➤ Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

100 points for a headshot, 50 in the chest

Experience is the basis of everything now, as in any RPG, or rather as in Call of Duty 4, we are given the opportunity to specialize our alter ego in 3 main skills: precision, close combat and assault, the latter related to the use of explosives and the killing of enemies in cover. Obviously the way in which you hit the enemies gratifies the player in a particular skill rather than another: a sharp blow from a distance gives us points in accuracy, killing enemies by shooting blindly behind cover increases the experience in close combat and so on. . From a single player perspective, this new system called ACES, acronym for Advanced Combat Enhancement Specialization is just a good way to diversify the action, to make the way in which new weapons and new equipment are unlocked, but if you look at it, it is intriguing and decidedly engaging. under the lens of online gaming, both cooperative and "competitive", it acquires considerable depth and depth. Specializing your soldier therefore becomes an imperative both by facing the single player campaign in two players (no longer four), as well as by challenging other human opponents in online games. It is therefore essential to have a certain type of approach to battles to get the right clothing and weapons to play according to the chosen style. Obviously in the story mode the specialization is not as absolute as in the titles in which the mechanics necessarily revolve around it, choosing a weapon of a given caliber rather than another, with peculiar characteristics such as penetration and stopping power is a necessary and essential choice to survive in fierce matches against human players. The ACES system therefore works perfectly, the challenge rate always remains very high, also because thanks to these "specialist" mechanics Vegas 2 invites us to play constantly pondering our movements. In short, no head-down entrances into a room, since even at the lowest difficulty level the game becomes decidedly difficult as the levels progress.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - Review

100 points for a headshot, 50 in the chest

On the side of the small additions, an applause must be given to the race: thanks to this the circumvention maneuvers are much easier to perform, as well as running away from a grenade that is too close. Only defensive maneuver as it is impossible to shoot during a sprint. The cooperative mode (also locally via split screen), another plus of the first chapter has undergone a substantial change, no longer four human players but only two, in addition to the two soldiers managed by artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, only the host of the game can give orders, consequently the invited to play remains a bit on the sidelines, unable to do anything other than shoot the enemies still standing. This thing is particularly irritating when the team leader dies: while waiting for the respawn, the two companions remain without orders, hoping that sooner or later someone will tell him what to do. But above all if the skirmish mode, or Terrorist Hunt can be played in four, why the single player campaign only in two?

Bishop we are surrounded!

Still on the subject of artificial intelligence, that of the opponents seems to have benefited from some improvements: now they are decidedly more aggressive and act more in concert trying to surround our leather heads, even if sometimes they do not seem to notice their partner killed with a precise shot to the head at two meters. Same thing can be said for their fellow soldiers who enjoy good aim, but have a tendency to remain often and willingly exposed to enemy fire, disdaining any type of cover except that designated by the team leader. Despite many ups and downs Vegas 2 is always fun and extremely rewarding to play, both for the excellent level design, and for the many tactical possibilities offered by the immediate, but at the same time complete, team management. You are always on the lookout for who goes there, there will always be small movements in the open field, the L1 backbone used for coverage will be consumed more than the fire key. The tension, also thanks to the not very frequent save points, is always high, and reaches its apex when, as experienced in a mission set in a climbing gym, you find yourself surrounded, with opponents popping up from all sides, even descending from above with ropes. From this point of view, Vegas 2 constantly forces us to have our eyes open, to peer behind every parapet or desk, also helping us thanks to the very useful tactical map, or to the equally indispensable satellite thermal scans.

Bishop we are surrounded!

On the multiplayer side, three new modes have been added, in addition to the canonical deathmatch and team deathmatch: attack and defense, team leader and total conquest. The latter is particularly interesting and adrenaline-pumping since in time limit we have to conquer and keep switched on three connections with the satellite. Obviously, the reversals of the front between areas taken and then suddenly lost become the norm, like the frantic races between one control point and another. Unfortunately it was not possible to test the goodness of the net code since the servers were still closed, but without a doubt it is possible to bet on the excellent quality of the mechanics given the excellent implementation of the same in the first chapter.
It remains to be seen why the Xbox 360 version supports up to sixteen players while the PlayStation 3 version supports fourteen. Graphically, the Unreal Engine used in this second chapter has not undergone any changes, and apart from some improvements on the Rainbow team and weapons models, it is very similar to what we saw almost two years ago.
Consequently, the general aspect, although well built, detailed and animated, does not represent the maximum present at this moment, especially for what concerns the environments. Honor to the merit for the partial destructibility of the environments, a need this due given that the assault skill involves the killing of enemies in cover: the peaks of Call of Duty 4 are not reached with large caliber bullets that pierce the walls, but the less resistant protections will be crumbled by precise bursts of a shotgun or assault rifle.

Comment

With Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 the feeling of deja vu is clear, it is not a completely new experience, but thanks to small innovations the title can be played with great pleasure both by those who have completed the first episode, who from those who take on the role of the Rainbow team for the first time. Some small flaws in terms of artificial intelligence, a graphic sector not always up to par, together with an unnecessary distortion of the cooperative mode are the criticalities that emerge mainly from this test. The question of originality remains on the plate: despite the well thought-out ACES system and the new multiplayer modes, the game experience is very similar to what we saw in the first chapter. Is this a flaw in an absolute sense or is it the right price to pay in order not to overturn a practically perfect game too much? Despite everything Vegas 2 remains a solid fps, immediate, fun, extremely satisfying and long-lived. More a data disk than a sequel to all intents and purposes, however, there were other more of the same of this level!

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