'll use play a large part in how successful a game is. And you'll be happy to know that R6 Vegas 2 does not suffer in this arena. Trying out new weapons is always lots of fun. The folks that created the game knew this and made sure that your arsenal was fully stocked with various submachine guns, sniper rifles, and a plethora of automatic weapons that you can customize with laser sights, scopes, silencers, and extra large magazines. In fact, many of the guns used in the previous game have returned. But this time around, your arsenal is larger and many of the new guns seem to pack more of a punch thanks to some excellent use of audio sampling coupled with the Xbox 360 controller's force feedback.
You'll also learn a lot about the weapons you choose as the gear menu informs you of each gun's stopping power, range, recoil, and bullet capacity. The guns in R6 Vegas 2 just feel and sound great! The game's other audio effects are top notch and are blended well with each new environment you encounter. Ambient noises also match your surroundings and are very realistic whether you're hitting the streets or inside of the game's many interior settings. As for the music score, you'll experience the same music you heard in R6 Vegas. It sounded great then and it sounds great now. The game's background music intensifies along with the action, providing for an excellent cinematic experience.
So, what's new in the game? The most notable addition is the ability to sprint rather than being restricted to walking. This welcome feature is quite useful during the campaign and is almost essential during online play as the combat intensifies significantly. You'll use the sprint feature to run from cover to cover while dodging enemy fire, or to chase down an opponent so you can get a more accurate shot.
Also new to the game is an enhanced ranking system called A.C.E.S. that notifies the player of any completed goals that unlock new weapons and gear. A.C.E.S. is similar to achievement points, but is built into the game and really gives you the feeling of continual accomplishment the more you play. A.C.E.S. features an XP (experience points) bar located at the top left of the screen, allowing you to follow your progression to your next rank. This is a great feature that players will surely appreciate. It also challenges the player to be creative. Trying out new playing styles is more fun than ever as you learn which tactics award you the most XP. If you've already played R6 Vegas and gained the achievement for completing the campaign on realistic difficulty, you'll receive 2500XP and an increased rank as soon as you pop the R6 Vegas 2 disc into your Xbox 360. XP hounds will definitely appreciate this little gift from the development team, and other bonuses are also available for R6V players, including equipment.
A.C.E.S. also works alongside your ability to customize the character you'll use in the campaign and online. Not only will weapons and protective gear define your character, but you'll also have the ability to change the overall appearance with optional headgear, masks, and even the color of your camouflage. In R6 Vegas 2, you can now increase your rank and gain all these extras during offline play. This is a major improvement over the previous game where you could only increase your rank while playing online. Now, any XP you gain will stick with you regardless of the mode you're playing.
Graphics
The graphical quality in R6V left a lot to be desired when compared to other games that utilize the coveted Unreal Engine 3, such as Gears of War and BlackSite Area 51. Both of these titles were released after R6 Vegas, yet they still manage to outshine what we see in R6 Vegas 2. Two main concerns that come to mind are the game's textures and aliasing, both of which are fairly lackluster.
The textures that are applied to objects in the game are fairly flat. The closer you get to an object, the more its appearance is reminiscent of those found in games released in the late 1990's. Even though the character models look great, seeing your character in an over-the-shoulder view is not nearly as pleasing to the eye. Jagged edges, or jaggies, are also very evident in the game and affect the majority of your surroundings. While this may be annoying early on, it is easy to ignore once you get sucked into the game. Although some anti-aliasing is present, additional smoothing of these jaggies would have made for a much richer visual experience. However, increased anti-aliasing comes with the cost of increased strain on the 360's GPU, which may have been a factor in the developers' choosing to use a low setting.
One area where the graphics show some real improvements is in the destructible environments. You also get the ability to shoot through most cover objects (with the appropriate weapon), which is a nice addition - no more hiding behind that wooden crate. In particular the levels with glass have some cool effects, and you can entertain yourself while waiting for opponents by shooting windows and watching the glass shatter and fall. As you can imagine, one of our favorite levels is the one with a large glass-walled building.
Despite the graphical capabilities of Unreal Engine 3, it seems overall that very little was done to enhance R6V2's visual experience beyond that of its predecessor. Apparently there is no accounting for time spent utilizing the engine. Still, the overall presentation of the game is by no means average. The developers have succeeded in creating lush environments with realistic lighting effects. Just don't expect any awards for graphic detail.
