Embracing the Authenticity of Rainbow Six

Published April 7, 2008

The Rainbow Six series has virtually defined the tactical shooter genre since its inception. Its highly regarded tactical authenticity has only grown with each game, making Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas 2 the most realistic offering of all.

Look alive on your left!

Finding success in Vegas 2 requires equal parts logic and first-person shooter skills. Luckily, the following tips should help you fine-tune both.

Slow Down

If ever there was a first-person shooter that rewarded patience, it's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2. It's beneficial to use cover, carefully picking your way through the environment and weighing your options before opening fire, and it's important to slow down even in the midst of combat.

For example, when confronted with an enemy while you're out in the open, don't dash about, strafing and firing simultaneously. Rather, stop, line up your shot, and fire. Any movement while shooting will ruin your accuracy. It may seem counterintuitive to stand still while being fired on, but a calm and steady approach will win out most of the time.

Points of Entry

Storming a room filled with terrorists is hard enough on its own, but when they're holding hostages you must consider all your available options before engaging. Look first for multiple points of entry. Whether it's two doors, a door and a window or even a door and a skylight, you'll tip the odds further in your favor by breaching the room from separate points of entry, with your team on one side and you on the other, catching the terrorists in the cross fire.

3, 2, 1, shoot!

Smoke and Thermal

Don't settle for using your smoke grenades only to conceal your location, but rather use them as an offensive tool. Throw smoke between you and a group of enemies, and then activate your thermal vision. Provided the enemies are within range, you should see them clear as day and be able to pick them off with ease.

Breach Kills

While breaching charges are used primarily to bust open locked doors, they also cause enough damage to eliminate any enemies standing near the doorway upon detonation. Take your time to watch the movements of the terrorists with your snake cam, backing out of the view and giving the order to breach and clear only when you know it will cause the most damage.

Order Awareness

Be careful to keep track of orders to your teammates, recognizing most of all that any time you order them to clear a room, they are at a standstill until given further instruction. Often, players will continue on in the level after clearing an area, unaware that their teammates are still far behind. Always tap down on the D-pad after battle to order your teammates to follow you.

Likewise, try keeping your team's standard order on Infiltrate before firefights and then toggling (Back button) them to Assault only after you've initiated combat. This should help ensure your A.I. squadmates don't fire on the enemy before you're ready.

He can't shield both sides.

Context with Caution

The use of rappelling ropes, fast ropes, ladders and other context sensitive actions are all useful when used correctly, but keep in mind too just how vulnerable you are when executing these actions. This is particularly true in multiplayer matches where climbing up a wall on a rappelling rope can leave you completely exposed for several seconds. Use them, sure, but only when you're reasonably certain of safety.

Shoot When Ready

It's so easy to unnecessarily complicate matters by shooting at an enemy before you're good and ready to squeeze off an accurate shot. This is particularly true in multiplayer matches. If you spot an enemy you're certain hasn't spotted you, don't whip your reticle around and open fire right away. Instead, take the time to line up your shot, follow them if you have to, and pull the trigger only when you're confident of your aim.

Exit/Entrance Awareness

Any time you find yourself settling behind cover, pay extra careful attention to all the entrances, exits and lines of sight that an enemy could use to spot you without you ever knowing. Deaths in multiplayer come more often than not from unseen gunfire rather than from an opponent who simply outduels you in a fair fight.

With the preceding tips, a bit of patience and some good old fashioned determination, every hour you put into Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 should find you more skilled than when you started.

Article by Ryan Treit