Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Posted by icebreakz on July 8, 2008
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the ninth installment in the Rainbow Six series (not including expansions). It is a tactical first person shooter video game and the sequel to Tom Clancy
’s Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007. The game was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 18, 2008 in North America and March 20, 2008 in Europe, except in Germany, where the game was delayed.The Microsoft Windows version, however, was delayed until April 15, 2008.It has been released in Japan on April 24, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and on May 29, 2008 for the Playstation 3.
A world-exclusive first-look of the game appeared in the January edition of the Official Xbox Magazine. One of the biggest announcements is that Logan Keller, the lead character from the previous game, has been removed in favor of having the player create his own character to play through the campaign. The player instead assumes the role of “Bishop”, a member of the Rainbow squad with a great deal more experience and who is more deeply involved in the story.
The game, billed as “part sequel, part prequel”, has events that run both before and concurrently to the story of Logan Keller and continue after where the first game concluded.In addition to the ability to customize a character in multiplayer, the player can now customize Bishop, Vegas 2’s new protagonist. In single-player, the developers claim to have vastly improved teammate AI, so that now teammates cover each other as they advance. There are also several new commands, for example, the ability of a teammate to throw a grenade at a specific point.
Gameplay
New features include an enhanced version of the “Persistent Elite Creation” system. Players can now customize their character. Where in the first game, the player could only customize the multiplayer character, in this game there is only 1 character for single player and multiplayer game modes. This further shows itself in the fact that experience points are now achieved through all the game modes, online as well as offline, whereas in the first game, XP was only obtained by playing the online multiplayer game modes. There is a new sprint button that allows players to weave in and out of cover at a quicker pace, the pace and stamina are contingent upon the players armor level.
The campaign focuses on the seedier side of Las Vegas, with more outdoor combat and daytime missions. Also, certain missions see a real-time day/night cycle. Certain kinds of cover can be penetrated by weapons-fire, and parts of the environment are destructible. Rather than two difficulty modes, the game has three.
ACES
An additional system implemented in the game is the “Advanced Combat Enhancement and Specialization” or ACES, where players will be rewarded with different weapons based on tactics used in the game. The ACES system is divided into three parts: Marksman, Assault, and Close-Quarter Battle. Certain kills the player makes are organized into one of these three categories and scored based upon how the kill was performed (a headshot would count towards Marksmanship, killing an enemy with an explosive would count towards Assault, and killing an enemy at close quarters would count towards CQB). By getting a high enough score in a category, the player unlocks a specific item for that category; for example, the Assault category might reward the player with a new type of assault rifle, while the Marksmanship category might reward the player with a new type of sniper rifle. With the new upcoming “Fan Pack” downloaded content and update, 80 more ACES levels are added. For every ACES level after 20, the player gets a reward of 5,000 online experience points.
Synopsis
Setting
The setting for the game initially begins in Pic des Pyréneés, France, though the story promptly moves five years forward to Las Vegas, United States of America on July 2, 2010, the same day of Logan Keller’s arrival to Las Vegas in Rainbow Six: Vegas. Terrorists have seized control of Las Vegas to instill widespread panic in both the public as well as law enforcement agencies, such as the National Security Agency, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Rainbow, as well as local SWAT. As the plot unfolds, however, the setting moves away from Las Vegas to other places, such as a small town in Nevada, unlike in the first Rainbow Six: Vegas, which was mainly in Las Vegas.
Characters
- Bishop
Bishop is the main protagonist that the player controls throughout the events of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. His/her appearance and gender vary, depending on the intended look by the player. He/she is a high-ranking veteran of the Rainbow organization, and is an instructor at the organization’s training academy when the game first begins.
- Knight
If co-op mode is enabled, Knight accompanies Bishop on missions, whose appearance also varies depending on how the player desires him/her to look. His role, however, is limited as merely a co-op player, and unlike some games, such as Gears of War and Halo 3, Knight is not critical to the single player campaign’s story, as elaborated on the Eurogamer review. Playing as Knight also allows the player to unlock co-op achievements.
