Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 arrived today from LoveFilm, and it's almost exactly the same as it's predecessor. A bad thing? Yes and no. Yes because it retails for the same price as any other Xbox 360 game, so it doesn't seem totally fair that a lot of it is a re-hash of the first game. Sound effects, music, weapons and a few other things are all used from the original, and are apparently justified because the story takes place on the same timeline as the first game, so it has to be the same for continuity's sake.

The original Rainbow Six: Vegas was awesome though. It combined stealth with the perfect amount of full-on action, and the story was well constructed. So taking a lot from it's big brother means Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is a very good game. There's a few new tweaks here and there, such as the ability to change armour and weaponry at certain stages in a mission as well as a new experience points system, but it transfers the same tight gameplay and tense narrative that made the original so impressive.

After playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, I thought most shooters I played after it would feel stale and run of the mill in comparison, but my heart holds a soft spot for Ubisoft's second installment of the Vegas series, even if it probably should be called 'Rainbow Six: Vegas 1.5' instead.

Hareket Zamanı

Oyuna girerken güzel bir giriş videosu bizi karşılasa fena olmazdı diyoruz ama maalesef böyle bir şey olmuyor. Ana menü dizaynı hoş ve sade. Öncelikle burada karakterimizin dış görünüşünü ayarlayabiliyoruz. Güneş gözlüğü, çelik yelek ve bunun gibi aksesuarlar içinden beğendiğimiz çeşidi seçiyoruz. Yüzünü ve vücudunu fazla detaya inemeden kendimiz ayarlayabiliyoruz. Karakterimize her aksesuarı giydiremiyoruz, çünkü bazıları kilitli ve bunlar biz oyunda ilerledikçe ve puan topladıkça birer birer açılıyor.

Takım Oyunu
Terörist işgali altında olan bu şehri kurtarmak için ekimiz görevlendiriliyor. Amaç belli, kumarhaneleri bir bir teröristlerden temizlemek ve rehineleri kurtarmak. Senaryonun biraz klişe olduğunu kabul etmek gerekir. Ekip olarak 5 kişiyiz. Grup lideri doğal olarak kullandığımız karakter. Yanımızda iki tim görevlisi bulunuyor. Bunlar verdiğimiz emirleri yerine getiriyor ve çatışma esnasında bizimle birlikte oluyorlar. Bunun yanı sıra ekibimizde 2 kişi daha var. Bunlardan biri yarı diğeri tam etkisiz eleman. Tam etkisiz olan eleman helikopter pilotu ve oyun boyunca hiç konuşmuyor sadece helikopterle bizim ulaşımımızı sağlıyor. Yarı etkisiz eleman bir bayan, o da hep helikopterde bulunuyor, fakat bize operasyon için gerekli bilgileri veriyor ve operasyon esnasında bize gerekli uydu desteğini sağlıyor. Uydu desteğini hemen açıklayayım; teröristlerin bulunduğu bir binaya girdiğimiz zaman, tab tuşuna basarak, teröristlerin nerelerde bulunduğunu görebiliyoruz. Bunu her zaman yapamıyoruz tabii ki. Belirli zamanlarda bu destekten faydalanabiliyoruz.

Şehrin içinde 3 asker

Yukarıda da bahsettiğim gibi operasyon esnasında 2 kişi bize eşlik ediyor. Baktığımız zaman koca bir terörist ordusuna karşı az adama sahip olabiliriz ama bu 2 asker gerçekten çok işe yarıyor. Çatışmalar esnasında bizi koruyorlar, tehlikeli bölgelere verdiğimiz emirler doğrultusunda bizden önce girebiliyorlar ve bizi birçok kez zahmete girmekten kurtarıyorlar. Adamlarımızdan biri bilgisayar uzmanı. Teröristlere ait bilgisayarları ve programları çökertiyor. Diğeri ise bomba ve bomba imha uzmanı. Kilitli kapıları patlatabiliyor ve bombaları durdurabiliyor. Ancak bu adamlarımız vurulabiliyorlar ve onlar vurulduklarında onlara iğne yapmamız gerekiyor. Belirli bir süre içinde, vurulan arkadaşımıza iğne yapamazsak ölüyor ve bu oyunun tekrar başlamasına neden oluyor. Oyunda save sistemi otomatik. Yani belirli kontrol noktalarında kendi kayıt oluyor. İstediğimiz zaman kayıt yapamıyoruz ve bu benim pekte hoşuma giden bir durum değil. Hoşuma gitmeyen bir diğer durumda oyunun bazen kendini tekrar etmesi. Bilgisayardan anlayan arkadaşımız bir bilgisayarı çökertmeye çalışırken, sağdan soldan teröristler geliyor ve biz arkadaşımızı ve kendimizi korumaya çalışıyoruz. Bu durumu sık sık karşımıza çıkarmasalar iyi olabilirdi, birkaç defadan sonra aynı şeyleri yapınca biraz bıkkınlık veriyor insana

Oyunda 25 bölümlük senaryo modu, terörist avı ve multiplayer seçeneği mevcut. Bu 25 bölümlük senaryo modunda, ilerledikçe ve operasyonlarda başarılı oldukça puan topluyoruz. Puan topladıkça madalya kazanıyor, terfi edebiliyor ve kilitli olan silahları temin edebiliyoruz. Oyunda yaklaşık 40 silah mevcut ve biz yanımızda bir büyük ve iki küçük silah taşıyabiliyoruz. Aynı zamanda harita içersinde olan cephane sandıklarından mermi ve silah ihtiyacımızı karşılayabiliyoruz. Silahların görüntüsü ve sesleri orijinalleriyle birebir. Terörist avı ise 13 bölümden oluşuyor. Senaryo modu içinde bulunan bazı haritalar burada mevcut ve biz bunlardan istediğimizi seçip oynayabiliyoruz. Yani senaryo modunda ki gibi birini oynamak için bir öncekini geçmemiz gerekmiyor.

Oyun içinde bir de başarı tablosu mevcut. Bu tablo sizin açtığınız profildeki yaptığınız operasyonları ve elde ettiğiniz madalyaları gösteriyor. Rütbe, madalya ve başarı sistemi oldukça detaylı. Bu sistem sayesinde kendinize farklı amaçlar belirleyebiliyorsunuz. Size hemen bu başarı tablosunu detaylı bir şekilde açıklayayım;

İlk olarak oyundaki tecrübe sistemine göz atalım. Bu sistem üç ana dalda toplanmış, ani saldırı tekniği, keskin nişancılık ve yakın çatışma yeteneği. Operasyon esnasında en çok yakın çatışma içerisinde oluyoruz. Bu çatışmalar esnasında vurduğumuz her hedef için puan alıyoruz ancak puanlar hedefi neresinden vurduğumuza bağlı. Düşmanları kafalarından tek atışla vurduğumuzda aldığımız puan daha yüksek oluyor. Bu puanlar bizim yakın çatışma yeteneğindeki puan tablomuza ekleniyor. Teröristleri uzak mesafeden sniper la vurduğumuzda ise keskin nişancılık hanemize puan yazılıyor. Ani saldırı tekniği ise genelde operasyon başlarındaki çabukluğumuza bağlı. Ne kadar hızlı ve etkili operasyona başlarsak o derecede puan kazanıyoruz. Bu puanlar yukarıda da dediğim gibi kilitli olan zırh, kolluk, dizlik ve bunun gibi aksesuarları bizim kullanımımıza sunuyor. Burada dikkat edilmesi gereken husus giydiğimiz aksesuarların ağırlığı. Ne kadar hafif olursak o kadar rahat hareket edebiliyoruz. Hareket kabiliyeti sistemi bir önceki oyunda mevcut değildi. Peki biz bunca puanı sadece giysiler için mi topluyoruz? Hayır, bu puanlar aynı zamanda bizlere tecrübe kazandırıyor ve bu sayede rütbemiz değişiyor ve madalya kazanıyoruz.

