Ranbow Six Vegas 2 - Reviewed

So I think I mentioned before how Rainbow Six Vegas 2 was a surprisingly good game. Or maybe not surprisingly good but surprisingly enjoyable for me as it is not the type of game I'm usually into (tactical shooters). Though, the elements that I enjoy are the ones that are less tactical shooter and more regular old run around blasting things shooter.

The game has several modes, a story mode, a terrorist hunt mode and several versus modes. The story mode is great, really top notch. There is just enough actual story in it to be worth having one, though you may have to play through a couple times to really get whats going on. Basically you and your team mates are pursuing these mercenaries through Las Vegas trying to stop them from blowing up buildings. The line between terrorist and mercenary is pretty thin here. I suppose the main bad guys are terrorists who have hired an army (and I mean a friggin ARMY) of mercs to basically hang around and shoot at you. There is no shortage of generic tangos to mow down. Where did they get all these guys? Who cares. One thing I will note is that certain points in the game allow you to overhear the enemies as they stand around talking. These conversation are hilarious and well written. I recomend waiting to hear the whole thing before you rush in and take them out.

The campaign will take you through a variety of buildings and streets. It's all urban but there is enough change to keep things interesting. The graphics are great, details are sharp and lighting effects um... light stuff... well. They did a good job delivering the flavor of Las Vegas. The game is an appropriate length, and it's paced well. There are opportunities for sneaking around and sniping, and there are 4 or 5 big set-piece battles. One part of the game has you trying to reach the top balcony of a tall square room full of climbing walls, while the enemy shoots at you from all sides. The final battle is just crazy. Crazy.

The story mode can be played solo or co-op. Co-op is a blast. I had the opportunity to play through the whole thing with a friend (in the same room) when he was visiting. We played for a day and a half strait. We couldn't put it down. Co-op online is pretty fun too. I've played both with people who are willing to talk and coordinate and jerks who don't understand the "cooperative" in co-op. It's a grab bag. Fortunately if you are hosting other people can join you or leave (or get kicked) on the fly, without interrupting the game.

Terrorist hunt, fills one of the many multiplayer maps full of bots and makes you go kill them all. This mode is also a lot of fun despite being quite hard. I found myself trying to figure out the zones that the AI was programmed to. Meaning, the bots will spawn and attack based on where you go with your team, so it becomes a game of fishing. You try to lure them out so you can drop them as they charge out into the open. Trying to through the halls Doom style will result in a quick and brutal end. Hunt can also be played in co-op, which is how I beat some of the levels. Let me tell you. there are some people out there who are VERY good at the fishing method.

Ah, mutiplayer. The adversarial modes are attack/defend, control point, team leader, team deathmatch, and deathmatch. I'm just going to come out and say that I don't like the team modes. As I stated in the first paragraph I'm not a big fan of tactical shooters. This is largely because it's team based and I'm never on the good team. Here is what happens:

"OK match started, now what I am I supposed to do? I guess I'll follow that guy I bet he knows where to go BANG! What?! who the hell shot me? Oh well, respawning. OK I'll go this way this time. Hey there's an enemy BANG! Damn that guy's good. OK, respawning. Maybe this time I'll BANG!!! WTF!!!! I didn't even last 5 seconds!!! Well I'll keep trying, oh wait, I'm out of spawns. Now I get to sit here for 5 min while the big kids play. Screw this."

For the most part I'm exaggerating, but that exact scenario happens more than I'd like. I understand that having limited spawns makes it more challenging and makes for interesting game play, but that's only true if you last long enough to enjoy it. I don't really hate team gameplay either, but it's ment to be a co-op versus co-op kind of experience and when no one works together it tends to suck.

Now deathmatch is more my style. The shift from one game type to the other is for me the shift from newbie to motherfucking specter of doom. I've played me some deathmatch. I understand the universal laws that govern it. One such law is, never stand still. Knowing this law has served me well in RSV2, particularly because most people are used to playing the other modes where hiding behind cover and camping is advantageous. Another thing that I love about DM is that you don't have to know where you are going. While it always helps to know the level, all you really have to do is run around and kill anything that moves. Beauty in simplicity. Of course the best part is that it can be set to unlimited respawns so I spend the maximum amount of time actually playing the game.

Team deathmatch can be cool, I'm not actually against team games (I may have given that impression). However, the host has the capability to put whoever he wants on his team. And they always stack their teams. This wouldn't be too bad (after all I like a challenge) if the spawn points weren't static. Instead of randomly placing you around the map, everyone spawns at their team's spawnppoint. In some levels this is OK but most of them are tucked away in a dead end with one, maybe two exits. So the game goes like this:

The match begins and both teams rush out into the map. Eventually the stronger team makes its way to the other team's spawn point. They wait outside and shoot people as they come out. If they game persisted the dead bodies the weak team would eventually be walled in by their own corpses.

So there are some things I like about this game and some things that really frustrate me but overall it's a great game. I have about 12 games for the system so far and I would place it in the top three. I've even considered buying RSV1 just to give it a try.