Rainbow Six Vegas is in the top five of my favorite all time shooters.  I played the hell out of it from the day it came out, until the Call of Duty 4 beta, when Infinity Ward rocked my face off.  When Rainbow Six Vegs 2 was released, I snatched it up right away and was immediately disappointed.

While Vegas 2 did have two great features, the persistent ACES system and the sprint button, the game left me cold. Vegas 2 was such a dissapointment to me personally because the single player was so bland and new multiplayer maps added to Vegas 2 were terrible.  The Villa update was a mess, Convention center was just not fun, the Vegas Junkyard sucked. Three Kingdoms Casino was claustrophobic and left me wanting Calypso.

Did Ubisoft fix all of the multiplayer problems with the upcoming Fan Pack coming out this month?

Multiplayer fun, with all things being equal, is determined by the map people are playing. This is evident in Call of Duty 4, Battlefield: BC, Halo 3 and any other hardcore multiplayer shooter.  Vegas one and Vegas two were no different.  The best part about Vegas were the great multiplayer maps, from Calypso to the Streets or Border town levels at night, the Casino Vault or Doscala Restaurant, these maps were versatile, fun and felt like a real place.

With the upcoming “Fan Pack” coming out this month, there will be three additional maps including Murdertown and CQB training, both of which were remade to take place at night, an old favorite returns…

Calypso Casino. Aw Hell Yeah.

And, it’s free.  Yup.  Free.

Honestly, 80% of my multiplayer ass kicking in R6V was done while playing Attack and Defend in Calypso.  That level had so much to offer, from the Vault assault to the rooftop defense, the three levels of that map offered different challenges during each and every match, which made it so much fun.

Ultimately, adding Calypso would be enough for me, but Ubisoft has added a bunch of pretty neat features to the update as well, including:

New Ranks. Unlock new ranks beyond the rank of Elite. XP players have already accumulated as Elite will be applied toward the new ranks.

More A.C.E.S. While Adding New Ranks. The A.C.E.S. will be extended to 100 for each of these three categories: Marksman, CQB and Assault. Each A.C.E.S. level earned contains a substantial XP reward. Points that players have already accumulated in each of the categories will be applied toward the new A.C.E.S. levels.

Grenade Indicator. While inside the damage radius of a frag or incendiary grenade, a grenade indicator icon is displayed on the screen.

The update will also add a new multiplayer game type: the High Stakes Setting. According to IGN, this setting will add hardcore settings such as:

Limited HUD

• No radar
• Enemies not visible on tactical map
• Grenade indicator is disabled

Health System

• Health regeneration is disabled
• Altered post-process effects of being in a critical health stateTake Cover
• Camera view has changed so that players must be exposed in order to see around a corner

Weapons & Gadgets

• Aim assistance is completely disabled, requiring players to be more precise
• Bullet spread is increased when not zoomed in
• Less ammunition

Kill Camera is always disabled.

Finally, they’ve added a bunch of weapon balancing stuff, including:

Weapons and Gadgets Balancing. There are a number of changes to the weapons and gadgets settings in this new package, including:

• Explosion delay of the incendiary grenade has been increased
• Detonation speed of the C4 has been slightly increased
• Increased the damage of Sniper Rifles at long range
• Increased the base accuracy of the Light Machine Guns
• Adjusted the rate of fire for some of the Assault


Rifles, Shotguns and an SMG


• Sped up the time it takes to zoom in and out with weapons, making it more responsive

In all, I’ve got to say that I’m intrigued.  These updates could go along way toward pulling me away from Battlefield: Bad Company… Even if it is just to play Attack and Defend on Calypso.

Did I mention that it’s free?  FREE!

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