Madalya ve Rütbe Sistemi

Bu iki sistem gerçekten hoş olmuş. Mesela sniper ile belirli sayıda adam vurduğumuz takdirde nişancılık madalyası alıyoruz. Terörist avı modunda öldürdüğümüz teröristler sayesinde sırasıyla acemi avcı madalyası ve usta avcı madalyası kazanıyoruz. Senaryo modunda yakın mesafede belirli sayıda terörist öldürdüğümüz zaman ise üstün cesaret madalyası alıyoruz. Geçtiğimiz her bölüm için bir şerit kazanabiliyoruz ve bu şeritler bizim rütbemizi artırıyor. Ancak bir bölüm içinde beklenenden fazla puan alırsanız bir yerine iki şerit de kazanabiliyorsunuz.

Grafikler ve Oynanabilirlik
Oyunun grafikleri bir önceki oyuna göre çok da farklılık göstermiyor. Yani pek bir gelişme olmamış ama Vegas’ın grafikleri de zaten iyiydi. Çevre kaplamaları, insan modellemeleri ve hareketleri gerçekçiydi. Eski oyuna göre çevre ile etkileşim daha yoğun. Mesela yaşanan patlamalar ile çevrede hasar meydana geliyor. Ses efektleri yine mükemmel. Duvara yaslanırken her bir aksesuarın bile ayrı ayrı sesleri geliyor. Patlamaların gürültüsü ve yansımaları, oyun içinde bulunan askerlerin hareketleri gerçekten çok iyi. Vegas 2 nin bir önceki oyuna göre en büyük artısı ise daha düşük sistemlerde çalışabiliyor olmasıdır. Vegas yüksek sistemli bilgisayarlarda bile oyunculara sıkıntı yaşatabiliyordu. Tuzlu sistem ihtiyacı sebebiyle pek çok oyuncu oynayamamıştı. Ancak bu sorun Vegas 2 ile aşılmış. Orta seviye bir bilgisayar ile rahatlıkla oynanabilir. Oynanabilirlikte de bir önceki oyunla arada fark yok. Bir önceki oyunu bilmeyenler için şunu eklemeliyim;

Vegas fps türüne yeni bir özellik getirmişti. Duvarlara veya herhangi bir barikata sırtımızı dönüp yaslanabiliyor ve bu şekilde yaralanmadan ateş açabiliyorduk. Bir kapının kenarına gelip sağ tuşa basılı tutarak adamımızın duvara sırtını dayamasını sağlıyor ve sadece elimizde bulunan silahı yönlendirerek ateş açabiliyorduk. Tabi ki isabet oranı düşüyordu. İşte bu özellik oyuna aksiyon filmi tadı katıyordu ve çatışmaları daha gerçekçi kılıyordu. Bu özellik Vegas 2 de devam ediyor ve daha detaylı. Çatışma esnasında fazla ateş altında kalıp mermilere hedef olursak ekran bulanıyor ve karakterimizi kontrol kabiliyeti azalıyor. Ayrıca diğer fps lerdeki gibi 9 canlı değiliz. Hemen ölebiliyoruz. Bu iki özellik oyunu biraz daha zorlaştırıyor ancak hem oyunu gerçekçi kılıyor hem de bizi takım oyununa sevk ediyor. Yani öyle her istediğimizde kahramanlık yapamıyoruz. Bu yönden taktik-strateji anlamında oyun önemli bir artı kazanıyor.

Yapay Zeka

Oyunun belki de en zayıf noktası bu bölüm. Yanlış anlamayın yapay zeka çok kötü demiyorum ancak bazen dengesizlik gösterebiliyor. Düşman askerleri bir yerlere saklanıp sadece silahlarını çıkararak ateş edebiliyorlar. Bu sayede onları vurma ihtimalimiz oldukça azalıyor ve işimiz daha da zorlaşıyor. Ayrıca teröristler kendi aralarında taktik geliştirip farklı saldırı teknikleri sergileyebiliyorlar. Siz biriyle çatışırken ötekisi arkanızdan dolanıyor ve sizi tuzağa düşürebiliyor. Vegas 2 nin bize sunduğu haritada bizde kendi taktiklerimizi rahatça sergileyebiliyoruz. Gelelim yapay zekanın dengesiz dediğim kısmına. Yukarıda saydığım özellikler gerçekten yapay zekayı üstün kılıyor. Ama biz bir alanda çatışırken hemen yan odadaki teröristlerin silah seslerini duymayıp kendi hallerinde takılması gerçekten bazen sinir bozucu olabiliyor. İşte bu durum böyle güzel bir oyunun eksi puan almasına sebep oluyor.

Son Sözler

Oyunu beğenip beğenmemeniz beklentilerinize bağlı. Özellikle grafikler bir önceki oyunla oldukça benzer. Bu sebeple biraz hayal kırıklığı yaşabilirsiniz. Görsel anlamda yenilik göremeyebilirsiniz. Ancak piyasada başarılı ve kendini diğer oyunlardan ayıran fps türünde oyun sayısı fazla değil ve ben Vegas serisini öne çıkanlar listesine koyarım, özellikle Vegas 2’yi. Sonuç olarak Rainbow Six Vegas 2’nin bir önceki oyuna pek bir yenilik getirmese de başarılı bir devam oyunu olduğu kesin. Vegas serisinin özellikle çatışmalar esnasında ki aksiyon tadı ve kıvamı bu seriyi klasik fpsler arasına sokabilir. Bence Vegas serisinin iki oyunu da alınıp oynanmalı.

Rating: 8.5 Out of 10

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 brings the tactical action from the first game and upgrades it. This game looks and sounds amazing. It brings stuff from the previous game and expands upon it, an example beings the ACES system and the sprint ability. The control scheme has also updated and it a lot better than the previous game. The action has also gotten more intense with more high speed battles. However, it doesn't take too many risks and your AI partners still mess up occasionally. Overall, this is a fun game and if you liked the first game, you will like this one.

Pros:

+ Some of the best tactical shooter action on consoles to date

+ New sprint ability speeds up the whole game

+ The control scheme has evolved and is better than ever

+ Looks and sounds great

Cons:

- Takes too few risks

- Your AI partners still go nuts occasionally

Extras:

# Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Cheat Codes

# Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Achievements

Obviously these people don't view their conduct as unsporting but I'll assure you that their conduct is just as unsporting as T-Bagging is. These people to refuse to believe that they broke rules by going into the team spawn area but they did and paid for it by getting killed there and T-Bagged.

