The best way to describe Vegas 2, for those who don't already know, is that it's a tactical-FPS where you and your squad try to take out terrorists and foil their plans by disarming bombs, freeing hostages and other similarly heroic activities. The first Vegas left a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end of the story, and the second game aims to tie up all of those loose ends; while the narrative still comes off as a little patriotic ('let's kill the terrorists'), it's still enjoyable to experience. Anyone who played through the first game however will be instantly familiar with the controls and the tactics they will need to succeed in the campaign. Your basic level structure involves you finding a room, sticking a snake-camera underneath the door to see how many terrorists are inside, and then ordering your team to storm the room and take them out, sometimes with your assistance if there is a convenient second entrance at your disposal. It's a simple and effective strategy, and it's the one strategy that you'll come to rely on the most during the single-player mode.
They'll never know what hit 'em.
As well as this element of the gameplay, you'll often find yourself grossly outnumbered by the terrorists, and it can get kind of hectic, forcing you to multi-task killing the enemies yourself as well as directing your team into some appropriate positions to try to gain the upper hand. In terms of the style of gameplay... that's about it. Infiltrating and clearing rooms followed by larger areas that require you to take out multiple enemies in a big gun-fight are the bread and butter of the game, and can be a bit repetitive, especially for those who've played the prequel. New players to the franchise may not tire as quickly however, as the action is good and the game plays very smoothly. The controls are all rather fluid and simple, even when having to give orders to your two squad-mates, and exciting for us is the new addition of a sprint button, which makes running from gun-fire or from cover-to-cover much easier.
The other major new addition to the way Vegas 2 is played is the new 'Advanced Combat Enhancement and Specialization' system (that's ACES for short), which allows your character to level up in certain areas which then gives you access to new gear and weaponry as you progress through the game. By killing enemies in different ways that fit into three categories - marksman, close-quarters and assault - you'll get new goodies in a similar style to Call of Duty 4's multiplayer mode. Long-distance kills fall into the category of marksman, a shotgun shot to the face earns you close-quarters points, grenade and explosions advances your assault level and so on. While it does add a little bit extra to shoot for in the campaign, the system is very basic at its absolute best, and pales in comparison to levelling systems seen in other games such as the aforementioned COD4.
Mmm... explodey.
As if the first Vegas wasn't difficult enough already, it turns out that the sequel is actually even more challenging. The enemies attack hard and fast, and if you're standing out in the open for more than a second or two it's pretty likely that you'll be dead and respawning at a recent checkpoint pretty quickly. Even on the normal difficulty setting, it's tough, and some of the larger battles later in the game are very frustrating to get through considering the checkpoints are always before the battles begin and never during. The enemies also work on a pre-determined pattern for the most part, which means that after a couple of failed attempts at successfully taking down a bunch of enemies, you'll start to understand exactly where they're going to enter and attack from, and so occasionally the game devolves into a sort of memory test.
The AI of your squad-mates is also questionable at times, as well. Sometimes you'll point them in a certain direction, and they'll run another way instead. They also have a nasty habit of blocking your shots at times, even preventing you from being able to shoot while in cover because they're standing so close to you. It's not all bad, though, as sometimes they are vicious and on the mark, especially if you take the time to carefully work out your strategy, but the obvious mistakes they tend to repeatedly make can get annoying, especially in the heat of battle.
Of course, as anyone who played the original Vegas knows and knows well, is that the multiplayer and co-operative modes are where you'll be spending most of your time. There are twelve new maps to choose from here in multiplayer along with the same variety in game modes that were available in the first game, as well as two new ones: Total Conquest which is all about dominating three areas from your opposition, and Team Leader, where you can keep respawning as often as you like, unless the opposing team leader happens to be the one that takes you down. The modes are good additions to the already expansive options in multiplayer, and Team Leader especially requires an extra level of communication from you and your team-mates, which fits in with the Rainbow Six world nicely.
"How come every game convention I go to has to end with a gun-fight?"
In terms of the visuals and the audio presentation, it basically feels like you're playing through the first game all over again. While it may look a little bit shinier on first glance, not a whole lot has changed, with a lot of samey environments and boring textures. While these graphics may have been impressive back in 2006, they don't quite match up with what we now know this generation is capable of. That being said, lots of the environment is destructible now, and explosions still look pretty impressive, along with the character models, including your own character which you can change and customize however you wish. The soundtrack also sounds exactly like the first game, which we guess isn't necessarily a bad thing, and the voice acting seems to have improved, which is good to see.
While reading this review may have given you the impression that Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 isn't a worthy sequel, you'd be sorely mistaken; Vegas 2 is a good game, maybe even a great game. But it's a lot of 'been there, done that', and after the first game raised the bar as high as it did, it just doesn't meet our rather high expectations. If you're new to the franchise, you'll probably find a lot to like here, as the style of gameplay won't end up being as stale as it will be for veterans. Others who enjoyed the first outing should give this a look, but keep in mind that it's not as revolutionary and therefore not as impressive as it was the first time we visited Sin City. If you're in need of a new shooter and have been desperately waiting for a new fix of Rainbow Six, then we can safely say that you'll at least enjoy yourself with this sequel. After all... if it ain't broke then don't fix it, right?
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