Find out if the Rainbow Six boys are holding a royal flush or throwing snake-eyes.
by Mike Smith
Vegas 2 doesn't fix what isn't broken. Which, considering the original game's high-quality, was just about everything. So it's one of those more-of-the-same near-sequels that video game publishers love and fans merely like.
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Chief among Vegas 2's changes is the star. Rather than playing a predetermined square-jawed jarhead, you can create your own protagonist, either with the usual set of sliders or by importing your own picture. Male, female, white, black or Hispanic: it's up to you.
Having created your character, you'll want to get to work on earning the unlockables that helped make Vegas 1 so compelling. Yup, they're back, and considerably expanded. You still advance through the ranks as you gain experience, but now there are three additional advancement tracks: one for sniping, one for close quarter skills, and one for "assault," which covers explosives, multiple kills, and other fun stuff. Each track also carries an assortment of toys that'd do a Texas gun store proud.
Co-op mode has been overhauled, too, and as a result it only supports two simultaneous players. It's a shame to lose Vegas's four-player mode, but as Tom Clancy taketh away, he also giveth. Vegas 2's co-op experience packs all the smoothness of its single-player mode, plus you can add and remove co-op players without disruption. If you still want four-player support, head for the terrorist-hunt scenarios instead.
Beyond that, little has changed, and overall that's a good thing. It doesn't even deviate from the original game's plot. Vegas 2's lead, who's named "Bishop" regardless of whether you pick a male or female character, is working in parallel with the original squad. It begins a bit before the events in the first game and ends well after, so you'll gain more insight into the plot's loose ends and, if you were miffed by the original cliffhanger non-ending, you'll find more closure.
Don't make the mistake of dismissing Vegas 2 as an unimaginative carbon-copy, though. Its creative level design is easily one of its best points. By turns you'll be clearing terrorists out of huge sports centers, cavernous libraries, and a beautifully realized version of the Las Vegas Convention Center during an electronics show in full swing. It's great stuff, especially for those of us who would have loved to blow up a booth or two during CES.
And as you roam your way through them, you'll find the opposition has many of the same toys you do. If you're expecting pop-up shooting galleries of brainless foes, you're going to get very familiar with Vegas 2's game-over screen. They'll throw flashbangs and grenades, blind-fire from cover, use shields and generally make your life difficult. Luckily your teammates can hold their own, too, and do it without getting in the way or hogging all the good angles. Not an easy task, we're sure, but Vegas 2 gets the team-oriented gameplay just right.
Once you tire of fighting pretend terrorists, you'll find matters just as rosy in Vegas 2's online modes. Several modes lend plenty of variety, the map selection mixes old favorites with new, and there are unlocks aplenty to be earned. The first Vegas hit turned out to be a real multiplayer phenomenon, and all signs are that Vegas 2 will do it all over again.
Although the Rainbow Six team can handle a medium-sized army of terrorists without breaking a sweat, their main threat this time isn't so easily dismissed. Last year, Call of Duty 4 jammed a flashbang down the throat of the stale military shooter genre, and Vegas 2's by-the-numbers presentation and plot suffer considerably in comparison to it.
But then, what game doesn't? Vegas 2 may be formulaic, but when the formula's still tastes great, it's hard to complain too much. Rainbow Six's action-movie realism and smooth look still make the game every bit as gripping as its illustrious predecessor. It's certain to be just as big a multiplayer hit, too, and thanks to its bewildering quantity of unlockable treats, you'll be playing it for months. Terrorists beware: Clancy's boys are back in town.
Posted: 16 Mar 2008