As a general rule, I won't T-Bag on a regular basis. I reserve that for the rule breakers that feel it's ok to raid the spawn area. Everyone else, I'll shoot and leave it at that. I feel that I am a fair player and don't resort to such cheap methods to get kills.

I'm 43 years old, these younger gamers feel the need to use such cheap ways to get kills like Lag Switches. I've caught several gamers using such lame devices to get kills. What it does is that it creates a moving ghost and as your shooting at the ghost, the individual flips the switch again, reappears, and kills you. Although most will deny using it, you can easily prove they are. I'm almost flattered that these people are scared of playing a fair match with me because they are scared of my reflexes and know that I can kill their charactor online multiple times.

The other night I was hosting a room to play 3 games to get my clan initiation. The game stipulations were as follows:

Game One: Pistols Only
Game Two: Shotguns Only
Game Three: All out malee'

Now, I constantly told everyone no machine guns. There were idiots who attempted to play the restricted games with a machine gun. I merely killed them with a shotgun and T-Bagged them while firing my gun into their backsides because I was annoyed that they came into my game without a Microphone and speakers. In a way, I can understand why they'd say I was unsporting however, it doesn't negate the fact that they attempted to play in my game using machine guns.

In the course of the game, I killed 45 people with a shotgun in 20 minute deathmatch and booted 10 people out of the game for not following restrictions. Am I surprised that they'd say I was unsporting? No, absolutely not. I hosted a room with 12 people in it and I probably shot each one about 3 times or more. The other people had a good laugh that I was rated unsportsman by 25% of users. I did make it into the clan but I probably didn't make many friends because I booted 10 people. In my view, using a machine gun while we're having a shotgun match is unsportsman like conduct to begin with. To those 10 people, they should probably save the drama for their mama!

Sonic Team is currently working on another Wii project involving the Hedgehog. In it Sonic will wield a sword, controlled by the Wiimote... What have they done to our dear SEGA mascot?

Ubisoft Is Going Rogue!

In the last update for Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Ubisoft patched the game so that it would check for the DVD before launching. Since the game is also available through download this created a problem and hackers quickly put out a No-DVD crack while Ubisoft had not released any solution.

Later Ubisoft hosted in the support part of their site a file that would allow users who had downloaded the game to play. But when some looked more closely into the code of the patch they realized that it was identical to the former crack released by Reloaded. Ubisoft quickly took the file off of their site and stated that they do not support any form of piracy.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band Share the Love

Brian Bright, Neversoft director, announced that Rock Band instruments would be compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour and, as far as he knows, vice-versa. While this is overall good news it isn't confirmed that the same will be for Rock Band 2 and so far it's only for the 360, we'll have to wait and see what Sony announces.

EA and Take Two, New Offer Deadline

Electronic Arts extended last Friday its offer to buy Take Two until August 18th.

Dabei gibt es einige Neuerungen im Vergleich zu den Vorgängern der Rainbow Six-Serie.

Nicht nur grafisch überzeugte mich "Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2", sondern auch durch die neue Steuerung und durch neue taktische Manöver. In der ersten Mission startet man, nicht wie gedacht in Vegas, sondern in der Wüste Mexikos. Dabei spielt man den Einsatzleiter von Rainbow Six, Logan Keller, der in der Wüste Mexikos eine berüchtigte Terroristin ausfindig machen soll. Zu Beginn erscheinen die sehr nett gemachten Tutorial- Einblendungen, die Grundlagen der Steuerung darstellen und euch zeigen wie ihr eure Teamkameraden befehligen könnt. In der Wüste Mexikos verläuft nicht alles nach Plan, was uns auch schon nach Vegas bringt.

In Vegas wird man nun auf dem berühmten Strip abgesetzt und muss sich gleich durch den selbigen durchbeißen. Ohne Deckung hat man dabei keine Chance. Anders als bei den Vorgängern der Rainbow-Serie sticht bei "Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2"die Deckungsfunktion heraus. Wer als Rambo durchs Spiel laufen möchte hat keine Chance, denn für diejenigen ist der Einsatz meist schnell vorbei. Das eigene Team gibt einem das ein oder andere Mal Feuerschutz, mehr aber nicht. An solchen Stellen merkt man es wieder: "Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2" ist nun mal ein Taktik-Shooter und taktisch solltet ihr auch vorgehen, da man in heftigen Feuergefechten steht. Dabei kann es durchaus vorkommen, dass ihr schnell das Zeitliche segnet, da es nur eine Sache von wenigen Treffern ist, bis Logan am Boden liegt. Falls ihr dann doch mal zu oft getroffen werdet, werdet ihr kurzerhand zum letzten Checkpoint katapultiert und glaubt mir, das wird nicht nur einmal passiern. Doch diese liegen leider weit auseinander und dazwischen liegen meistens schwierige Stellen die ihr dann noch einmal bewältigen müsst. Man wird dabei immer zum letzten Checkpoint gebracht, eine manuelle Speicherfunktion gibt es somit nicht. Jedoch seid ihr ja nicht ganz alleine im Gefecht unterwegs, sondern habt euere zwei Kameraden, die euer Team bilden, und euch das einen oder andere Mal Feuerschutz bieten. Die Befehlsmöglichkeiten sind recht knapp gehaltenjedoch reichen diese aus, um die meisten Gefechte zu bewältigen.

Die Level in "Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2" sind sehr schön ausgebaut. Man hat meistens mehr als eine Möglichkeit sein Ziel zu erreichen, einen Raum zu stürmen, oder einfach sein Team einen anderen Weg gehen zulassen, als man selbst, um blitzschnell von zwei Seiten zu stürmen. Die Level sind sehr abwechslungsreich. Wo im ersten Teil von "Rainbow Six Vegas" Casinos im Vordergrund standen sind im zweiten Teil auch mal Lagerhallen zu sehen, womit man auch die andere Seite von Vegas kennenlernt.

Neben dem Einzelspieler - Modus, der einiges an Freude mit sich bringt, werden vor allem auch Fans von Onlinespielen zufrieden sein. Es gibt zahlreiche Onlinespiel-Modis, die man mit Freunden in einem einfachen Deathmatch im Team oder alleine spielen kann und bei denen man sich heiße Gefechte liefert. Neben Deathmatch und Team-Deatmatch gibt es Angriff- und Verteidigung-Modi, bei denen die einen ein Objekt Verteidigen müssen und die Angreifer es erobern wollen. Besonders Spaß macht der Kooperations-Modus in dem man mit bis zu 4 Freunden auf den großen Einzelspielerkarten aus der Kampagne zockt und bei denen man sich atemberaubende Feuergefechte mit Terroristen liefert.

