I Can Thank Tom Clancy For One Of The Best First Person Shooters I've Played...
Written: Oct 15 '09 (Updated Dec 01 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Graphics, online play
Cons: Campaign mode too short, some online connectivity problems
The Bottom Line: The bar was set high by R6V2 and it didn't disappoint. A great purchase, and even better now that its significantly cheaper if you buy used.
ace3502's Full Review: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 for Xbox 360
I have been a fan of the Rainbow Six series for many years. From the games I've played on older consoles, and now to this for Xbox 360, they have yet to disappoint. The game is rated M for Mature as there is quite a bit of blood, vulgar language, and clearly copious amounts of shooting, so I would clearly not recommend this for children.
Overview The game follows the progression of its predecessor, Rainbow Six: Vegas. I can not discuss it too much because I do not like to spoil games for new users. Those of you who played the first one and saw the turn of events at the end, it picks up with that and continues on. The story line is well thought out and detailed. For those who have not played the first one, it may be a bit confusing as to who is who so I would recommend getting that under your belt before tackling this title if you are determined to follow the story line. Otherwise, anyone could get through the game just fine without paying attention to the story and not having a background if so desired.
Gameplay - 9.5 / 10 I love first person shooters so this game was right up my alley, starting out high for me, and the gameplay did not cease to impress me. You have three basic modes of play, Single player campaign / terrorist hunts, multiplayer campaigns / terrorist hunts, and multiplayer online. The versatility of the different modes of play are fantastic. For example, not only can you play a campaign with a friend sitting next to you, but you can connect through Xbox Live and either invite a friend or leave an open invitation for anyone playing online to join you in a level and help you through it. Creators got major points with these features in my book. Now I want to break down some of the basic modes of play:
Single or Multiplayer Campaign The campaign mode is simply progressing through purposeful levels achieving objectives in order to attain the paramount goal of the game. These campaigns progress step by step with checkpoints that enable you to restart from certain points rather than having to start from the beginning of the level each time you are killed. The game is 1-2 co-op, 2-4 system link and 2-16 online.
Terrorist Hunt Choosing from various maps in the game you can choose to go with your team, by yourself (lone wolf as they call it), or with a player either from Xbox Live or playing with you on your console. You have control over the map, the difficulty level, time limit, and the density of terrorists. In order to succeed in your mission you have to eliminate all of the terrorists on the map. The numbers vary for density but depending on the map low is usually between 18 - 25, medium is 20-30, and high is 40 or more. This is a great way to practice and to gain experience points
Online Multiplayer As with most Xbox 360 games, a portion of the games strength comes from its online play. R6V2 is a perfect example of a great online video game. With the ability to have up to 16 different players in one match, the diversity of the players and the fun / intensity level climbs quickly. There are 7 different and diverse options to engage the player (Attack & Defend mode has 3 different play options). Some are the same as the older version, others are new additions to R6V2. The different multiplayer options are:
Team Leader - On a rotational basis, a team leader is chosen from the members of your squad. Your mission is to get them, or yourself if you are the leader, to the extraction point which is at the opposite side of the map where the enemy team's spawn point is or very close to it. The fun twist on this mode is the re-spawning if you are killed. So long as your team leader is alive, you can re-spawn as many times as you want, however if they are killed, a kill lasts until the end of the match and no re-spawn is available. Furthermore, to add a little more confusion, if you are killed by a team leader, you can no longer re-spawn.
Total Conquest - There are 3 satellite transmitters dispersed throughout the map. Your team is going head to head with the other team to get and maintain control of all 3 satellites. Once all three satellites are under your teams control, you have to hold them for a countdown in order to win. If that countdown is interrupted by the other team taking over one of the satellites, the countdown resets and you must gain control of the lost satellite(s) in order for the countdown to begin again. Clearly the other team will be diligently fighting your team, trying to stop and or maintain control themselves. The level can tip either way in this game very quickly, its a great intense gameplay that will keep your attention.
Deathmatch - This is as simple as it sounds. It is pandemonium and confusion with guns. Basically everyone for themselves, the person with the most kills at the end of a match wins. Re-spawning can be turned on or off depending on your preference.
