Key events
28th June 2016
18th March 2008
14th March 2008
13th March 2008
12th March 2008
11th March 2008
20th December 2007
July Xbox Games with Gold titles announced
The Banner Saga 2! Tumblestone! Tron! More!
Microsoft's announced July's Xbox Games with Gold titles.
On Xbox One, Xbox Live Gold members can download the superb strategy game The Banner Saga 2 for free during July.
Competitive multiplayer puzzle game Tumblestone is free from 16th July to 15th August.
Rainbow Six: Patriots revealed by registrations
Said to be set for a November announcement.
Ubisoft registrations look to have revealed the name of the next game in the Rainbow Six series.
New Rainbow Six adds morality - report
Players asked to make difficult choices.
The new Rainbow Six game thought to be in development at Ubisoft will feature a complex morality system that asks players to think carefully about the consequences of their actions.
New Rainbow Six incoming - report
Back-to-basics gameplay promised.
A new entry in Ubisoft's Rainbow Six franchise is on its way that will see the series return to its strategic roots, according to a Kotaku tipster.
New Rainbow Six title in the works?
Developer CV, Ubi URL raise suspicions.
A new entry in the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six tactical FPS series is incoming, according to a developer résumé.
Two new Clancy games already in dev
Ubisoft brand man opens gob.
Ubisoft has apparently already begun working on a further two Tom Clancy games.
Ubisoft looking into Vegas 2 PC error
Each crash eating a gigabyte of space.
Ubisoft has told Eurogamer it will look into claims that Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has a rather serious hard drive-consuming bug on PC.
Ubisoft wants your Vegas 2 bug reports
Of problems with online multiplayer.
Ubisoft is after your bug feedback for PS3 and 360 versions of Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
Get a free Rainbow Six Vegas 2 map
US cable company promoting itself.
US cable television company Comcast has struck a deal with Ubisoft to offer you a fresh Rainbow Six Vegas 2 map on 360 and PS3.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Royale with cheese.
I'll bring this up again since everyone seems to have forgotten: Ubisoft used to call these games "standalone expansion packs". Everyone knew where they stood. What you were getting was more of the same; new levels built on the same tech with the exact same gameplay, and, as a result, a price tag of less than twenty quid. Take Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, and Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike - great examples of fan service, and we gave both 8/10. Had they been full-price, we might have been grumpier about what were blatant retreads, albeit quality ones. It's all about context.
But since the so-called next generation rolled into town, that approach has been replaced with near-annual updates dressed up as full sequels. GRAW 2 just about got away with it last year, mainly because it was a far more polished offering than the unfinished original and everything it should have been in the first place. Rainbow Six Vegas, though, got most things right first time. More of the same is just...well, going over old ground.
Lasting just seven 'acts' (over 25 scenes each lasting about 10-15 minutes), the single-player campaign is woefully short-lived. Putting the game on at 10am on a leisurely Sunday morning, I'd finished the whole thing before my belly started rumbling for an evening meal - and that's factoring in numerous breaks for snacks, IM chats and idle net-browsing. Your mileage will vary related to difficulty level and your ability to nail terrorists, but the ongoing trend for shorter single-player experiences in blockbuster releases is blatantly in evidence here, with six hours likely to be the average first run-through for most.
No place for "really hardcore shooters" - R6 Vegas 2 developer
And there won't be a Vegas 2 demo, sadly.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 game designer Phil Therien reckons Ubisoft will steer clear of "really hardcore only shooters" because "the market was too narrow for it to be a viable business choice".
See what Game Designer Philippe Therien had to say.
A%
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 thermal vision trailer
"Kill a visually impaired opponent."
Today we want to tell you about thermal vision. Note, this is not to be confused with thermal scanning that we told you about yesterday. Or to be confused with thermal underpants. We see thermal vision rather a lot in war games, where your enemies show up as heat signals so you can see them in low visibility areas. Watch our skilled Rainbow Six Vegas 2 killer demonstrate this in an exclusive Thermal Vision Trailer on Eurogamer TV.
Of course, there's more to it than running around like Predator all day long. "There are two key ways to use thermal vision goggles," product manager Carl Caldareri instructs us. "In conjunction with a smoke grenade attack on enemies, or as a defence tool against enemy smoke screens."
"You can shoot at fire extinguishers found in the environment to create smoke diversions. Your enemies will not be able to see anything through the cloud of smoke, so using thermal vision will give you the tactical advantage," we're promised.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 thermal scan trailer
That's right, we're watching you.
The problem with baddies is that smoke and doors and all the other things David Copperfield uses makes them hard to see. And if they have guns, that is bad. Thank goodness, then, that Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has given you a fancy new tool to combat this.