Kommen wir nun zum zweiten Teil von "Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas" bei dem man ebenfalls nicht in Vegas sondern in den Pyrenäen startet. In der ersten Mission startet man als Rainbow-Mitglied Bishop der mit zwei bekannten Team-Kameraden aus Logans Team zusammen auf einer Mission in den, schon erwähnten, Pyrenäen kämpft. Das Ganze spielt sich vor 5 Jahren zuvor ab und dient als kleines aufrischndes Tutorial , was einen selber auf den neusten Stand der Binge bringt. Die Steuerung ist gleich geblieben, genau wie die Aufgaben im Spiel. Hier und dort mal eine Geisel befreien dort ein Sprengsatz entschärfen, wirklich keine große Neuerung. Die Befehlsmöglichkeiten sind wie zuvor recht knapp bestückt jedoch kann man jetzt befehlen Granaten entlang des Flures zu schmeißen. Wie schon im Teil zuvor besteht die Funktion der Deckungs-Möglichkeit, doch Vorsicht ist geboten hinter welchen Sachen man sich Deckung sucht. Projektile durchdringen jetzt auch bestimmte Gegenstände - das gestaltet das Spiel realistischer. Die KI ist nach wie vor wie im ersten Teil geblieben. Clever agieren die KI -gesteuerten Gegner und versuchen euch nach aller Möglichkeit in die Zange zu nehmen. Sehr interessant finde ich an manchen Stellen, wie die Gegner über demnächst erscheinende Titel sprechen, wenn man sich an sie anschleicht. Da dies immer nur sehr kurze Gespräche sind und die Gegner sofort bemerken, dass sie abgehört werden, kann man nur vermuten um welche Titel es sich handelt.

Eine Neurung ist das Punkte - System. Je nach Spielverhalten wird der Spieler in Kategorien eigeteilt, wie z.B. Schütze, Sturm usw. Daran kann man erkennen wie man spielt. Verteilt man also z.B. Kopfschüsse bzw. Präzise Schüsse kommt man in die Kategorie Schützte und sammelt dort die meisten Punkte. Durch die Punkte steigt man Ränge auf. Durch Ränge werden neue Ausrüstungsgegenstände freigeschaltet.

Ein absolutes Highlight ist der Online Kooperations- Modus. So kann z.B. ein zweiter Spieler in eine laufende Kampagne einsteigen und somit in den Missionen kooperativ mit seinem Freund auf seinem Speicherstand spielen. Weitere Spielmodi, in denen ihr unter anderem VIPs beschützen, Radarstationen einnehmen oder Bomben legen müsst sind ebenfalls vorhanden und abwechslungsreich gestaltet.

Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2" verwendet die Unreal Engine was uns Grafisch einiges präsentiert. Die Einzelnen Spielabschnitte, sowie Waffen- und Charaktermodelle sind durchaus gelungen. Akustisch wird gute Qualität geboten Schussgeräusche der verschiedenen Waffen und Explosionen erschüttern schon mal die ein oder andere Membran des Lautschprechers. Musikalisch hat "Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 1 &2" nicht zuviel bieten. In beiden Teilen hat sich leider weder Grafisch noch Akustisch etwas weiter entwickelt.

Hier also eine kleine Aufzählung, was mir gut und nicht so gut gefallen hat.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
Pro
- Deckungssystem
- Einfache Steuerung
- Multiplayer-Modus
- KI
- Umgebung Vegas
- Sehr realistisch
Contra
- Checkpoints zu weit auseinander
- Kurze Spieldauer

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Pro
- Neue Missionen
- Zerstörbare Deckungsgegenstände
- Fortsetzung der Story
- Multiplayer-Modus
Contra
- Nicht wirklich viel Neues hinzugefügt
- Immer noch einzelne Soundfehler wie im ersten Teil, die nicht behoben worden sind

Fazit:
“Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2“ hat mich positiv überrascht. Im Vergleich zu vorangegengenen Teilen hat mir die Vegas-Reihe am meisten Spaß gemacht. Die Level, die Schauplätze, die Grafik, eine einfache Steuerung, die Story und die Fortsetzung der Story und das Gameplay machen daraus einen richtigen Interessanten Taktik-Shooter. Ebenfalls Interessant sind die Gegner, die Andeutungen auf neue Spiele machen. Der Kooperations-Modus im ersten wie auch im zweiten Teil mit der Möglichkeit seinem Freund in der Einzelspieler Kampagne zu helfen ist fantastisch. Leider gibt es nicht viele Unterschiede zwischen beiden Teilen, weshalb ich mich entschied, beide Teile in einem Review zusammenzufassen. Schade dabei war die kurze Story. Selbst mit dem zweiten Teil, der die Fortsetzung darstellte, hatte man insgesamt mit nur ca. 20std. Spielspaß. Sound - Fehler, die schon im ersten Teil vorhanden waren, sind im zweiten Teil wieder im Online - und Lan - Modus aufgetreten. Glücklicherweise traten keine der Fehler in der Einzelspieler Kampagne auf. Positiv fand ich im zweiten Teil, dass man einen eigenen Charakter erstellen konnte, ob männlich oder weiblich. Es besteht auch die Möglichkeit, sofern man eine Webcam besitzt, Bilder von sich zu machen und von sich selbst ein 3D - Kopf erstellen zu lassen, mit dem man dann im Spiel die Kampagne durchspielen kann. Im Großen und Ganzen haben mir beide Teile sehr gut gefallen trotzt kleiner Mängel über die man hinwegsehen kann, sind das zwei Richtig gut gelungene Titel gewesen. Tatsache ist wer ein Herz für Taktik-Shooter hat, kommt an “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 1 &2″ nicht vorbei.

Vorraussetzungen

Rainbow Six Vegas
Prozessor mit 3 Ghz
1 GB Arbeitsspeicher
DirectX 9.0c kompatible Grafikkarte mit 128 MB Videospeicher
kompatible Soundkarte
7 GB Festplattenplatz
Windows XP

Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Prozessor mit 3 Ghz
1 GB Arbeitsspeicher
DirectX 9.0c kompatible Grafikkarte mit Shader 3.0 und 128 MB Videospeicher
DirectX 9.0c kompatible Soundkarte
7 GB Festplattenplatz
Windows XP

Test - Systeme

Prozessor :Athlon 64 3500+
Arbeitspeicher: 1 GB RAM
Grafikkarte: GeForce 7300GT mit 512 MB Videospeicher
Sound: Creative SB Audigy 4
Betriebssystem: Windows XP

Prozessor :Athlon 64 2400+
Arbeitspeicher: 512 MB RAM
Grafikkarte: GeForce 6600 mit 256 MB Videospeicher
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-Bit
Betriebssystem: Windows XP

Prozessor :Intel Pentium 4 CPU
Arbeitspeicher: 512 MB RAM
Grafikkarte: GeForce 6600 mit 256 MB Videospeicher
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-Bit
Betriebssystem: Windows XP

If you're Canadian and a gamer, then you should know by now about the event touring across Canada, Amp National Gaming Tour. You can take pictures with the booth babes or celebrities, play the newest games, face those punk ass pros from MLG or play in many of the tournaments; the best thing about it. It's free admission so you don't have to pay to get in. It's great way to start off the summer. But for you fans that have dreams of becoming part of MLG, you get a chance to register to be one of the lucky hundreds chosen from each city competing to win $400. Not only that but a chance to be the fourth member for our first Canadian gaming team.  