- Gabriel Nowak
The game’s main antagonist, a traitorous former Rainbow operative revealed as a mole in Rainbow Six: Vegas. Though cunning and ambitious, Nowak’s gung-ho recklessness earns him the disrespect of fellow teammates, ultimately leading to Bishop passing him up for promotion in favor of Logan, which therefore leads to Nowak betraying the Rainbow organization with the assistance of big-time terrorist ringleaders. Nowak betrays more Rainbow operatives in Vegas 2, mainly by posing falsely as an NSA agent, helping Bishop along the way for some of the campaign while actually putting Bishop in a state of danger, in order to kill him/her, which fails. Bishop eventually kills him in a final showdown at a villa in Costa Rica.
- Logan Keller
The main protagonist in Rainbow Six: Vegas, Keller is seen in the opening level of the game. Keller demonstrates a formidable sense of close-quarters combat (CQB), with realistic analyses of certain hostage situations and how to eliminate the opposition in an effective and concise manner. He is later seen after Bishop’s showdown with Nowak at the end of the game.
- Jung Park
The Korean electronics and recon specialist of Rainbow Six: Vegas, Park returns as one of the men Bishop leads.
- Michael Walters
The British heavy weapons and demolitions expert of Rainbow Six: Vegas, Walters returns as one of the men Bishop leads.
- Ding Chavez
Chavez, formerly Rainbow’s main team leader, and current “Six” (radio code for commander) as of Rainbow Six: Lockdown. In the first level, he is seen in-person, whereas throughout the rest of the game the player can only see him on the cross-com video.
- “Lieutenant Monroe”
Monroe (first name not given) is the negotiator in the first level of the game. He is killed when Gabriel Nowak, one of the men under Bishop’s leadership, breaks formation and opens fire on a terrorist, causing the terrorist to shoot Monroe in panic.
- Sharon Judd
The intelligence officer of Bishop’s team, Judd’s role is much like Joanna Torres’ role in Vegas 1. She supplies on-the-site intelligence to Bishop, but she is later wounded by a terrorist sniper.
- Gary Kenyon
Gary Kenyon serves as the helicopter pilot of Team Rainbow. As a veteran pilot of both the New Zealand and British Royal Air Force, Gary’s flight skills are impressive. The team depends on Gary as he skillfully maneuvers them into terrorist hotspots.
Plot
The game begins in 2005, one year before the bioterrorist events of Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield. Rainbow deploys Bishop to a science observatory in Píc des Pyreneés, France for an operation in which EU hostages must be rescued. Under his leadership are Logan Keller and Gabriel Nowak; Nowak and Keller have recently joined Rainbow, according to Ding Chavez/Six, who refers to them as recruits.
Monroe, the negotiator, plans to talk to the terrorists in-person, effectively distracting their attention while Rainbow’s Alpha and Bravo teams on the operation get into place. Bishop, who is in control of Bravo, takes Keller and Nowak to their assigned position and waits for Alpha to get in place. However, before Alpha arrives, Nowak exclaims ‘Fuck it,’ and fires prematurely. Bishop is then forced to fire onto the terrorists, but Monroe is killed by collateral gunfire from the terrorists who panicked when Nowak first opened fire.
Six then radios in, giving Bishop Alpha’s sit-rep, but Bishop responds by saying that the situation “…is over, but Monroe is dead. We need to talk.” Nowak attempts to apologize for what he has done, but Bishop retorts back, “Not now!” In the PC and Xbox 360 versions, Bishop responds differently, saying “Save it. We’ll have a talk later.”
Six then tells Bishop that there are terrorists scrambling to escape and that Bishop needs to neutralize them. He also informs Bishop that there is a bomb that needs to be defused. When Bishop arrives, Nowak is assigned to defuse the bomb, and per Nowak’s request, Bishop and Keller distance themselves to give Nowak “space” to work with. The bomb is successfully defused, but terrorists open fire on Nowak. Nowak falls, and starts to scream helplessly into the radio, particularly “I knew this would happen! Don’t leave me here! I knew this would happen, damn it!” Bishop assures him that they are not leaving him behind. Rainbow operatives from Alpha team then arrive and quell the situation, getting Nowak to his feet, just as the level ends.
