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Rainbow Six Vegas‘ first 2007 map pack left a pretty sour taste in gamers mouths, as the ten dollar offering wasn’t particularly priced as well as they could be, especially when the content consisted of three maps. Still, the game was such a smashing success, folks paid for it, and loved it. Later, Ubisoft threw out a free content pack on Xbox Live Marketplace, and stuck it in the PS3 release, that was meatier and much more satisfying.

A year later, after the success of the pseudo-sequel, Vegas 2 is getting a free content pack that is not just incredibly impressive in content, but is also free of charge.

While the three maps in the pack are all recycled, they’re three of the more popular maps in the series, and with the inclusion of the new High Stakes game-mode-editor, terrorist hunters and renegade rebels have incentive to frolick in the city of sin a little longer. With the ability to disable/enable almost every aspect of the game — from the HUD, to the indicators, all the way to crippling voice chat — Vegas 2 should be almost an entirely new experience, if not just different enough to pull you back in.

We’re appreciative that it’s free, though, that’s for sure.

For the full list and details of the update, check the breakdown after the jump.

Maps:

• Calypso Casino: The fan favorite from Rainbow Six Vegas is back by popular demand. All Rainbow Six Vegas 2 game modes are supported, including co-op terrorist hunt.
• Murdertown – Dark: Experience this map’s intense, close-quarter action underneath the cover of darkness.
• CQB Training – Dark: This map is set at nighttime, so expect more tactical assaults as players must use their night vision to spot enemies.

Full gameplay details from the mouth of Ubisoft:

Unlock new ranks beyond the rank of Elite. XP players have already accumulated as Elite will be applied toward the new ranks.

More A.C.E.S. While Adding New Ranks. The A.C.E.S. will be extended to 100 for each of these three categories: Marksman, CQB and Assault. Each A.C.E.S. level earned contains a substantial XP reward. Points that players have already accumulated in each of the categories will be applied toward the new A.C.E.S. levels.

Grenade Indicator. While inside the damage radius of a frag or incendiary grenade, a grenade indicator icon is displayed on the screen.

High Stakes Setting. Experience game modes in a more tactical way using the High Stakes setting, including:

• Limited HUD

o No radar
o Enemies not visible on tactical map
o Grenade indicator is disabled

• Health System

o Health regeneration is disabled
o Altered post-process effects of being in a critical health state

• Take Cover

o Camera view has changed so that players must be exposed in order to see around a corner

• Weapons & Gadgets

o Aim assistance is completely disabled, requiring players to be more precise
o Bullet spread is increased when not zoomed in
o Less ammunition

• Kill Camera is always disabled
• Friendly Fire is always enabled

Weapons and Gadgets Balancing. There are a number of changes to the weapons and gadgets settings in this new package, including:

• Explosion delay of the incendiary grenade has been increased
• Detonation speed of the C4 has been slightly increased
• Increased the damage of Sniper Rifles at long range
• Increased the base accuracy of the Light Machine Guns
• Adjusted the rate of fire for some of the Assault Rifles, Shotguns and an SMG
• Sped up the time it takes to zoom in and out with weapons, making it more responsive

Respawns in Team Deathmatch. Hosts can choose whether or not their match uses random respawns in Team Deathmatch.

Voice Chat. Hosts can choose to enable voice chat between living and dead players of the same team so that when players die they can keep talking with their teammates (Player Match and System Link only).

Score in Deathmatch. Player’s score, along with the top opponent, is displayed on the HUD in Deathmatch.

Team Leader Changes. Players now respawn next to the leader by default, unless players specifically choose to spawn back at the base.

Show Dead Players in Lobby. Players that have no lives remaining will have a skull icon displayed next to their name in the lobby screen so that it’s easy to tell who is still alive and who has been eliminated.

Terrorist Hunt Spawning. Fixed the terrorist spawning so they don’t appear right in front of players, or in areas they have cleared recently.