Awesome fun, Another great game in the Tom Clancy line-up
I remember my first Tom Clancy game: Rainbow Six and all the add-ons that I purchased and played online. They were great and cutting-edge then, and their modern counterparts are as well. I do not own the original Rainbow Six Vegas, but I do have Advanced Warfighter 1 & 2, the latter of which was a bit of a disappointment as a second installation of the first. That said, I could not be happier with this purchase of Vegas 2.
The beauty of this game is the satisfaction that it offers on several levels. The depth of personalisation is fantastic. I even tried out the "put your face on the character" mode. What a great idea, and well executed. It was a slightly prettier version of me, but definitely me. The other choices are also good and very personalisable. The ranks are good, not too easy to achieve, but nor too hard, with balanced unlocks at different stages. What I especially like is that it is not all just weapon unlocks, but some personalising stuff as well; Armour types, headgear, camouflage types and of course awards and medals.
Weapon choices are broad and personal, and customisable, again. I favour the MP-45 and the Steyr-Aug with red-dot sights, but the possibilities and combinations are vast, and increase with unlocks and experience. Smoke grenades with heat-sensitive goggles is a great way to get out of some sticky situations.
The multiplayer games with co-op(4 vs 40+ Terrorists), co-op single player campaign and versus mode, is really good fun. Login, set-up and join in.
The gameplay is great, with the realism levels being appropriate to their mnemonic: Casual is that, medium is harder, and realistic is a tough one, but exactly that, realistic. Step out into someone's line of sight and stand still and you will get shot and killed, depending on their weapon and distance, with varying degrees of ease. The maps are big, but not too big and completely non-linear. That is the frightening thing sometimes. Watch your back, or get your squadmate to do it.
Finally we come to the crowning ability: Blind fire. Get yourself into cover, poke your weapon around the corner or over the top of an obstacle and fire. Yeah baby. At range it is useless, but close up and in confined spaces, beautiful.
All around this is one of the most entertaining and rewarding games that I have played on a "get into the game quickly" basis. I put it up there with World in Conflict, highly addictive and easy to join in, whilst offering a real challenge.
If you like the genre, modern FPS, go out and get it. You will not regret it.
One caveat. There have been some sound bugs, and I have experienced them, but I am assuming that they will be fixed in a patch, soon............