Of course I'll be entering to see how it’s like to be in these tournaments. I'm not promising I'll be the same gamer that wrote this. So far practicing has been a pain. I've been getting pissed off, shouting at the TV, and playing the Halo 3 MLG playlist. But its only day one and I'll keep you updated on my daily process in our podcast. For those who are going to compete, good luck, unless I see you there at the Toronto Amp event, then fuck off. I hope I get a chance to teabag you before someone from afar snipes me down without even trying.

P.S. Any of you that went to the Amp event from other cities send us a picture or/and email us about what was awesome about Amp.

Also for more information and to register click here

Ubisoft no olvida a sus fieles fanáticos y anunció que lanzará el Fan Pack de contenido descargable gratuito en julio. El paquete contará con:

• Tres nuevos mapas para el multijugador: Calypso Casino, Murdertown y CQB Training.
• Añadirá un nuevo ranking de XP (experiencia) más allá del Elite.
• Nuevos A.C.E.S.
• Un indicador de granadas.
• Varias actualizaciones del modo de juego.
• Un opción denominada High Stakes.

Es bueno ver el soporte que le da Ubisoft a su juego.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

[Jkrincon Out]

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has much improved on the original Vegas with, Enhanced graphics, Smarter Ai, and a few new features to make the game a bit more interesting. One of those new features is being able to gain XP online and offline so you can climb through the ranks and eventually become an elite. Every terrorist you kill will give you XP and you will gain bonus XP for killing terrorists in certain ways for example head shots. As you gain more XP you will unlock new guns, armour and camouflages. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 introduces the ablity to run which would have been helpful in the original Vegas game.

The Ai has come quite a long way in this game, commanding your team is that bit easier to do without them running where they're not suppose to and being killed. You can still do all the cool room entery tactics you could in Vegas like frag and clear rooms, flash and clear, breach and clear, smoke and clear, oh and who could forget rappelling down the side of a building and smashing through a window to bust up a terrorist party.

Vegas 2 seems to be quite a bit easier to beat than the original vegas but none the less much more fun. Vegas 2 allows you to pick from three difficulties rather than just two so if you're like me and you're not to crash hot you can play casual.

The online part of Vegas 2 is quite a bit of fun when you can find a game thas isn't going to lag too badly. You can play co-op online and play through the campaign or gear up and go head to head with up to 16 players from all over the globe.

In conclusion i'd have to say Vegas 2 has come a long way since the original Vegas. It's not the best tactical shooter i've ever played but it's up there with the best. It's worth checking out that's for sure.

http://www.gamesreview.com.au/rainbow-six-vegas-2-xbox-360-review.php

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for shorter games. I think most people will agree with me when I say the length doesn't matter as much as the width. By that I mean that a richer, fuller eight hour experience is more satisfying than a shallow, drawn out 20+ hour one. Similar to COD4, this game made the good choice to finish up before it got dry, repetitive, and meaningless.

Gameplay-wise, RSV2 was very solid and smooth. One of the major things that the Vegas series brought to the game world was the cover system. I don't remember having any specific problems with how it worked in the first game, and in part 2 it still worked very well. The button combinations required for the cover-ADS-fire mechanic was intuitive, and dispatching a nearby bewildered enemy by means of blindfiring around a corner will always be one of my favorite ways to put a man on his back.

One thing that I was really happy with was the efficiency of your two partners, especially during the loud, sweaty orgies of multiple men shooting at each other with little to no protection. The AI, of your teammates at least, was really good. It may sound boring, but I spent half the game stacking my two soldiers at an area's rear entrance, and ordering them to enter at the same time. It was difficult to get used to at first, but once I was able to relax and let them do what they do best, I couldn't get enough. Between the two, they definitely finished off more guys in the game than I did. There was a solo section of the game though, where I was forced to take matters into my own hands, but it was more stealth-based than all-out action, so I was mostly able to get in and get out before the enemy was even aware that I had penetrated their tightly sealed strongholds.

I played through the entire campaign and a few terrorist hunt missions, but I didn't hop online. The first RSV multiplayer was pretty fun, but difficult, and I can't imagine this one being much different. I was surprised earlier today when I saw on Major Nelson's blog that RSV2 was only the 8th most active Xbox Live title last week, behind games like Guitar Hero 3, the Battlefield: Bad Compamy demo, and get this, Gears of War. Whatever, world.

I'm going to hold off on giving the game a score in hopes than one day we can do a threevue review on it, but I will say that it's really hard to find something negative to say about it. Although it's not as pretty as some other recent military shooters, it's definitely cute enough for a summer fling, and all its different modes give it a high replay value that will make every new escapade feel like it was your first time.

I'm not saying Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a must play, but if you are a fan of tactical shooters, this one will definitely blow satisfaction all over your face. At the same time, though, I don't feel that it's a big enough upgrade to warrant the spending of 35 more dollars than the going rate of a used copy of part one.

1. GTA IV - Juan has invested many, many hours in Liberty City and has not even finished the game yet.  Juan loves saying "Nico Bellic" out loud, every chance he gets.
2. Cinco de Juan - Much like its Irish counterpart, St. Petrick's Day, Cinco de Juan is a day in which everyone gets to experience the joy of being Mexican (for a day).  Luckily Juan is both Irish and Mexican, so it's like having three birthdays each year.
3. Accidental, Yet Systematic, Destruction of All Most Things Green - Juan bought the wrong Roundup, now half the back yard is dead, including parts not wanted dead.  Bah!
4. Dia de Juan 2008 - Much celebratin' needed to be done because, well... Dia de Juan.
5. Emerald City Comicon - Juan bought many trades in black and white and got his Agents of Atlas HC signed and sketched on by Jeff Parker.  The girls got Bamber-ized (who, apparently, was very huggy) and everyone had a great time.  The ECCC was well worth postponing the Official 2008 Dia de Juan festivities a couple of weeks.  Bonus: We got another Thing George Should Be Blamed For (#54!) out of the deal, so we all win.
6. Rainbow Six Vegas 2:  Sometimes the terrorists win because Juan es muy estupido.  Two and a half campaigns and nightly Terrorist Hunts and we're still going strong.  Juan has complained about a lack of knives and claymores though.  Juan also cannot remember the last time he had this much fun with a shooter or gotten as much play out of it as much as he has.  It may be Juan's Game of the Year.
7. Dia de Juan (y Jenny):  The party was awesome... great times with great friends.  And cake was more than just an excuse to have a party.  Jenny finally got her heart's desire.  Juan discovered he is a true Latin Sensation, at least according to his friends.
8. Blue Rodeo at the Triple Door:  Had a good time at the Blue Rodeo show at the Triple Door with KP.  The show was good... not exactly Juan's cuppa, but they're great musicians and put on a good show.  The venue is probably the best place Juan has ever had dinner and a show.  And the food was really and truly awesome.  Juan's recommendation: 1000 Fists of Beef and Heavenly Transcendent Green Beans.
9. Dia de Jenny (pronounced "Yenny") - The Sidekick had her dia, which consisted of dining at Marrakesh, eating with no utensils (which is more challenging than it sounds) and belly dancing.  Juan got powdered sugar on his feet.  Plus, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (AKA One Indy Too Many), which was largely perceived as "ok."  Dear Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg, Please: no more.
10. Work - Actually did some.  Surface Photos is starting to look like a real product.  Juan got a work laptop as well, so now he feels like a real boy.
11. Hockey - The Stanley Cup Playoffs are still underway.  The Sharks didn't make it past round 2, much to Juan's discontent.  Pittsburgh, the second Cup choice, is flailing before the mighty, mighty Red Wings.  Seriously, those guys look so dominant and efficient, we should be sending them to fight the war on terror once they finish off the Pens.  Prediction:  Red Wings vs. Al Qaeda- Wings win it in five games.