For the most part, the game carries a steady and desirable frame rate throughout the campaign. However, at least one of the firefights that you'll engage in proves to be more than the Xbox 360 can handle. During this segment, the frame rate slowed to a crawl. Slow frame rates are usually attributed to a large amount of on-screen activity. In many games, large explosions lend themselves to this performance degradation due to their size and transparency effects. However, the one slow down period that was detected had no such explosions. Instead, it occurred inside a rock climbing center with an extremely high ceiling - four stories high to be exact. So there was a lot of info being processed during that portion of the game. Needless to say, more is expected from a 2007 blockbuster title; especially one from the highly regarded Tom Clancy series. Even so, the subpar graphics and the occasional drop in frame rates do not kill the game. Also, these issues appear to be nonexistent while playing online. This is a good thing since the multiplayer modes appear to be the main attraction for many players.
Multiplayer
If you're into multiplayer action, expect some of the best around in R6 Vegas 2. All the familiar game modes are there, including three new ones: Team Leader, Total Conquest, and Demolition. Although welcome additions to the game, none of the three offer a style of online play that we haven't seen before. For instance, those who played Counter Strike will feel right at home with Demolition, whose objective is for one team to blow up a target as the other defends it. Meanwhile, Team Leader is very similar to the VIP mode in the GRAW (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter) series where your objective is to protect a member of your team while advancing from one point on the map to another. All of the available multiplayer modes are a lot of fun, and it is recommended that players try out each one to gain a sense of the types of games they find the most appealing.
Today, adding a multiplayer element to most games has become the norm and is expected by those who want their money to provide more gameplay hours than the time spent with a single player campaign. Cooperative gameplay is yet another element in R6 Vegas 2 that meets this need. In co-op mode, those who enjoyed the campaign can revisit it with a friend. Unlike the co-op mode in the previous game that limited players to going from point A to point B, the co-op in R6 Vegas 2 allows players to experience the campaign in its entirety, not leaving out any of the objectives or in-game commentary. While this is an improvement over the previous game, players are now limited to one additional player instead of three. Another drawback is the fact that only one of the two players can command the two AI teammates, whereas having one AI squad member assigned to each player would have been ideal. Still, playing the campaign cooperatively is one of the most enjoyable features in R6 Vegas 2. Even if you didn't like the campaign, having a friend at your side that you can communicate with during the game may make all the difference.
Players can experience cooperative gameplay online, as well as offline via split-screen, which is important for those without a high speed internet connection. For those who are adamant about continuing their experience offline, Terrorist Hunt is yet another appealing mode of gameplay that split-screeners can enjoy. This allows players to visit all of the available multiplayer maps and take down the terrorists that occupy them. Terrorist Hunt is a returning feature from the previous game and can be enjoyed alone or with friends, online or off.
R6 Vegas 2 gives players 12 different multiplayer maps right out of the box. Even though the campaign is set in Vegas, the available maps take you to a number of different locales inside and outside the city. Those who enjoyed some of the locations in the campaign can revisit a few of them in maps that were created based on those areas. But if your desire is to get away from the strip altogether, you've got that option as well. For instance, the map called Import/Export will take you to a deserted Mexican town, while Oil Refinery brings you back to the days of Raven Shield, an earlier installment in the R6 series. And for those who loved Kill House in the last Vegas game, a new and improved version of this map has returned for your enjoyment. Players may also recognize Three Kingdoms Casino from the previous game's campaign. However, this was never released as a multiplayer map until now. Despite the rehashing of a few of these maps, there's really not a lot to scoff at there. If you're itching for some new maps right away, you can download two more by using a code that you'll most likely find on any gaming site. These plus the promise of additional downloadable map packs should more than satisfy the multiplayer enthusiast. All of the maps are a lot of fun to maneuver around in and should provide for plenty of great multiplayer goodness.
One last new feature that deserves recognition is the game's online matchmaking system. This feature is largely new to console games that offer online play and was first brought to light when Halo 2 was released on the original Xbox in 2004. In a nutshell, matchmaking attempts to pair gamers up with other gamers of a similar skill level or rank while playing online. This helps to even the playing field for those who wish to join in a random game where the skill level of its players is uncertain. This matchmaking feature worked quite well with Halo 2 and gained some significant improvements in 2007's Halo 3.
