Monday, February 2, 2009
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
12:19 AM
Two weeks ago I picked up Rainbow Six Vegas 2 via Steam's weekend deal for just $10. I haven't played a Rainbow Six game since Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear in 1999 and the series plays like a different game than the one I remember. I used to love the Rainbow Six games but I am more than pleased with the way the series has progressed. RSV2 plays like a cross between the Band of Brothers games and Call of Duty 4.
You progress through the game as you do in CoD but you have the ability to command your teammates and will rely on their skills to provide cover and help breach rooms.For the most part the Artificial Intelligence is solid. Both your team and the enemy are smart enough to move to cover for protection as well as lay down covering fire for advancing teammates.The game is challenging but never becomes frustrating until the last battle.
At the start of the game the controls are completely overwhelming. I played through the game on PC and I have to believe that the limited amount of buttons one a console controller would be advantageous. I couldn't keep track of what key did what and had a hard time remembering how I had made my team do what I wanted earlier. It wasn't until somewhere between mission two and missions three (2-3 hours into the game) that I completely grasped how to control my teammates. Even then I still had a difficult time getting them to rappel and breach windows exactly how I wanted. Fortunately there are only a few places you need to breech this way.Regardless of how the team behaves, rappelling down and kicking through a window or shooting terrorists with a pistol while hanging upside down outside a building is great entertainment!
Planning how to breech and clear a building has always been a staple of Rainbow Six games. I really enjoy how this iteration of the series allows the player to jump right in the game and plan which door to blow and how to clear rooms on the fly. The original Rainbow games were a series of perfect timing and trial and error. When you cleared a level you felt great but you might spend 30 minutes planning a mission only to have it end two minutes later with your team lying on the ground bleeding out. This time around your team is competent enough to clear most of a room on their own if you give them time to get stacked up properly. This keeps the game moving and the penalty for death isn't enough to frustrate you to the point of walking away from your PC.
The story is solid even if it has been done before. If you don't want any spoilers stop reading now.
Basically one of your protégés turns rogue and it is your job to stop him. You don't realize he is the one you are after until the end of the sixth mission. The seventh and final mission is bringing him down. The final showdown was the only part of the game which found me ready to punch my monitor. For some reason your character decides he needs to take on the final boss alone so your two mates just stand by and watch you die multiple deaths as you try and figure out what to do. It probably took me twenty tries spread out over two play sessions to finally finish it. I also encountered an occasional bug at this point. Twice my team were actually standing in a way that blocked me from going out the door to the final fight. I actually had to shoot one of them and receive a game over and reset their positions.
Overall I would probably give this game about an 8/10. I love the updates to the series and the single player 8-10 hours is about the perfect amount of time for me. If I had paid $60 I might have rated the game a bit lower or actually felt it was a little short but I haven't had time to try the multiplayer yet. I will probably pick up Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and give it a go just because this was such a fun game. If you want a solid squad based FPS and you enjoyed Call of Duty 4 but want a bit more depth to the gameplay I highly recommend this game. Especially because you can pick it up for $20 or less.
One more note.
I have a subscription to Game Informer and I was upset to see that they listed Gabe Nowak who is the bad guy of the game as one of the worst villains of a game in 2008. His final monologue was a bit whiny and he isn't the best villain but I don't like that they list him as the boss. I actually read it when I was only part way through the game so the ending was essentially spoiled at that point. The worst part is they actually complain about his final monologue and quote him to help make their point. What they quoted was never actually said by the character. He did whine and I think they made their point but when you put something in quotes on paper people will think that is exactly what the character said. Even if he is just an imaginary game character someone took the time to write the content and I think it is irresponsible journalism to spoil and ending like that and misquote the character.
You progress through the game as you do in CoD but you have the ability to command your teammates and will rely on their skills to provide cover and help breach rooms.For the most part the Artificial Intelligence is solid. Both your team and the enemy are smart enough to move to cover for protection as well as lay down covering fire for advancing teammates.The game is challenging but never becomes frustrating until the last battle.
At the start of the game the controls are completely overwhelming. I played through the game on PC and I have to believe that the limited amount of buttons one a console controller would be advantageous. I couldn't keep track of what key did what and had a hard time remembering how I had made my team do what I wanted earlier. It wasn't until somewhere between mission two and missions three (2-3 hours into the game) that I completely grasped how to control my teammates. Even then I still had a difficult time getting them to rappel and breach windows exactly how I wanted. Fortunately there are only a few places you need to breech this way.Regardless of how the team behaves, rappelling down and kicking through a window or shooting terrorists with a pistol while hanging upside down outside a building is great entertainment!
Planning how to breech and clear a building has always been a staple of Rainbow Six games. I really enjoy how this iteration of the series allows the player to jump right in the game and plan which door to blow and how to clear rooms on the fly. The original Rainbow games were a series of perfect timing and trial and error. When you cleared a level you felt great but you might spend 30 minutes planning a mission only to have it end two minutes later with your team lying on the ground bleeding out. This time around your team is competent enough to clear most of a room on their own if you give them time to get stacked up properly. This keeps the game moving and the penalty for death isn't enough to frustrate you to the point of walking away from your PC.
The story is solid even if it has been done before. If you don't want any spoilers stop reading now.
Basically one of your protégés turns rogue and it is your job to stop him. You don't realize he is the one you are after until the end of the sixth mission. The seventh and final mission is bringing him down. The final showdown was the only part of the game which found me ready to punch my monitor. For some reason your character decides he needs to take on the final boss alone so your two mates just stand by and watch you die multiple deaths as you try and figure out what to do. It probably took me twenty tries spread out over two play sessions to finally finish it. I also encountered an occasional bug at this point. Twice my team were actually standing in a way that blocked me from going out the door to the final fight. I actually had to shoot one of them and receive a game over and reset their positions.
Overall I would probably give this game about an 8/10. I love the updates to the series and the single player 8-10 hours is about the perfect amount of time for me. If I had paid $60 I might have rated the game a bit lower or actually felt it was a little short but I haven't had time to try the multiplayer yet. I will probably pick up Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and give it a go just because this was such a fun game. If you want a solid squad based FPS and you enjoyed Call of Duty 4 but want a bit more depth to the gameplay I highly recommend this game. Especially because you can pick it up for $20 or less.
One more note.
I have a subscription to Game Informer and I was upset to see that they listed Gabe Nowak who is the bad guy of the game as one of the worst villains of a game in 2008. His final monologue was a bit whiny and he isn't the best villain but I don't like that they list him as the boss. I actually read it when I was only part way through the game so the ending was essentially spoiled at that point. The worst part is they actually complain about his final monologue and quote him to help make their point. What they quoted was never actually said by the character. He did whine and I think they made their point but when you put something in quotes on paper people will think that is exactly what the character said. Even if he is just an imaginary game character someone took the time to write the content and I think it is irresponsible journalism to spoil and ending like that and misquote the character.
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