Team Deathmatch - Very similar to deathmatch except two teams are competing against each other to accumulate the most number of combined kills as a squad. Again, as in deathmatch, re-spawning can be turned on or off.
Attack & Defend: Item Extraction - One team attempts to steal a briefcase, and return it to their safe zone, as the other team defends it. This mode can be won both by returning the item to the extraction zone, or by eliminating all of the members of the other team.
Attack & Defend: Hostage Rescue - Civilian hostages are hidden in various places on the map. The attackers job is to get to the hostages and escort them to safety at the extraction zone while the defenders, naturally, try to prevent this from happening.
Attack & Defend: Demolition - A bomb needs to be picked up and detonated in a certain spot on the map. One team is in charge of retrieving the bomb and detonating it, while the other fights to get to the bomb and diffuse it. I have seen some web sites call this mode role reversal as once the attackers find and plant the bomb, they now become the defenders of the location and the once defenders become the attackers trying to infiltrate said location. Kind of an interesting concept and a fun mode to play.
Much like Halo, there is a huge online following for this game. Signing on at literally any time day or night, you are bound to find plenty of multiplayer action going on. You can narrow your search down if you are looking for a specific map, number of players, or multiplayer mode which is a great feature to help weed out the large number of games going on at any given time. Another great feature which I love in any Xbox game is the voice ability. Anyone who has a headset can plug in and chat with the other players on their team, great for tactical moves and attacks. Graphics - 9.5 / 10 Graphics for the game were superb. From the details in the camouflage, faces of the characters, bullet holes in the walls, weapons, and overall surroundings and buildings, they creators did an excellent job. The game flows very smoothly with easy transitions from scene to scene, without slowing down as some games do when a lot of action is going on at once. The gore factor, as some people like to call it, is very intense as well. I would give a strong word of warning to anyone buying this game for children that it is extremely bloody and the gore is quite detailed as the graphics are excellent. The cut scenes that are between the missions are also impeccably done. The fluid motion of the characters and detail down to their moving lips when they are speaking is very well done. Sound - 9 / 10 I don't expect much from a first person shooter (FPS) game like this in regard to sound because it is mostly rattled gunshots the whole game that you're playing. This game however refined those to as crisp as possible and added a good balance of background noise which I was somewhat impressed with. From the sound of stepping on metal grates and steps, to heavy breathing, to the sound of a balance sliding down a rope as you repel, they really did go the extra mile to make it sound as lifelike as possible. I was pleasantly surprised by this and really Achievements - 9.5 / 10 The achievements are tough, no getting around it. As in any game there are certainly simple ones, but a good majority are very challenging and, if you want to get them all, they will keep you coming back to the game for a while. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in my opinion as it gives me replay value and gets me to know all of the different aspects of the game. There are 47 achievements worth 1000 points and some are extremely difficult. A large number of the more challenging ones revolve around multiplayer objectives such as achieving a certain number of kills overall, and achieving a certain number of kills with different types of guns. With such a dedicated following online, the competition in the multiplayer matches is fierce and proves to be a formidable obstacle in getting a lot of these achievements.
Downsides Any game has its glitches and the few that are in R6V2 don't impact gameplay too much but nonetheless are still there. Revolving mostly around online gameplay, the connectivity issue the game has can be a bit troublesome. Although there are numerous games to choose from online so there's hardly a shortage of choices, the connectivity to various matches can be faulty or sometimes doesn't even work. On more than one occasion while playing, I have received a message saying "Connection to host lost" which I suppose has more to do with the host console's connectivity issues, but it still can be irritating, especially if I was searching around for a while to find a comfortable match to join (some of the gamers can be pretty rude and kick you out of matches immediately after joining if you are not at a certain ranking / skill level).
Overall - 9.5 / 10 As far as first person shooters go, Rainbow Six has set the mold. Although it is older, it still carries a tremendous following and demands respect from its gamers for the clear effort that was put in to making such a great game. Buying it used now you can pick it up for very cheap, less than $20 in most cases and with that price, you really can't go wrong with the value level of what you're purchasing. For some great graphics and challenging gameplay, I'd highly recommend R6V2 for any Xbox gamer to have in their collection.
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