On blog, it doesn't maybe seem like much, but May is insane.

That would be a good Spider-Man plot.

依排AK既私人生活出現左重大變動，情況就好似係Roller Coaster(即係唔及四川果邊咁大鑊，所以大家唔駛捐錢俾AK，請捐俾果邊d災民啦，佢地好需要大家幫手架)咁誇張，所以有成兩個星期脫左稿…

經歷左兩個星期之後，總算生活又重會正軌(其實實質係太過沉迷於「正常，健康既犯罪生活」GTA4)，為左避免俾老編PC「殺他死」，於是就惟有暫時放下「殺人放火金腰帶」既生活，開始「中年筆耕」既生涯，今次既回味番叮要講既係早前萬眾期待，但最終因為大貨及時應市(多謝代理迅速行動，人人有Game打)，結果炒唔起既Rainbow Six Vegas 2。

首先係，大家應該點樣去睇Rainbow Six Vegas 2呢隻Game呢?類型上，佢當然係一隻FPS啦，但係當你正式玩起上黎既時候，你又會發現同你之前打既Gear of War，Call of Duty 4等等係有d唔同既，最大既分別係，成個game整個pace係唔似一般既FPS咁緊迫，你係有時間係去plan你個attack既…留意啦，plan呢個字好緊要，因為R6V2係標榜Tactical，即係講求戰術性既一隻Shooter…

R6V2既戰術性係由好多個唔同既因素所組成既，其中一個重點就係在於一貫以黎，同一個系列既出色版面設計，整個戰場環境既Set Up唔單單只係像真，而係合乎正式同類型建築物既設計，酒店似番酒店，煉油廠似番間煉油廠…唔好以為依樣好容易，好多FPS為左遷就遊戲性既考慮，搞到d地圖變左迷宮咁不倫不類，完全唔似正式既建築物…

合乎正式建築物既設計除左加強左玩既時候既代入感之外，另外一個重點就係不少的建築物係有四通八達既出入口同埋通道，配合R6V2敵人既卓越AI，結果就係出現唔少係無預期既情況下遭人突襲既場面…所以，打R6V2既刺激感唔係來自於急速既遊戲節奏，反而係沿自於果種隨時係無預備之下俾敵人突擊既壓力…

講到AI，自然又唔可以唔提下自家人既AI，依一方面來講，R6V2雖然標榜小隊合作，不過就唔見得真係特別地出色，大致上既表現都只係中規中矩，當然無話好似Army of Two果隻會自己衝入敵人火線度捱子彈，之後坐低叫救命，迫你救佢果隻咁差，但係就同Gear of War差不多，打人都係靠自己啦…

咁…彈開自己人個AI，又順手彈埋R6系列一直以來都俾人鬧既另一個地方，就係佢既畫面質素…雖然R6V2比起上一集來講係有左一d既改善，但係你話佢追得上依家頂班FPS既水準，AK就覺得有d勉強啦…相信有唔少既玩家可能係單純係出面睇Demo既時候，見到個咁既畫面質素而卻步都唔定…

打R6V2另一個重點，當然係Multi play啦，今次相對於R6V來講，Multi play既改進算係好大既，首先係你可以join朋友個in game打co-op，AK總係覺得，FPS唔係一個單人遊戲，由其係R6系列所標榜既戰術性，係一定要一隊人先做到…另外，Terrorist Hunt又係一個必玩既feature，雖然…有時好似係被Terrorist去Hunt咁…仲有就係，你係Single Play入面可以升Level，開新槍新甲，依點對於AK依d FPS「苦手」來講，係相當親切既設計…

最後，都係要彈多一樣野，就係去到最後尾，居然出動到戰鬥直升機黎「欺凌」玩家，雖然係其他FPS入面，唔好講直升機，就連坦克，戰鬥機榜人呀…都曾經打過唔少，但係係R6V2入面，你拎住枝「豆槍」去射架直升機就真係…另外，最後尾手刃叛徒既感覺唔係好得…多多少少同個畫面質素有d關係…

Anyway…R6V2，AK會俾8分…

The short answer is yes. So I don't think I'm gonna bother explaining to a bunch of people who continually judge me by this. Well, that's a lie. Not everyone judges me. I've got a really good fanbase on here full of people who love my writing and my honest thoughts. I guess I do these blogs for them. It's the people who know me who read these and judge me but actually don't even talk to me who make my blog a little scary for me sometimes. But generally every week some person I don't know at all by any means compliments me on my work here. Who knew a blog could ever be commendable? Somehow mine is. And that's why I write. I write on here for all the people who need to hear that someone else is just like them. For the people who need to know they're not crazy by thinking they've found the girl at age 18 that they're going to marry; for the people who need to be reassured that dedicating their life to music isn't stupid; for all the people who have found themselves experiencing any sort of emotion and not sure if it was okay for them to do so- I write realistically so others can feel a bit of comfort in knowing they're not alone. Because knowing you're not alone can be everything, sometimes.

So fuck the people who wanna judge me by reading this. I need to stop caring what they think. Not that I do very often... but every now and again I take their pointless words into consideration.

But yeah. Mind if I share something?

I wrote a song yesterday. It's so incredibly good. It's just this huge, sprawling song that never repeats itself and everything feels so different from the next. Annnd, even better, is that I found a way to implement this one riff I've loved for... its probably been about two years since I wrote it, I've been able to implement into the tune and actually use it now! That was very cool for me. I can't wait to record it. I'd do so today, but I'm focusing on seeing Harriet. I really really wanna see her. It's unfair we ever have to be apart.

I want Allen to wake up. I'm so in the mood for another level of Vegas 2 and I'm really wanting to jam with him for a bit: practice singing New Bang with instruments in hand; write hugs n kisses; try writing an epic song? Last night was great with him. While it was happening I didn't realize it was an amazing time until I woke up this morning and thought about it right now. We stayed up till 2AM playing Vegas 2, working on vox to New Bang, watching awesome music stuff on youtube (watched the Pork and Beans music video what... 3 or 4 times? Amazing song, btw), fantasizing about anything and everything, talking about Appa, the music we write- conversation was all over the place (as it usually is with Allen, but it's still fun). And best of all, we did all that for a good four hours. Err.. more. About 5. It's just so easy for us to talk, do stuff, and have fun. Probably my favorite discussion was about relationships. Allen was describing what he looks for in a relationship and what his definition of a good/healthy relationship should be... and I always feel bad about bringing up Harriet, but shit. She fits the description for everything he was saying. Every story he has, I have my own parallel adventure with Harriet. Like, the evidence is everywhere: this love I've got with this girl is a match made in heaven. I'm convinced and there's no telling me otherwise. There's just no bones about it. This girl is the one. Every day I believe that more and more.

