The Gameplay
Unlike run-and-gun shooters, tactical shooters take a more strategic approach to taking out enemies. Much like R6 Vegas, R6 Vegas 2 takes this element in the direction of real time strategy, as players will command their squad mates on the fly. These commands are simple to initiate and include ordering your teammates to prepare for entering a room full of terrorists. Then, after peering through a snake cam that allows you to see what's going on inside, you can order your team to open the door, toss in a grenade, then storm in and take out whoever is left standing. You can also order your team to rappel down the side of a building and surprise enemies by busting through windows. This aspect of the game is hugely satisfying and really gives players the feeling of playing the lead role in an action movie.
 |
As described in the previous example, your goal is to strategically order the members of your team to take defensive positions that aid in your squad's victory. While scenarios exist in the campaign that will allow your teammates to do all the work, the game is designed to keep you in the action. In fact, you'll often choose to take point and be the first to rush in and clear a room full of bad guys. If your character dies in the process, you can choose a different strategy the next time around. For instance, you may choose to have your two squad members hold their position at one door to a room while you take position at another door, then storm the room from both sides at the same time. If that doesn't work, you may choose to provide cover fire from an elevated position while your team takes care of business down below. R6 Vegas 2 makes this kind of coordination easy and you'll have an absolute blast designing your own methods of attacking your pursuers. The beauty of tactical gameplay is that there is no one way to successfully take down your attackers. Much like a game of chess, the experience can be different every time you play the game.
With every good game come a number of bad elements. These elements may be in the form of glitches, oversights, lack of polish, or just plain neglect by the development team. R6 Vegas 2 is no exception to this rule and there are a number of annoyances that are worth mentioning. First off, your AI teammates do not always like to follow orders. For instance, after you've knotted up your ropes and give the order to scale a building, your squad may just sit there instead of acknowledging your command. This happened a couple of times during the campaign and was downright frustrating. And when orders are followed, your squad mates do not always follow them correctly. While one teammate runs to the covered area you pointed out, the other often stops and kneels in the line of fire. They'll also run into you a lot and blatantly refuse to follow orders when there is clearly nothing in the way of their ability to do so. These occurrences appear to be the largest issues you'll experience. Luckily, they won't happen very often and will not hinder you from completing your mission.
 |
Another minor issue is with the game's voice command system that was introduced earlier in the series. What this does is allow you to issue verbal commands into your USB headset that your AI squad mates will follow in the game. This is a really cool feature that was spoiled this time around by its inability to recognize even the simplest of commands. Instead of following your order to "get over here," your team will "frag and clear" thus starting a firefight that you may not have been ready to begin. Other voice commands may simply be ignored, causing this feature to be utterly useless. Not to worry though; tapping your d-pad to give an order is just as easy and works flawlessly.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
29 Comments
View All Comments
JarredWalton - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
The simple answer is, we review a lot of hardware that is primarily of use to gamers. Not surprisingly, a large number of gamers read our site. This isn't the first gaming review we've done, and it almost certainly won't be the last.I know Eddie - he's an avid gamer, with PC, Xbox360, and PS3 consoles in his house - and asked him to try writing some game reviews for us. Since he was in the midst of playing R6V2, that seemed like a good place to start. If you haven't noticed, the pickings are a bit slim for new games right now - at least games worth a try.
We would have done the PC version if it were available; we will try to have Eddie do a follow-up with the PC version when it's available. Right now, at least we have a good idea of what the Xbox 360 version offers, so we will better be able to say how the PC version compares.
Maybe next we can have Gary discuss his feelings on C&C3: Kane's Wrath? :)
Hardin - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
The gameplay was pretty good, but I had to stop playing it because of the frame rate issues. They were happening much more frequently than most console games. If the 360 version has frame rates issues then I wonder how the pc version will turn out.thartist - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
It's odd how you intend to avoid personal opinions but end on a mere "SWEET!"I understand very clearly you intention, but the solution will be between the result you hit and those shitty 8.347 ratings out there.
Rating suggestion: Try the five stars rating which you could divide in halves too, try 1-10. That scale gives a good sense of higher and lower quality.
GOLDEN HINT: a significant evolution of the rating system has been the addition of a resume explanation on what's GOOD and what's BAD in the game, including technical problems. It adds that layer of un-bias and clearness to the reader. Implement it please.
(always below 50% is unbearably rotten. Simplify like that too, those games don't deserve attention.)
cmdrdredd - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
Yep, for which I will use IGN. Nice try, but you're way too late here and there's reviewers on other sites with a bigger track record so that you can base their opinion off of what they liked before. So say if they gave Splinter Cell a 8.2 and then Metal Gear Solid a 9.1 and both are similar game types by the same reviewer, it's easy to pick the better one of the two.cmdrdredd - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
Oh, and calling a game sweet tells me nothing. You can be paid by EA or UbiSoft or any other developer to post a positive review. Using the number system is far better to tell a game's worth.whatthehey - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
"Sweet" tells you nothing, eh? Sort of like "8.4, Impressive" tells you nothing, right? (That's what IGN says.) God forbid you read the remaining 6 pages, or even the conclusion. What I gather is that the game is good, and many FPS fans and particularly tactical FPS fans will enjoy it. Since I don't particularly care for the tactical shooter genre, I'll pass. I tried the original Rainbow Six a long time ago and didn't care for it.All that a number system would do is give all you pissers somewhere to complain about how Anandtech is wrong because they gave it an 8.2 instead of an 8.3 or 8.4. But then, you've got shit like Bully getting an 8.7 compared to this game's 8.4 at IGN; I can definitely state that I would rather try this game than Bully, aka "Let's sell lots of games through controversy!"
I wholeheartedly support the AT rating approach. Either a game is great and everyone should try it, it's good an most people will like it, it's decent and will appeal to fans of the genre... or it's not worth the DVD its printed on. Outside of the general evaluation, we're all going to have to read a bit to determine if a game is our cup of tea or not. OMG! Reading! On a website! HOW WILL WE EVER SURVIVE!? Congrats on proving you have the reading comprehension skills of a 4th grader.
Spivonious - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
Like the ratings system. I don't need a number, just a "Avoid", "Play the Demo First", or "Buy It".What I'm confused about is why a console game is reviewed on a computer site. Why not review the PC version once it's released?
gaakf - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
I played the original Rainbow Six: Vegas between breaks from Gears of War for a few months. I achieved a rank of Staff Sergeant/E-6. When I read that people returning to Vegas 2 would get EXP points depending on their rank in the first game, I thought that was really cool.So when I booted up Vegas 2 for the first time, I saw I was awarded Specialist/E-4 rank. That was nice.... until I saw that there was an achievement for getting Private First Class/E-3 rank.
Because I can not go down in rank, I can never unlock this achievement. How did Ubisoft miss something as blatantly obvious as this? The achievement should have unlocked once I was awarded rank. Stupid, just plain stupid.
bill3 - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
Game reviews on Anandtech? I like it.BTW, interestingly, I once came across a rumor that R6V at least on consoles DOESNT use UE3, but actually a souped up UE2. Apparantly if you looked at all the licenses on the box, UE2 and NOT UE3 was the only logo to be found. Might explain the game's alledged poor graphics.
ap90033 - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
Console? Dont care, what I want to know is how will the REAL version for PC be. Wonder if the graphics will be better since the XBox360/any console is weak.