The game then moves five years forward to July 2, 2010, at 6:27 P.M. local time, in Las Vegas. Bishop is now in a helicopter with Jung Park, electronics specialist, and Michael Walters, demolitions expert. Six contacts Bishop via secure satellite video, effectively giving Bishop a sit-rep of what operation is to come: Miguel and Alvarez Cabreros, two human traffickers (“people smugglers”) have suddenly come in interest of taking up small arms trafficking and even more recently, chemical weapons. Though Rainbow and the National Security Agency (NSA) seem certain that the Cabreros brothers are running the operation for the opposition, they both want Bishop’s (new) team to investigate the matter firsthand. Six informs Bishop that Logan Keller is running a separate operation down in Mexico, implying that Keller’s operation is an event that occurs during the first game, Rainbow Six: Vegas.
Bishop, Park, and Walters finally set foot on ground and make their way into the warehouse that the NSA believes the Cabreros brothers are running their operation from. Following a failed attempt to save Neville, an undercover NSA agent whose cover is blown, Bishop and his team fight through a plethora of terrorists into another warehouse, where they find Hispanic hostages held at gunpoint by more terrorists.
After a quick rescue, Bishop is ordered by a Rainbow coordinator (Sharon) to board the same helicopter he inserted into the warehouse district with, a modified Eurocopter Panther, which goes to a recreational facility where the Cabrero’s chemical weapons have shown up. Upon reaching the facility and securing the area, Walters searches the stash where the chemical bombs are presumed to be located. Not finding them, Bishop decides as team leader that the team has the responsibility to save the people of a Las Vegas sports stadium from a bioterrorist attack.
Bishop and his squadmates, however, get to the presumed bomb site, the stadium, too late. The bomb goes off, just as Walters attempts to break through the door to the stadium. He blames himself for not saving the trapped hostages, but Bishop accepts full responsibility, saying “I made the call. We have a mission to save people.”
Sharon Judd, the on-site intelligence officer (similar to Joanna Torres’ role in Rainbow Six: Vegas) then notifies Bishop that he and his team need to catch the younger Cabrero brother, Miguel, who has disguised himself as a hazmat official and escaped the area. In a chase for Miguel, Bishop eliminates all of the terrorists protecting him, leaving Miguel vulnerable to on-the-spot interrogation, specifically as to what happened to the second bioterrorist bomb. The brother at first denies any knowledge of the bomb, but after Michael aims his gun at him and Bishop threatens to tell his brother Alvarez that he betrayed their plan, Miguel confesses the location (albeit vague description), but immediately draws a pistol to shoot Bishop, who is forced to shoot before Miguel could kill him.
An important hostage is then saved by Walters at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Here, Bishop learns from Sharon that the other bomb is located on a train headed towards a high-density populated area of Las Vegas. Bishop heads over to the train, though Walters is unable to defuse the bomb. Sharon cleverly suggests to Walters that the bomb can be detonated, just not in a civilian area, ultimately fulfilling both NSA Deputy Director Lawrence’s order to “get rid of the bomb” as well as Six (Ding Chavez)’s order, “Rainbow’s ultimate objective is to protect civilians.”
Bishop then heads over to an upscale Las Vegas penthouse, where the last bomb is located, though two disastrous things happen: First, just before landing, a terrorist sniper shoots Sharon Judd, wounding her. Second, after landing, Bishop doesn’t reach the bomb in time, leaving Echo team to die from a close-contact explosion by the bomb. Both were due to the NSA agent’s inadequate intelligence of the situation.
In an ensuing casino battle with terrorists, Bishop rescues many civilian hostages, leading to a revelation that there is yet another bomb held in a Chinese theater, protected by highly armed terrorists. Walters successfully defuses the bomb. Rushing to the roof for extraction the team is yet again assaulted, in the aftermath of the firefight, Bishop is then contacted stating Logan’s team has been captured in Mexico and Park and Walters are to be his replacements (start of Rainbow Six: Vegas), and for Bishop to return to base.