Well, I'm getting hungry and I've rambled enough. How about some breakfast, eh?
love,
stephen

Ouch.

But, yes, those are all valid concerns, and Psyduck appreciates all the e-mails he's received, both positive and, well, some that's not so positive. With that, Psyduck's New May Resolution is to blog more often for the audience that has been faithfully visiting these pages over the past year.

So on with the blog...

Over the past few months, Psyduck was fortunate enough to find several Moleskine City Notebooks on sale at a few local art stores. For those of you unfamiliar with the City Notebooks, they are Moleskine's version of the D-I-Y travel guide: You get the same fantastic and durable Moleskine notebook, but with the added benefit of a map and street index for whatever city you've picked. The blank pages within the City Notebook are broken down into various categories for you to record your adventures in shopping, food, hotels, etc. The only downside to these books is the map; for many cities, the publishers only included a relevant map for a city center, or nearby area. If you are someone who is interested in really exploring a city, you're best bet is to pick up a real map of the city and keep that with your book. Considering how small the City Notebook is, though, it's understandable that they had to limit the size of the map.

Anyway, Psyduck had been staring at these books for a while, but with a price tag of almost $20, Psyduck knew that he could spend his hard-earned Pokemon cash on just a few select cities. But one day when his art supplies were low, Psyduck stopped at a few art stores and saw that a slew of City Books were discounted to prices so low, he thought he time-warped back to the 1950s. Psyduck knows the '50s had super-low prices because Psyduck's grandpa always told him lots of "back-in-the-day" stories...though Psyduck had a hard time believing that his grandpa went to school uphill both ways. Huh? Back to the books, so instead of paying $20 per book, Psyduck saw that his 1950s price was less than $3 for each book! W00t! Savings FTW!

So, yes, Psyduck bought himself many City Books. Peep the photos:

Psyduck, of course, is a world traveler, so he'll no doubt make good use of these books soon.

In other news, Psyduck has been spending quality time with his 360 playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and GTA4.

A few quick thoughts on both games...

Rainbow Six Vegas 2: The developers pretty much ruined the fun of online multiplayer by allowing random spawn points. To be fair, there have always been issues with spawn campers in the Rainbow games, but any decent team could always free themselves from campers and change the flow of the game. By allowing random spawns, the developers essentially created a slower version of COD4. Nothing against COD4, mind you, as it is an awesome, awesome game, but why does Psyduck need COD4 in his Rainbow Six? If Psyduck wanted to play COD4, then he'd go and play COD4; he wouldn't fire up Rainbow Six for the COD experience.

GTA4: This is a very, very good game, but it's not anywhere near a 10. Psyduck has been visiting with the GTA hooligans since Claude ran the show in Liberty City, and Psyduck was expecting some of the fundamental mechanics of the game to be fixed. Walking, running, aiming, shooting -- all of those, as well as a few other things, needed to be perfect in this version, and they weren't. No matter how big the city is, or how pretty the city is, or how alive it feels, all of that is for naught because you are essentially using ancient PS2 mechanics and controls to move Niko through this modern city. Psyduck is impressed with the scale of GTA4, but Psyduck cannot overlook the reality of poor controls. Psyduck is a bit of a hardass about these things.

General Blog News for May

Attention all fashionistas reading this blog: With summer almost upon us, there's always a need for that special T-shirt to wear to a concert, BBQ or a casual stroll to your local game store. Since your tastes aren't always available in department stores, be sure to check out the cool shirts made by Reese Ward at this site.

Psyduck wants to introduce you to a new feature in his blogs called Psyduck's Music Minute. Everyone loves music, and Psyduck is no exception. His tastes span continents and generations, so with the Music Minute, Psyduck's goal is to bring you clips of tunes he's diggin' at any given moment. If you have any Music Minute suggestions for Psyduck, drop him a note and he'll do his best to post your choices in his next blog.

Today's Music Minute takes you back to the '90s with L.A. Style and their hit song, James Brown is Dead.

Vegas revisited, the end of a series

By DarkArmada

©2008 - Lee Edgerton

```It's like the old glove that fits, that bike you rode when you were a child or even those shoes that have been worn in just right. Ubisoft's next addition to the Rainbow Six IP is everything you've come to expect from the series and although the similarities take away from some of the "new game feeling", the extras sure make up for it!

```Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 answers a lot of, well, unanswered questions surrounding the first iteration. It takes place from before the first game and tells the story both during and after Vegas 1. But you're not seeing the events through the eyes of Logan Keller, but rather Bishop, the leader of another Rainbow squad dealing with the more dirty situations that arise throughout the Vegas timeline.

As such, the story takes you away from the bright lights and dancing girls to a more grittier and dark side of the famous desert city. Expect dimly lit corridors, deserted factories and industrial rooftops throughout the game, a nice change from the seemingly endless supply of neon lighting from the first title.

