Rainbow Six Vegas 2

[shaggydoug]

I read at blues news that this title has been announced.   In the spirit of the internet....I'm going to complain.......Why Vegas again?!?!?

- shaggy

[Kratz]

Well, did you get to the end of the first game?  OH YEAH!  There wasn't one... that's probably why.

[USMC Kato]

Sweet!!! However, I believe that we should enforce that Harkonis plays upside down while intoxicated on a 3 inch screen during Multiplayer sessions.

[kronovan]

I read at blues news that this title has been announced.   In the spirit of the internet....I'm going to complain.......Why Vegas again?!?!?

- shaggy

Why? I'd say because of the experiences and sales success Ubisoft had with the Rainbox Six 3 series. Rainbow Six 3 and Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow released with about the same amount of months between them as the 2 Vegas releases will have.

[ATB]

Sweet!!! However, I believe that we should enforce that Harkonis plays upside down while intoxicated on a 3 inch screen during Multiplayer sessions.

+  (insert here)

I probably pick it up and play it, but it's got a tough row to hoe to step up to the brilliance that is COD4.

[Calvin]

Looking forward to it!

[CeeKay]

IN!

[Blackjack]

The problem is finding another two-word city who won't give them permission to use the city's full name in the game.

So they could try:

Rainbow Six Francisco!
Rainbow Six Angeles!
Rainbow Six Orleans!
Rainbow Six Antonio!
Rainbow Six York!
Rainbow Six City! (they can set it in Atlantic City or Ocean City)

Hmmm. Nah. They just don't have that slot machine ring to it. 

[spigot]

Vegas is played out. How about a little extra creativity, guys.

[CeeKay]

They could do Rainbow Six: D.C. and have a mission to rescue the president.  Of course if they use Bush they might have more people intentionally failing the mission 

[Destructor]

They could do Rainbow Six: D.C. and have a mission to rescue the president.  Of course if they use Bush they might have more people intentionally failing the mission 

Just terrible. Yet so truthful.

[skystride]

Remember when they first announced Vegas, lot of people were like "that's dumb".  Well maybe they will surprise us again with Vegas 2.  I hope the black guy and the asian guy are back, they pwnd!

[Jocke]

Things that should be fixed/changed in sequel:

Respawning enemies. Either have them all out at the start of match in coop deathmatch against computer or set spawn point further away from player.
Actually having coop for more then 2 players like it says on the box...

Hmm... I think I have more nitpicks but they elude me at the moment.

[skystride]

At least it wasn't infinite respawns like COD4.  But yeah, they spawned way too close to the player.  That needs to change.

You could co-op terrorist hunt with more than 2 players.

[papasmurff]

Vegas 2 sounds like it could be fun!  IN

[Jocke]

You could co-op terrorist hunt with more than 2 players.

... What? Have you done this personally? We tried, god knows we tried. And failed. Did searches on the net and came up with people asking why it did not work.

So have you tested this and gotten it too work? Are we talking 360 or PS3 version? And if you did... HOW!

[Jarrodhk]

You couldn't split-screen 4 players, but you could play with 3 other people over live.  That may be where the confusion lies.

[Jocke]

Oh live. Yeah I was thinking of splitscreen coop. Yeah they should put in 4 player splitscreen coop in sequel. Online is nice but when you all are in the same couch...

[Destructor]

Maybe they'll actually put in an ending this time around.

And maybe they'll fix the 'enemies only spawn when they're 15 feet away' problem the original had in Terrorist Hunt.

[CeeKay]

Maybe they'll actually put in an ending this time around.

I blame Halo 2 for that.  A big name game pulling the 'no actual ending' crap and still selling millions let other publishers get away with it.  I haven't finished the SP portion of Vegas yet, so maybe by the time I do I won't have to wait as long.

[CeeKay]

interesting blurb on Blues News:

Rainbow Six Vegas 2
A new cinematic trailer from Rainbow Six Vegas 2 promotes the upcoming shooter that runs parallel to the events in the first game (we're trying to figure out what that's called - a sidequel? perhaps just a quel?). The clip can be found on FileFront, Gamer's Hell, PixelRage, and FileShack.

[Purge]

What ever happened to Ding Chavez?

[CeeKay]

What ever happened to Ding Chavez?

Lockdown shot him in the back 

[papasmurff]

so....ummm....yeah.....I hope they don't plan on re-using many of the level designs they had in the first one....