It's a thermal scan from your best friend the intelligence officer, and is displayed in the mini-map in the top right of your screen. Enemies show up as red dots, or pink if they're a level above, and you can see all this in action in our exclusive Thermal Scan Eurogamer TV trailer.
"A thermal scan can be used as an alternative to other gadgets such as the snake cam and thermal vision goggles," game designer Phillipe Therien reminds us. "You can use it to see what's in the next room, or if enemies are hiding in a cloud of smoke or dust." Those sneaky bastards.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 silencer trailer
She's making too much noise.
Silencers are brilliant; you're not a professional killer until you have one, as everyone knows. They make that lovely little sound too. We asked around the office and "zzp", "thwp", and "chk" were our best silencer impersonations. No vowels. Too noisy.
These crafty little screw-on attachments are very handy in Rainbow Six Vegas 2. It makes sense that taking on a building full of hostile targets becomes much easier when you can catch them off guard by using a stealthy approach rather than a crash, bang, and wallop one. This is expertly demonstrated in our exclusive Silencer Gameplay Eurogamer TV trailer.
According to game designer Steven Masters, "The silencer is one of the most important gun attachments in the game.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 night vision trailer
EGTV Exclusive: Sexy alternative to carrots.
Sniping, eh? We've all done it. Well, virtually none us have done it, but if we had then we would have wanted night vision goggles, because then we could have done it after work in the dark rather than having to try and fit it in at lunchtime. Night vision is back in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and you can see why it's so influential in our exclusive Night Vision Eurogamer TV trailer - one of the key reasons being that you can combine it with a rifle scope.
Lead multiplayer game designer JP Cambiotti tells us that night vision goggles, returning from Vegas 1, "remain a really important gadget in many areas". "You will have plenty of opportunities to use night vision," Cambiotti explains, "specifically in the Nevada desert where night time means everything is pitch black and there are many long lines of sight to cover.
"You can keep your night vision on throughout most of the map, or use it when you get to certain spots that require you to see more details or enemies that you could not see without them. The ability to see well at night also allows you to play through the map in a more stealth manner." And save money on lightbulbs.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 PC in April
Firm date from Ubisoft.
PC gamers will have to wait until 17th April to get their hands on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for the PC, Ubisoft has confirmed to Eurogamer.
R6 Vegas 2 designer LiveText today!
Facing your questions at 4pm GMT.
Eurogamer and Ubisoft are happy to announce that Philippe Therien, lead designer on Rainbow Six Vegas 2, will be the next developer to face your questions in a LiveText Interview.
Frag Dolls to attempt Vegas 2 record
Will play for 24 hours at i33.
Not content with getting them to write a blog and talk to the press sometimes, Ubisoft is now getting the Frag Dolls to attempt a 24-hour Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 multiplayer marathon on Xbox Live.
"We will never go back to Vegas".
Ubisoft's Rainbow Six series will be finished with Vegas as a location once the team completes work on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Hat-trick for violet.
There's a twisted little corner, somewhere in our tarnished souls, that harbours a smouldering and undying bitterness about the fact that Tom Clancy has his name splashed over so many fine games. For a man whose talent is the ability to recite mind-blowingly dull technical information about military equipment with all the narrative skill of a drunken Dan Brown telling bedtime stories to a sedated chimpanzee, having his name on Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six really isn't bad going. After all, when we try going off on ten-minute monologues about attack helicopters, our mates tell us to shut up. Perhaps Tom Clancy doesn't have very many mates.
Middle of March.
Tom Clancy's latest royalty cheque is due to start counting upward on 21st March, according to Ubisoft's latest release schedule.
Plus shots, trailer.
Almost exactly a month after we first heard about it (it's as if they have some sort of schedule), Ubisoft has popped up with more details of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Did you know it has 13 new multiplayer maps? You do now. Unless you're not paying attention.
Due out in March on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, Vegas 2 also adds two new adversarial multiplayer modes, more rewards and improved matchmaking to its online elements. Integration with single-player sounds better too - your customised character can be used across both elements, with progress following you too, and the single-player game has been designed "with co-op in mind", allowing for drop-in co-op, and with multiple entry points for each level, none of which should distort the game's story.
That concerns "the last chance for gamers to rescue America's sexiest city from an escalating terrorist siege", according to Ubisoft, and the terrorists have been hitting the books (probably Clancy's) since game 1, bringing in thermal and night vision equipment, shields, and more tactical nouse. But then you have 11 new weapons to choose from, new camo, clothing and gear, so you should be a match.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Hit me.
Hit me.
Out next March.
Ubisoft has whipped the wrappers off of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, the next and sixth instalment in its tactical shooting series.