One of those "new extras" I'd mentioned above comes in the form of the improved PEC or Persistent Elite Creation, which is actually persistent now across MP and SP! What does this mean? Every terrorist you frag, every room you clear and every enemy you disable nets you XP that counts towards your character across all games. As someone that prefers to fight alone rather than battle it online, this is a Godsend, allowing access to the usual unlocks and ranking usually only found online. Plus with the ACES system, you are rewarded for all sorts of skills, from headshots to close range kills.

```If you're more XBL inclined, Ubisoft hasn't forgotten you. Online you have all the usual Terrorist Hunt and Multiplayer elements you've come to love, as well as Co-op for both TH and SP Campaigns (however, only 2 players and 2 AI now) and of course a whole host of new maps and adversarial modes to go along with. Online play is plagued with the same issues many Australian's suffer daily, increased latency, rare local games and overseas hosts kicking yellow and red players alike, however Ubisoft claims that many of the online issues from the past have been improved and along with the recent update, XBL modes should soon return to normal.

Continues & more pics after the jump:

Veteran players of the first game get a little bonus to their character upon start up, which is a nice touch from Ubisoft. Character customization is just as easy as it ever was, with a whole host of clothing, weapons and armour to adorn your virtual Rainbow member with. As well as custom camouflage and the ability to take a photo of your face with the XboxLIVE Vision camera and apply it to your in-game character for a photo likeness of yourself!

Click any image for Full Sized View:

Sadly, one area that has let R6V2 down is visually. Although in-game environments, characters and weapons are all crisp and detailed, the Unreal 3 engine chugs along at some points, even reducing your screen to a stuttering mess at parts, forcing you to put up with a chatterbox image or simply quit and start again. It's not a regular occurrence, but when it does happen it takes away from the immersive nature of the game.

Sound is everything we've come to expect. Voices are clear and weapons sound realistic (or as realistic as they can to someone who's never actually heard a gun fire before) however the lack of a subtitle option is frustrating when the sound has to be on the down low. There was a stuttering issue with some repetitive sounds including LMG fire and in-game choppers, however it has been resolved in the latest patch.

All in all Ubisoft hasn't strayed too far from a winning model. Understandably they have veered away from the label of "tactical simulator" as to attract the everyday-gamer, although this does not take away from the fact that this game is and will be a stable title that all gamers should own. If you don't believe me, give it a try yourself! Whether it's on your own, with some mates or on XboxLIVE, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 delivers in all aspects of play.

``9/10

©2008 - Lee Edgerton

Click any image for Full Sized View:

I'm playing the Age of Conan open beta right now as well.  And, even with the level 13 cap, I'm having fun with it.  I'll be writing two reviews for CheatCC.com this month, so I have to set time aside for that.  May is shaping up to be one crazy month in gaming.  We've got the release of Age of Conan on May 17th (3-day headstart!), the release of Mass Effect (PC), and my 2 reviews.  Not to mention that I have to find time to go to work and feed myself so I don't die.

Let me ditch the nonsensical recap though and focus on something... like Grant Theft Auto IV.  Yeah, it's getting perfect scores from all the major reviewer sites.  Do I own a copy?  Not at the moment, but I plan on buying mine either later tonight or tomorrow.  At first, I was skeptical about these reviews.  How could a game get all those perfect scores?  I mean, not even Halo 3 got perfect scores with Bungie having more money than God.  So maybe Rockstar Games threw truckloads of money at reviewers or, maybe, just maybe... it is the first "perfect" game.

I got a chance to sit down and play GTAIV this past weekend with my brothers.  My first thought was just nice the game looked, which is saying a lot coming from someone who favors PCs.  One by one, my impressions of each aspect--the controls, the audio, the characters, the plot--were being formed.  Say what you will about a game series that has received more controversial media time than that crazy religious nut Obama used to receive his sermons from, GTA IV set out on a mission to accomplish its goals and that's the definition of a perfect video game. 

What did the developers want to do with it?  Did they incorporate those features into the game?  If so, at what level of quality are they incorporated?  Rockstar Games didn't just slap on additional features; they took the time to make sure each part of what they put into the game was the best.

It is far more likely that GTA IV is just a great game than it is likely that Rockstar Games paid off every major reviewer in the United States.

In 2006 (2007 for Ps3 owners), Team Rainbow stormed their way onto next gen consoles with a bang. Thousands have continued to flank each other online everyday of their lives. Now, in 2008, the year of battling Nintendo characters, and Liberty City's makeover, Ubisoft Montreal has decided to let everybody have another chance at liberation in Sin City. But is this rush-job showing the signs of it, or has the dev team been able to refine the experience?

The first Vegas left players on a bit of an edge, with the twist at the end that made men scream like girls in horror. Although the narrative design leaves a bit to be desired, what is here manages to put some closure to the overall story. The storytelling in Vegas 2 doesn't do the first much justice, as it is much shorter, and less deep than the previous installment. It's still fairly decent, but it isn't as epic as something like Call of Duty.

Actually, Vegas 2 manages to be both a prequel and a sequel. The game starts off in the French mountains, as you play as a Rainbow operative named Bishop. And your squad just so happens to be Gabriel Nowak and Logan Keller ((OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...) (If you haven't played the first, then perhaps you should ask a friend to tell you the details)) After this first mission, the game fast forwards five years into the present, in Las Vegas. As Bishop, your team must stop a terrorist organization from destroying the city. This is occuring about the same time that Logan's team is in Mexico (OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...) There is a theme of trust throughout the game, but it never gets too deep.

For anybody who doesn't know, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a first person shooter, with a cover system that switches into a third person view. You can command two other teammates, and they eventually become crucial, and a bit of a crutch to lean on. You can stack them up against a door, and send them in by certain commands. You can also tell them where to go, who to kill first and last. It's a big help that these guys are incredible marksmen, and will almost always get a headshot. Vegas 2 is a very heavy tactical shooter. Patience is really needed, because if you run out into the open, it only takes one burst of fire to bring you down.

Holding the left trigger allows you to put your back against any wall or object that you can use to take cover. You have the ability to lean out to either side, or to look over cover to shoot enemies. This works amazingly well, and is very smooth. It's a main aspect of the gameplay that is easy to get used to.

However, this is a sequel. And sequels are supposed to have either a ton of new content, or be a total refinement of the previous game. Luckily, Vegas 2 is a TOTAL refinement of the original, and even happens to sneak in a little new content.

First of all, graphically, Vegas 2 is absolutely gorgeous compared to the first game. The foggy look and dull textures have all been tossed for a much more sharp, vibrant game. The character models all look much more alive in their animations, and lip syncing, although still only par, is better than before. The framerate is solid throughout, lighting is way more convincing, and the blood splattering is like a Jackson Pollack painting. Absolutely beautiful. Without a doubt, this is one of the best looking shooters out there, surprisingly running on the aging Unreal 3 Engine.

Sound quality is also enhanced. The laughably bad voice acting of the first has been thrown away for a more professional and believable outing. The voice are still very out noised by the effects, making it difficult to hear your team speak at times. It's a good thing that the sound effects are excellent.

The controls are a lot smoother and quick this time around. Everything moves much faster, while still managing to keep the tactical side of things in check. Some of the button mapping has been changed, but once you get the hang of it, it's well done. You can now tell you team to throw a grenade somewhere, and now with the simple act of holding down a button, you can sprint. Evading grenades is now possible, the game is quickened significantly, everybody's happy.

The original's crushing difficulty has been scaled back a lot. Apparently, sometime between 2006 and now, Ubisoft discovered the "easy difficulty". This opens the game up more to casual gamers, and the game is much more streamlined than before. Enemy AI is better than before, but in this difficulty, they aren't so great at shooting.

There are some attention grabbing set pieces thrown in for good measure. There's a scene where your team is outside of an arena, while the place is gassed, thousands of people are dying on the other side of the door, and you can't do anything about it. You watch one of your teammates fall apart in horror. You bow your head. These are really capturing, and save the lackluster story from destruction.

Stealing a little from Call of Duty 4, you now are able to shoot through cover. Plaster, couches, sheet metal, other people. It adds to the realism of the game, and to be honest, is COD 4's only rival in terms of realism and enjoyment.

The 8 hour journey takes you across all parts of Sin City, and some parts of Nevada. There's no shortage of slot machines to shoot up, but there are less of them than in the original. It's not really disappointing, but I must wonder "Where's Vegas?".

Aside from the campaign, this IS a Rainbow Six game, and it has the multiplayer to back it up. There are about a dozen maps, with several different team based game modes. There's traditional deathmatches, and attack and defend, but there are several other game modes that utilize the power of the team. There's one where there is a leader on each team that must be escorted to an extraction point, and the team loses if he dies. The core gameplay is simply so much fun, and the server and game options are so deep, that there is more than enough here to justify its price tag.

There's the new character system, called ACES. It's an upgrade system, where basically, everything you do on or offline effects your stats. You no longer need to be online to achieve new badges and ranks. This is great, considering I'm now a higher rank in Vegas 2 than Vegas 1 already.

There's also the terrorist hunt arcade mode, which you can now do with a squad, online or off. Enemies are much more evasive and smarter here, and it's a great place to train.

Overall, I enjoyed Rainbow Six Vegas 2 a great deal more than the original. Nearly every aspect is totally revamped for the better. Whether its some top notch single player gaming, or PWNING your buddies online, its no gamble to pick this one up. Team Rainbow always wins.