I mean minus the background on the stage that was the same level as the one with the laptop on the stage that you had to hack and protect.......

[Purge]

Ooo, that was a horrid level filled with vehemence and frustration.

Couldn't we have slid some props in front to shield him?

[Lockdown]

What ever happened to Ding Chavez?

Lockdown shot him in the back 

I just now saw this CeeKay, you bastard.   (although I think you may be right)

Anyway... I'm starting to get psyched for this.  Did you guys read this from an IGN review of the multiplayer:


CUT & SNIP

New modes? Check. New maps? Check. New leveling system? Check. But what about any real changes to gameplay? Fear not, you'll have a few new abilities to utilize online (or off). First and foremost, you can now sprint. The duration isn't as long as it is in COD4, but it's enough to quickly escape a grenade blast and move from one piece of cover to another without fear of getting easily gunned down. It's clear that Ubisoft Montreal didn't want to turn Vegas 2 into a run and gun type of game and while hearing that there's a new sprint feature might make some fans shutter in fear, we can say with certainty that isn't the case.

Next up is the retooled radar system. By "retooled" we mean that the ever-present radar in the upper-right hand corner of your screen has been removed. Now you'll have the ability to perform a thermal scan which brings up a similar picture-in-picture view of the battlefield as the traditional radar but you won't know which bodies are enemies and which are friendly, you'll just know where they're located on the map and only for a short time. It forces a much more tactical approach to gameplay as players will now have to peak around most corners and keep an eye on their six if they hope to survive.

[CeeKay]

YES!!!  no more walking away calmly from a thrown grenade!!!  hopefully this will cut down on accidental deaths from mis-thrown grenades! 

[TK-421]

shutter in fear

Shutter?  Are you fucking kidding me?

Well thank goodness for spell check because while it might be the wrong word, at least it's spelled correctly.

[ATB]

shutter in fear

Shutter? 

'Shutter in fear' - From Medieval times. To shutter your house when scared by the sound of approaching  of witches.

I was wondering how that fit into RSV2, but figured if ubi pulled it off it'd be neat.  So much for that.

[skystride]

Wow no radar, that's a big change.  Not sure how I feel about it.  Peripheral vision/situational awareness is so hard to do in a FPS without some sort of aid like a radar.

[Harkonis]

Wow no radar, that's a big change.  Not sure how I feel about it.  Peripheral vision/situational awareness is so hard to do in a FPS without some sort of aid like a radar.

R6 was the first game that I liked the radar, it wasn't omnipotent, it only showed where they were if you had LOS or a teammate was.  Dont' like the removal.

Wish I knew if it had a party/lobby system

[CeeKay]

Wow no radar, that's a big change.  Not sure how I feel about it.  Peripheral vision/situational awareness is so hard to do in a FPS without some sort of aid like a radar.

R6 was the first game that I liked the radar, it wasn't omnipotent, it only showed where they were if you had LOS or a teammate was.  Dont' like the removal.

Wish I knew if it had a party/lobby system

I wonder if they'll put the old chat system in, where you could talk with the enemy if you were close enough.  That part was kinda fun.

[Jarrodhk]

The problem with the old chat system was that people on the same team ended up not talking to each other at all.  Kinda took away the point of having voice chat if you couldn't really risk using it without getting killed.

[Lockdown]

Not exactly groundbreaking in terms of new information, but here's another preview:

Link to gamespy

[Purge]

The introductory level placed us in some frozen industrial complex in a stark departure from the traditionally urban feel of the previous Vegas. A sub-zero maze of gantries and cat-walks, this tutorial level mainly served as a refresher course for Vegas 2's mechanics, which are remarkably similar to the first game's. Cover works just as it did in the first game, switching to the third-person camera so that you can actually see yourself crouching behind a stanchion or steel-clad box.

Now, however, members of Team Rainbow will have access to a few new abilities. Most obvious from the get-go: sprinting. Similar to Call of Duty 4, Bishop and his crew will now be able to double-time it by executing a quick sprint that sacrifices the ability to shoot for the ability to run really fast. This comes in quite handily when presented with things you need to get away from quickly, like an incendiary grenade lobbed at your feet. It doesn't completely change the gameplay, but it does give a greater sense of freedom than the first game.

