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Since Ubisoft likes to throw up parties lately (like the one for their Far Cry 2 shooter), the inquisitive guys from Jeuxvideo.com have thought it would be better to put the fragging away and discuss some Rainbow Six Vegas 2 details with the company's representatives.

The Jeuxvideo.com team interviewed Philippe Therien, game designer for RS Vegas 2, who was present at the LAN party Ubisoft organized in Paris at the beginning of this week.

Since the interview and the video are in French, I'll try an approximate translation (bear with me please, I'm no French native, I just speak the damn language...).

Philippe Therien: "There are lots of new things [coming] in Vegas 2, so it's extremely important to underline that if our game comes out early, it's because our 3D engine, Unreal 3, is stable. It's because of that that we were able to concentrate on the new functionalities of the title, making full use of the time allocated for production. So what is really new? First of all, the co-op mode is much better than the one in the first [Vegas title]. There is a "join in progress" mode [where the players can join a session which has already started]. The PEC system (Persistent Elite Creation) is still present all the way through the game. No matter if you play it on single or multiplayer, connected to the Internet or not, this always functions. It's a great improvement. Moreover, if you interrupt a game-session, you still get to keep what you've accumulated until that moment.

Another new feature: the ACES system (for Advanced Combat Enhancement Specialization), which is included in both the single and the multiplayer components. It's a device based on the individual's personal gaming-style and which also stimulates him/her. Certain actions that the player accomplishes are rewarded with points, which the player can later use for buying new weapons. There are three main ACES categories: Close Quarter, Marksmanship et Assault. For example, in Marksmanship, the actions rewarded with points are related to elite shooting, to sniping, in short anything that has to do with precision shots, like the headshots. By winning points in this [Marksmanship] mode, [the player] will be able to unlock certain types of snipers and assault weapons. The system has been designed to allow the unlocking of weapons that are intimately tied to the player's fighting-style. It's a cool and highly-evolved system.

In addition to that we've added new multiplayer modes, we've done a tremendous work for the history [part] and we've also brought modifications to the AI. We've added lots of new functions/behaviors for the AI. For example, your teammates will protect themselves from now on when they change cover, while your adversaries will change location if their cover proves no longer safe. At this stage it is important to mention that if your enemies start noticing cracks in the floor, it's because we've included destructible environments and material penetration in the game. The bullets can now penetrate walls and objects. We've also added a small sprint when it comes to changing covers and, finally, we've endowed your teammates with the capacity to throw grenades.

The reason for which this new [Vegas spin-off] is still in Vegas is simple. The story wasn't complete. If you've played the first [Vegas] title, you remember that the end of that game was quite blurry. The helicopter seemed damaged, but it wasn't that clear. We've created Vegas 2 so that it starts even before the events in Rainbow Six: Vegas 1. [The player] thus begins to know more about the events that take place there. Moreover, we've created a parallel [between Vegas 1 and Vegas 2] in order to reveal what happens in Vegas while Logan is in Mexico. And finally, we've added a sort of a twist [to the events], [temporally] situated after the end of Vegas 1, in order to put an end to this story. So there's not going to be a third episode of the Rainbow Six franchise in Vegas!

We have two new exciting multiplayer modes. The first one is Team Leader. It's a mode which randomly selects a team leader in each of the [confronting] teams. The leader allows the team members to respawn [while he is alive], so it's vital that the team-leader is protected by the team-members. To win you need to either safely conduct the team-leader to the extraction point or to completely annihilate the other team. So because the leader is the one that allows for respawns, he's the one at the center of the game. It's important to eliminate the other team's leader while at the same time protecting your own.

The other small addition that makes this mode exciting is the fact that team leaders can see each other on the HUD. So communication is extremely important in this multiplayer mode. If gamers/ team members talk to each other effectively, they can accomplish really great things. What is really cool about this mode is the multitude of ways that you can play. You can either ambush your enemies at the extraction point or hide your leader hoping to benefit as long as possible from more respawns, you can go [after the others] alone or organize distractions... There are so many ways to play this that it's really super-exciting.

The other multiplayer mode is the Demolition. It's a variation of our attack/defense mode, for which we've taken inspiration from Counter Strike. A team member gets the bomb at the beginning of the game. The bomb has to be placed at one of the two pre-defined locations. Once the bomb is in place, its position [on the map] becomes visible to all players. This is what can dramatically change the dynamics of a level. Otherwise, just like in CS, once the bomb is planted, a timer is displayed on the screen and of course the purpose for the first team is to protect its location, while for the other team is to try to diffuse it as soon as possible, before the timer reaches 0. This mode has plenty of variations. It's a part of the 'homework' we had to do when we created the new gameplay modes. We wanted to build modes where the gameplay experience changes a lot while you're getting into [the game]. We think it's a target that we have reached with these two modes.

The one thing that we're really very proud of is the fact that the co-op, the multiplayer and the single player are deeply intertwined and that we have a system where you can gain experience, unlock new weapons and win ACES points in all these gaming-modes. The title proposes a very coherent ensemble that has no limitation whatsoever. We've pushed forward what we did in Vegas 1 even more. It's really exciting."

Ok, that was the translation. Now for the fun part: a video containing some multiplayer, besides what you've already seen at Jeuxvideo.com. Enjoy!