On the roof the NSA agent joins Bishop in the helicopter at extraction saying that Alvarez has been spotted in an airstrip in the desert, and that because Alvarez is responsible for the bombing of several Las Vegas hotspots (e.g. casino, hotel, convention center, stadium, train station), Alvarez is too dangerous to let escape. Not letting Alvarez have the chance to escape, Bishop rushes over to confront Alvarez personally.
The helicopters arrive at an oil-refinery close to the airstrips position. But due to heavy resistance at the airstrip, Bishop is forced to make his way down from the oil-refinery. He is dropped in on a roof of a gas station while the NSA agent is dropped in a different location to provide Bishop with intelligence on the surrounding situation. Bishop is then forced to fight alone, making his way through the refinery and into an abandoned train-yard. When Bishop finally reaches the refinery’s airstrip, the NSA agent is revealed to be Gabriel Nowak, who shoots and kills Alvarez. He then insults Bishop before terrorists attempt to kill him. With the help of Bishop’s helicopter pilot from earlier, Bishop escapes.
Six orders Bishop to stand down, however, Bishop, Jung, and Walters follow Gabriel to a Costa Rican villa. After more fighting, Logan and other Rainbow operatives arrive to assist Bishop’s team. Gabriel insults Bishop throughout the level, before revealing that he was going to sell information about all Rainbow operatives to terrorists. Bishop then goes to face Gabriel alone; however, an attack helicopter and more of Gabriel’s terrorists attack. Bishop manages to trick the helicopter into radioing for assistance, which lets Joanna Torres, Keller’s intelligence officer, target the helicopter and shoot it down. Finally, Gabriel and Bishop meet face to face, with Gabriel gloating that he outsmarted all of Rainbow, and arguing that Bishop should have let him fix his own mistakes including what happened in France and that all he ever was in Rainbow was Bishop’s Fuck Up. Gabriel draws his gun forcing Bishop to shoot first with his pistol, while Logan and the other Rainbow operatives arrive. Six berates Bishop for disobeying a direct order, but offers him the position as deputy director of Rainbow at Hartford, Connecticut.
Discrepancies
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the first game not to adhere to the standard storyline of the Rainbow Six video game series. Notably, in Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, which took place in 2006, John Clark held the title of Rainbow Six, though in Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (flashback in 2005), Ding Chavez carries the title of Rainbow Six.Previous Rainbow Six games also did not have the presence of a drill instructor, as is manifested into Bishop’s role in Vegas 2. In previous games, either Ding Chavez or any member of Rainbow could act as a team leader.
Gabriel Nowak appears in the first Rainbow Six: Vegas as a traitor who is “rescued” by Logan at the fictional Dante’s Casino, yet this is less than an hour after Bishop discovered Gabriel’s true affiliation in Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 at the fictional Oil Refinery in the deserts of Nevada. Travel time between Las Vegas and the deserts of Nevada in Vegas 2 took well over three hours, yet traveling back for Nowak took less than 60 minutes. In addition, even after Gabriel reveals himself as a traitor to Bishop, his treachery inexplicably remains unknown to the rest of Rainbow Six as Gabriel is then able to return to Dante’s Casino and be rescued by Logan who still thinks him loyal to Rainbow.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Cheat Codes
| Cheat | Effect |
|---|---|
| A, A, B, B, X, X, Y, Y, A, B, X, Y | Super Ragdoll |
| X, B, X, B, Left Thumbstick, Left Thumbstick, Y, A, Y, A, Right Thumbstick, Right Thumbstick | Third person mode |
| Left Thumbstick, Left Thumbstick, A, Right Thumbstick, Right Thumbstick, B, Left Thumbstick, Left Thumbstick, X, Right Thumbstick, Right Thumbstick, Y | GI John Doe Mode |
| Unlockable | How to Unlock |
|---|---|
