Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - Online Update

Well, I figured that the online was messed up for at least that night (would be weird to have me be the ONLY person playing on Live at that time,) so I gave it another shot.

And, as I suspected, the lag was still there. It wasn't as bad for SOME games, but others it was a few minutes before everything settled enough to where I could play. The dots, still, don't mean much before you go into a game.

And, there are plenty of pricks who host games. About 4 or 5 games, I was kicked within the first couple of minutes (one game, I was kicked before it had shown I connected on my screen.) That just really brings down the experience when people can not give anyone a chance. Later, one of the people who had kicked me, invited me to their game (I guess too many people bailed), but I found out that those same people would kick anyone who pissed them off enough... glad I was on their team.

But, needless to say, it was still fun. A couple of matches of conquest, I was holding at least a 4:1 Kill-Death ratio (one of them, I went 9-0.) The online is nowhere near the stability of Vegas 1's online, but it is a definite start.

And, just as a note to any of you who want to reach Elite without any cheating, total conquest can do it (400 XP to the team who completes the uplink + xp from kills, and lives are set to "unlimited).

Achievement Progress - Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
20 of 47 Achievements
490 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Pointman - 10 GS
Short Controlled Bursts - 15 GS
Triggerman - 20 GS

Time for an update

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been a little short on cash, so I haven't gotten any new games to play, or made much progress on Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP. On a positive note, I should be getting my next game (Lost Odyssey, so the review will be a long while) sometime next week.

So, I went back to try to get to the 1050 GS for Mass Effect (since Bring Down the Sky raised the max GS to 1050). I only had about 6 achievements left. Unfortunately, I wasn't playing the last character on the right difficulty, so I still have 2 more to get. This time, I am doing a blitz through the campaign, skipping as many side quests as possible to get this, and then replaying the character the same way on the toughest difficulty. Hopefully, that will net the results I want. And, at least I can make a couple choices I never made (like saving the Council...god I hope I didn't spoil it for anyone.)

And, within the past week, Ubisoft released a patch for Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. I was excited, because that is another 85 GS to add, which brings me closer to the 10,000 mark. My PFC achievement was unlocked as soon as my profile was loaded. Unfortunately, the "Freedom Shall Prevail" achievement wasn't right away. But a quick play through of a level on the story got it for me. I also noticed how the power leveling spot in Pic des Pyrenees was fixed, so at least anyone who reaches elite now will be able to say they did it without (as much) cheating.

Too bad, multi-player is still shot. Yea, but this time its worse (at least for me.) Tonight, after I got my other achievements, I decided to give Versus one more try, to see if the lag issues got fixed. Now, I don't know what is going on over at Ubisoft regarding this game; but apparently I was the only one playing. I kept getting an error message, basically saying the search failed. After many attempts, and checking T-hunt and Co-op story, I came to the conclusion that I would have rather dealt with the horrible lag.

One more note before I list the achievements I got recently; my friends want to borrow my blog to review 3 Uwe Boll movies. I don't see why not, considering that the movies will be based on games (...loosely at least ;p ) But if anyone has a reason for me to not do it, leave a comment.

Achievements:
Mass Effect
Neural Shock Specialist - 15 GS
Turian Ally - 20 GS
Asari Ally - 20 GS
AI Hacking Specialist - 15 GS

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Private First Class - 10 GS
Freedom Shall Prevail - 75 GS

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - Final Thoughts

Sorry about the delay, but I wanted to give the game a couple more chances to wow me.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like this game, it was really hard to sometimes. While it was nice to get the early XP boost from playing Vegas 1, a glitch stopped me from getting an achievement because I skipped private first class.

But, onto the story (I will vent later.) It starts out 5 years before the Vegas happenings in France. Bishop (the custom character that you are, so YOU can be the hero in this one), and his partner Knight (if you have a friend... everyone laugh at the chess reference... ok,) are brought in to lead Bravo team (with Gabriel and Logan as your team mates.) After a couple of mishaps, the "flashback" ends, and you are brought back to the day that Gabe and Kan are taken while Logan is tracking Irena.

You (Bishop), don't get to get the casino treatment that Logan gets though. No, you get to run on roofs with snipers, through malls and schools, and even by yourself in some oil fields. Nothing screams Vegas like Nevada oil fields... that's the life. Though, after you are done in the oil fields (and are double crossed by an NSA agent...who gives a kinda Sam Fisher vibe,) you make one final push toward Gabe's house.

Most of the new weapons are good additions. I love using the L8A52, along with the 500 tactical, the Type 05, and the SR-25. But, I am a fan of silence. The guns all have the chance to penetrate, it just depends on the weapon. Though, for some reason, shotguns work really well blasting people through concrete...

I did like the addition of ACES. It is the new way to unlock weapons. Instead of requiring ranking up to get weapons (like in Vegas 1), you can now unlock weapons just by killing enemies in certain ways. And, in addition to that, you can rank up through single player now too. Makes it nicer since ranking is cosmetic. And....that it doesn't matter as much if you made it to elite (especially with the glitches that are in the game.)

Terrorist hunt can be very fun, especially with friends. Makes it more competitive to just get a few kills...and not be the last one standing. And, its set to 2 lives, and if everyone dies (regardless of how many lives are left,) its game over.

As for versus... I don't know what to say. I tried very hard to get decent games. But the dots mean nothing anymore... at least until a patch comes out. I would have 3 green, and a crappy connection. I would have 2 yellows, and a crappy connection. I would have 1 red, and not be surpried with a crappy connection. And I know it isn't my internet, because Call of Duty 4, R6V1, Halo 3: all of them I can play with little to no lag at all.

All in all, I have to say that the game isn't that bad. At this time, $60 is too much for what you get. People saying Vegas 2 is more like Vegas 1.5 is partially right. The only thing that really screams "sequel" is the story. The only problem with saying its Vegas 1.5 is that there wouldn't be the online problem that it has, or the achievement problems. Yes, playing through the story on realistic twice, I still haven't gotten the achievement for it (and the achievement problems are happening to everyone.) Right now, until the problems are fixed, I give this a rental at most. I can't see paying as much for the game, when its not even fixed at launch. Though, if it gets fixed right, I could see giving it a buy.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - Day 5

I'm not quite ready to put up my final thoughts yet. I have wanted to like this game so much, but its becoming harder and harder.

Apparently, I am not the only one who hasn't gotten the achievement for playing the story on realistic. Once again, the achievements are glitched out. I have no clue about the "Rappel King" achievement, since it doesn't say whether it is a multiplayer or single player achievement.

I at least have unlocked all the weapons. Though, I still love to use the 552 commando (which you have at the beginning of the game.) The shield was overrated, but at least I can see why it is unlocked much later. And, at least you don't have to rank up to get the weapons (which was a downside to R6V1.)

I hear people complain about the story, and the maps. I liked the story honestly. Yes, it needs more "Vegas," because only one casino was visited in Vegas 2, but you hit 3 in Vegas 1. The least they could have done is have the Rainbow team storm through an empty strip club, or something else that might be found in Vegas.

The maps aren't that bad honestly. They are trying to capitalize on weapons being able to shoot through cover. Though, would be nice to have the shotgun not really penetrate at all, unless you are right next to it. But, that would be in a perfect game.

And, just a final note: multiplayer is still broken as hell. I really wish this would have been worked out earlier.

Final thoughts in the works, just give me some time

Achievement Progress - Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
15 of 47 Achievements
360 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Weapon Collector - 30 GS