Single-player gameplay still turns on the fulcrum of the O.P.A. formula: Observe, Plan and Assault. As such, you'll get the requisite commands and actions to facilitate these anti-terrorism tactics. Encore performances for inverted rappelling, taking cover, and the snake cam will help with the observation portion of Team Rainbow's standard operating procedure, but you'll also get a nifty picture-in-picture HUD system (see Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter's Cross-Com) to bolster your ability to gather crucial intelligence (or watch previously-gathered crucial intelligence).




The planning and assault phases seem to have seen the most retooling, because although they work pretty much the same way they did in Vegas, your team will have more options available. You can now command your fellow Rainbow members to throw grenades at a specific location and they are generally more lethal when fighting on their own. We witnessed this first-hand after assigning Michael and Jung to breach and clear a room full of bad guys -- the pair busted down the door and proceeded to wax every creep in the joint so that, by the time we got around to an alternate entrance, all the terrorists were already dead and Michael and Jung were tensely huddled, awaiting new orders. Grim, perhaps, but definitely efficient.

Rules of Engagement

Speaking of alternate entrances to rooms full of terrorists, the levels of Vegas 2 have been specifically designed to be less linear than the levels of the original Vegas. We noted that nearly every area we encountered had a veritable warren of ins and outs, and even the smaller cubbies seemed to have at least two entrances/exits if not more. The idea is to make the environment promote using your squad effectively... it's not just Bishop out there on his/her own, so the maps have been designed to enable players to exploit the O.P.A. system more extensively.

We noticed that, depending on the rules of engagement we assigned our team ("go quiet" or "weapons free, attack at will"), the list of possible orders we could issue would change as well. When running silent with our squad ordered to only fire when fired upon, our team was limited to less-than-lethal room-entering tactics (like "flash and clear" or "smoke and clear"). But, if we shifted them to alert status, giving them the go-ahead to hose down any mother with a gun, our room-entering tactics now included options for planting explosives on the door to annihilate any chump stupid enough to be standing on the other side.

The thing is, the AI of your opponents has been dialed up as well, so there's less likelihood that those terrorists will be milling next to the door you've just wired with C4. While we didn't notice it that much while entering that last room, we could definitely see our enemies' improved AI in a larger battleground, where they coordinated with each other in an attempt to flank our fellows. It didn't work, but they get points for trying.

This has me excited.

I wonder if we can have AI teammates wax Soulchilde before he lobs a grenade. That would definitely capitolize the artificial INTELLIGENCE.

[Calvin]

Is this really coming out in 3 weeks?

[Lockdown]

I wonder if we can have AI teammates wax Soulchilde before he lobs a grenade. That would definitely capitolize the artificial INTELLIGENCE.

When you read this... I will probably still be laughing at that.

 


Calvin - Yeppers.  I've heard dates ranging from March 18th to the 21st.  Either way - it's coming soon.

[ATB]

Is this really coming out in 3 weeks?

Oh snap!

3 weeks?  I wasn't planning on buying any 360 games for a while. There goes that plan.

[CeeKay]

IN!  I look forward to whacking some teamma- er... terrorists. 

[Lockdown]

Credit to Skystride over at OO for this.  I'm not sure where he found it, but it's got some information that has me ridiculously excited to get this game.  Enjoy.


Story Mode / Terrorist Hunt

Max # of players:
1-2 Players Story Co-op offline (split screen)
1-2 Players Story Co-op online
1-2 Players Terrorist Hunt offline (split screen)
2-4 Players Terrorist Hunt online.

Story Setting – The game takes place before, during, and after the events of Rainbow Six Vegas. You play as BISHOP, a male or female operative depending on your P.E.C. character. Voice has been recorded for both male and female Bishop. Locations will take you through areas inside, and outside Las Vegas: Rural and residential areas, strip clubs, back alleys, and many more areas never before visited. There will be a definite climatic conclusion to the story. You do not need to play RS Vegas in order to appreciate the plot, but it does help. Good on its own but better together.

Knight – Story Co-op mode allows a second player to join at any time without interrupting gameplay. Both players can play the entire game without any changes to the story. Player 2 is code-named “Knight”.

Civilians – In the game, you will encounter civilians taking cover or running for their lives. Do not accidentally shoot them or its game over. These civilians (not to be confused for hostages) are not scripted to get shot, but you must quickly take out the terrorist or they may be accidentally shot in the cross-fire. Your team mates will also call out, “Civilians spotted” when they are in sight.

Team Camo – Your AI team-mates will follow the camo style you use. Note: Everyone will have their own unique camo in Multiplayer.