| That Wasn’t So Hard (5) | Complete a scene as Bishop’s teammate, Knight, in co-op Story mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Pic des Pyrénées (25) | Complete Pic des Pyrénées in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Old Vegas (25) | Complete Old Vegas in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Recreational Center (25) | Complete Recreational Center in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Convention Center (25) | Complete Convention Center in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Theater (25) | Complete Theater in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Nevada Desert (25) | Complete Nevada Desert in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Completed Estate (25) | Complete Estate in Story Mode at any difficulty. |
| Freedom Shall Prevail (75) | Complete the Story Mode on Realistic difficulty. |
| I Like the Sound it Makes (25) | Kill 150 terrorists with a Shotgun. |
| Weapon Collector (30) | Unlock every weapon in the game. |
| Rappel King (20) | Kill 25 enemies while suspended from a rope. |
| My Name is Sam (25) | Neutralize 5 terrorists in a row by performing headshots using a Sound Suppressor. |
| Gimme a High Five! (10) | Complete 5 scenes as Bishop’s teammate, Knight, in co-op Story mode at any difficulty. |
| Here’s for a Wicked Five! (20) | Complete 10 scenes as Bishop’s teammate, Knight, in co-op Story mode at any difficulty. |
| Novice Hunter (5) | Complete your first Terrorist Hunt mission at any difficulty. |
| Veteran Hunter (20) | Complete 5 Terrorist Hunt missions at any difficulty. |
| Natural Leader (15) | Lead your team to Victory 20 times in Team Leader with at least 6 players present. |
| Extreme Hunter (50) | Complete all Terrorist Hunt missions on Realistic difficulty. |
| Bring it on! (10) | Complete a Terrorist Hunt mission at the hardest difficulty. |
| Pointman (10) | Kill 50 enemies in multiplayer adversarial with at least 6 players present. |
| Triggerman (20) | Kill 150 enemies in multiplayer adversarial with at least 6 players present. |
| Gun Shark (25) | Kill 300 enemies in multiplayer adversarial with at least 6 players present. |
| Eye of the Sniper (30) | Kill 500 enemies in multiplayer adversarial with at least 6 players present. |
| Don’t Mess With Me (45) | Kill 1000 enemies in multiplayer adversarial with at least 6 players present. |
| Ace of Spades (15) | Perform 5 consecutive kills without dying in an adversarial match without respawns |
| The Ace Always Wins (5) | Win your first ranked match online. |
| Double or Nothin’ (10) | Win 2 ranked matches in a row. |
| Three of a Kind (15) | Win 3 consecutive ranked matches in a row. |
| Royal Flush (30) | Win 100 adversarial matches with at least 6 players present. |
| The House Always Wins (15) | Host and win 10 matches with at least 6 players present. |
| My Hero! (10) | Rescue both Hostages 10 times in Attack & Defend with at least 6 players present. |
| Kamikaze (10) | Plant and detonate 10 bombs in Attack & Defend with at least 6 players present. |
| Demo Expert (10) | Defuse 10 bombs in Attack & Defend with at least 6 players present. |
| Covert Ops Specialist (10) | Extract the intel item 10 times with at least 6 players present |
| Cluster Bomb (10) | Kill 3 enemies at once using explosives with at least 6 players present |
| Sidearm Frenzy (25) | Kill 100 enemies using a Pistol with at least 6 players present. |
| Come Closer (20) | Kill 100 enemies using a shotgun with at least 6 players present |
| Spray and Pray (15) | Kill 100 enemies using a Sub-Machine Gun with at least 6 players present. |
| Short Controlled Bursts (15) | Kill 100 enemies using an Assault Rifle with at least 6 players present. |
| One Shot, One Kill (30) | Kill 100 enemies using a Sniper Rifle with at least 6 players present. |
| Machine Gunner (20) | Kill 100 enemies using a Light Machine Gun with at least 6 players present. |
| Private First Class (10) | Achieve the rank of Private First Class. |
| Haute Couture (10) | Create your own custom camouflage. |
| True Identity (20) | Use the Xbox Live Vision to create a character with your appearance. |
| Elite (50) | Achieve the rank of Elite |
| Officer (30) | Achieve the rank of Officer |