Halo 3's matchmaking not only focuses on the parties you join, but also those who can join your party. For instance, let's say that you are playing a private online Slayer (standard deathmatch) game with a few friends and you decide that the game might get a little more interesting if you had some more players for a Team Slayer game. In this instance, matchmaking insures that the ranks of those who join your party fall within the highest and lowest rank of your existing team members. This is where Halo 3's matchmaking shines as it will actually push players in for you as you want them. What's happening is that you're using matchmaking to bring others in who are also using it. It works on both ends simultaneously, and the results are spot on.
Sadly, R6 Vegas 2's matchmaking system is not nearly as involved. You can create a custom match and invite your friends, but you can't use matchmaking to filter out joiners if you open your game to the public, and it will not push other players into your game. Rather, additional players will just trickle in or not at all. Joiners must either be using matchmaking themselves while looking for a game to join, or just find your game on the server and jump in without using the matchmaking service, regardless of their rank. So in essence, R6 Vegas 2's matchmaking system simply acts as a filter for those looking to join a random game. While it works in theory, the match you started may end up with players of a much higher rank who joined by simply choosing a match from the list of active games on the server.
While playing online is a great way to experience the great features R6 Vegas 2 has to offer, not everyone has an interest in it. Some players would rather have a friend over and sack out on the couch together for more a more intimate gaming experience. This is where the game's split-screen mode shines. With it, two players can experience the co-op campaign, Terrorist Hunt games, and even one-on-one matches. Playing games via split-screen can actually be more fun than playing online and can become much more competitive since your opponent is sitting right there next to you, and joining up for the co-op campaign can be even more fun as you take down the oppressors of Las Vegas together. While the amount of fun you'll have with the game's multiplayer modes can be dependent upon those you choose to play with, R6 Vegas 2 sets the stage for an excellent experience, regardless of how you play the game.
Conclusion
As you can imagine, little new ground is being broken in R6 Vegas 2. But that's ok. The old ground is as solid as a stone. The average player will complete the single player campaign in roughly 8 to 10 hours. This may seem a bit on the short side, but it's a really fun experience from beginning to end. Plus the developers of the game made sure that gamers could continue their experience, thanks to the great multiplayer and numerous modes of gameplay. Don't expect a flawless experience though. The game has its share of graphical, AI, and performance issues that can add some frustration to your experience. However, none of these are earth shattering and most players will have a blast playing the game despite the occasional hiccup.
Since a good number of first person shooters have entered the market within the last few months, it may be tough deciding which game(s) deserve your money. A few of these titles that qualify as a similar type of game include Soldier of Fortune: Payback, BlackSite Area 51, Frontlines: Fuel of War, and what many have called the "perfect shooter", Call of Duty 4. While most of these shooters provide a fairly mediocre run-and-gun experience, Frontlines: Fuel of War rises above the bulk of this pack with its use of high-tech gadgets and big team online battles. However, it lacks the punch of Call of Duty 4, which is the clear winner in this group. So how does R6 Vegas 2 stack up? Quite favorably, as the Rainbow Six and Call of Duty series' can easily be referred to as frontrunners in the first person shooter genre of games. R6 Vegas 2 will not only satisfy the shooter fan, but those who simply enjoy a good all-around action game.
If you specifically have a distaste for tactical shooters and prefer straight forward running and gunning, or if you simply did not like the previous Vegas game, your money might be better spent on something else. If you enjoyed R6 Vegas, you're bound to enjoy this game too. After all, the intense gameplay that made the previous game great is still here, and it's equally as satisfying. With this in mind, not a lot was done to enhance the experience this time around. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but gamers do tend to seek a higher level of improvement as games progress in a series. Still, R6 Vegas 2 is a great game that gives its players every reason to keep it in their collection of games for a long time to come.
Note: A quick word on our intended game ranking system. You'll notice that we don't give a specific score. After much debate, the AnandTech staff feels it best to avoid a fine-grained score. What makes an 8.2 vs. an 8.5, for instance? Many games are roughly equal in terms of overall quality, and when you get down to the details, it's all personal opinion. We recognize that fact, and our verdict is meant to convey our feelings towards the game, supported by the text in the rest of the article. Since we have different perspectives, we will strive to provide sufficient information for you to determine whether you'll like or dislike a particular game.