Team Mate AI – When ordering your team-mates to advance, they will no longer run blindly. They will “Leap Frog” from one cover to the next while backing each other up. Your team-mates are not just “another pair of guns” in Vegas 2. They behave like real people do and act on instinct (better team AI). They also converse with each other, and to you, about your mission. They will give you useful information about weapons and situational strategy.

Outfitting Stations – Throughout the story mode you may encounter outfitting stations which let you change/reload your weapons, gadgets and outfitting. Each station has a limited number of uses (there are 10 kits inside each box) but chances are you will only use them once per area and move on.

Gadgets – In story mode, depending on your difficulty setting, you will have a different supply of gadgets. Casual x10, Normal x5, Realistic x2.

Enhanced Rules of Engagement – Your team-mates no longer have unlimited gadgets. Depending on your Rules of Engagement you can order your team-mates to throw Smoke, Flash or Frag grenades as well as door breaching. However, as in real life, your team AI may sometimes miss the target. To ensure accuracy, ensure there are no obstacles in the way of your team’s throwing arc before initiating the command. Switching between Infiltrate and Assault works like Rainbow Six Vegas. They will help you strategically order your team to play stealthy (return fire only) or aggressively attack a situation (attack at will).

Thermal Scan – Your tactical map will show (for a limited time) an overhead scan of all heat signatures in the area. It works the same as a GPS device, but in story mode. Overhead Thermal Scans can be used an unlimited number of times, but last only for a limited time and has a fairly long recycle time. Use it wisely. Not available in Terrorist Hunt or Multiplayer.

Sprinting & Bullet Penetration – Sprinting and Bullet Penetration is available in all modes. Please refer to Part 1 for more information.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Enhanced Terrorist Hunt

You now have the option to have AI team-mates play with you in Terrorist Hunt, or go lone-wolf like R6 Vegas. Also, depending on your difficulty and number of tangos, you have a limited number of respawns. When playing online, you can also toggle if you want friends to join you mid-game or not.

Team Camo – See above "Team Camo".

Player Performance Screen – Whether you succeed or fail a Terrorist Hunt mission, you still gain XP depending on your performance. The game over screen will show the following:

SCOREBOARD – Username / Kills / Deaths / Accuracy / Ratio (kills to deaths)
TOP PLAYER – User Stats / Best Weapon / Kills with weapon / Accuracy / Headshots

XP – is split up into even more categories:

OVERVIEW – Difficulty Setting / Total XP Earned in this match / Enemies Killed
PLAYER PERFORMANCE – Headshots / Visually Impaired / Unaware
TEAM PERFORMANCE – Kills by team mates
PENALTIES – Suicides, Team Kills

Enemy AI

If your enemy AI is being shot in the foot when taking cover, he’ll actually respond now by moving further back behind cover. There are also different ways to identify your enemies:

Terrorist with Shield: Harder to kill. Must shoot them in the leg, exposed arm, unshielded portion of the head or back/side.

Terrorist with Light Machine Gun: Tends to have very heavy armour and are harder to kill.

Terrorists with Thermal Vision Goggles: Smoke bombs will not affect their view. They will also use smoke as well.

Terrorist with Ballistic Face Mask: Come at you with shotguns and are especially deadly when you are behind penetrable cover.

Terrorist with Crimson Red Beret: Elite Terrorists with who are deadly and very professional. Highly skilled and have amazing accuracy.

Be careful when you’re in a room mixed with different looking tangos. When they come at you in groups, they will back each other-up and “Leap Frog” from one cover to another to get closer. Shielded tangos aren’t afraid to walk right up to you either.

Tangos call for help: That’s right. In later stages, if patrolling Tangos spot you and you don’t take them out in time, they will radio for backup and call in for re-enforcements. In a matter of seconds your area will turn into a hot spot of action and panic.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Community Developer Thoughts

As much as I love multiplayer, I know I will also be spending a lot of time in RS Vegas 2’s story mode. The story is ambitious and after all the plot twists I felt very content with the “explosive finale”. Unlike some shooter games, finishing R6 Vegas 2’s campaign felt VERY satisfying.

Fans of the first RS Vegas campaign mode will feel right at home. You don’t need to play the first game to appreciate the plot, but it sure adds to the parallel story line. You’ll be playing the game and think, “So that’s what happened”.

I have one suggestion when you get the game: Set the Music and Sound FX to around 4 and have Voices set to 10. If you have Surround Sound that’s a big bonus. Dialog plays a major role in the story and really draws you in; you don’t want to miss it.