The Gameplay - Rainbow Six Vegas 2: Xbox 360 Review

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.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7orrAp5utnZOde6S7zGiqoaenZH91hZRoaQ%3D%3D