There are two things Ubisoft can count on: that the die hard Rainbow Six fans will follow the premiere Clancy franchise every step of the way, and if they screw it up, God help them (see: Lockdown). Fortunately, the skilled team at Ubisoft Montreal has crafted a heartfelt sequel to 2006’s Rainbow Six Vegas that delivers on multiple levels.
The single player campaign entails stepping into the combat boots of Bishop, a member of the elite combat group, “Rainbow”. It is filled to the brim and arguably overflowing with standard Clancy plot material that spans a variety of locales, from mountains, to the desert, the city of Las Vegas, and more.
The game introduces some new mechanics, such as changing equipment without pausing during helicopter scenes, and a worthy implementation of jump-in co-op play – because counter-terrorism operatives need to socialize too. The game is also paced a little faster this time around, thanks to a new sprint button and faster load times. Unfortunately, it fails to learn from the original Vegas’ biggest criticism: the inexcusable lack of save-anywhere in exchange for frustratingly sparse checkpoints.
The true experience here lies within adversarial multiplayer. It plays almost identically to the last Vegas, while introducing new features such as ACES (a system that awards players contextually with unlocks that suit their playstyle), persistent upgrades (which carry over from the single player) and the aforementioned gameplay improvements. Content wise, there is no shortage of new weapons and maps to toy with. The experience is inherently tactical, and the most hardcore of its genre – running and gunning won’t cut it –when the bullets fly, you’ll be in a frantic frenzy of ducks and Dodges (yes, the only car in you’ll find Vegas is still a Dodge). Multiplayer is a staple of the franchise, and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will not disappoint.
This game comes only a short year following its successful predecessor. The underlying theme in this package is fan service. It’s evidently geared towards the fans. The game ships with 12 multiplayer maps, including fantastic remakes of classic maps (such as Oil Refinery, Presidio, Import/Export, Kill House) – and a free download of the series’ defining map, Streets, has been released to all the fans whom missed it dearly.
The campaign is some fun, but devoted fans of Rainbow Six’s knockout multiplayer shouldn’t overlook this one. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a glorified expansion pack that sticks with proven formula while introducing some quality iterations. Newcomers will ultimately find their niche, but this one’s for the fans.
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