Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

"Almost, but not quite."

With a sequel that hasn't been improved much, it still lives up to most of the expectations you might have. The story is still difficult to follow and comes with a handful of bugs. While that may be disappointing, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 still delivers a fairly solid package.

The game kicks off with a flashback from five years ago, recapping what happened in the first Rainbow Six Vegas. After that's said and done, the game picks up right where it left off. While the story is basically the same as the first one but with closure, it fails to deliver a satisfying ending, which after you'll still be confused as to what exactly is going on. While this keeps the game from being something truely special, it can be easily overlooked.

The gameplay is what really shines in Vegas 2. You'll go from point to point taking cover, shooting guys, controlling your AI teammates, disarming bombs and taking care of hostages. Since this is a tactical shooter, you can't play this like a normal FPS or else you'll get killed fairly quickly. You'll still need to use tactics which will slow down the pace of the game. Since you can't dash around every corner, you'll need to use cover and peek around corners to see what's up ahead.

The slow pace is removed if you decide you go through the game co-op with a friend. If you or your friend dies there will be a ten second respawn, eliminating some of the tactical strategy. The host will also have the two AI teammates by his side. Those can be used as great distractions while you and your friend go flank the enemy. While in co-op, both players can experience all of the cutscenes this time around. With the AI squadmates and respawns it makes the game a whole lot easier, even on realistic.

Since the story isn't the main attraction here, what is? Hands down, it's the shooting. It feels really nice to have you and your teammates clear a room in a matter of seconds before any terrorists know what hit them. Using the cover to protect yourself works really well too. It's really easy to pop up and down to take shots. Some of the cover will not be able stop all of the bullets though, so if you're hiding behind a thin piece of wood you may need to move to something thicker to stay alive.

It's still easy as ever to control your teammates. You'll press the A button to get them to move to a certain location, have them use the rappel, or stack up on a door. It works well and it adds a layer or tactics to the gameplay but you wont have to sit and think about what you'll need to do to clear a room. The controls itself are the same for the most part. The left shoulder button now allows you to sprint, which makes moving from cover to cover more intense. If you're just picking up the game for the first time the controls may be a bit confusing since some of the buttons have different functions depending on if you press or hold it. It all works well and wont take long to get the hang of.

Aside from the main story, there's the multiplayer. The terrorist hunt returns which seems to be a fan favorite, since no other game really has that. Terrorist hunt has you or three other friends running through levels eliminating the terrorists. You can also play the typical deathmatch and objective based scenarios with up to 16 players. There's usually no lag, if you have a good host. The games that have bad hosts and lag never tend to last, so chances are you wont encounter too much of it. When you get into a game, you're matched up with similarly ranked players making for mostly even matches. You'll be able to choose from ranked or player matches. Ranked wont allow any rule changes while the player matches can go all out with setting changes.

Killing people will still nab you experience points, but in better ways this time. Vegas 2 puts a wide experience bar across the bottom of your screen so it's easy to keep track of experience earned. It's worth noting that you'll now be able to earn experience offline in the terrorist hunts and story modes. Along side of earning experience, you'll also earn points in the new A.C.E.S. system. Depending on how you kill your enemy, you'll earn points in one of the three categories: Assault, CQB, and Marksman. Leveling up in A.C.E.S. will unlock different weapons and armor to further customize your character. This new system is an addicting and fun way to unlock items and will have you coming back for more.

Vegas 2 doesn't come without it's flaws. There have been many reported bugs where achievements wont unlock and a lot of online lag. I've had some problem sticking to cover online since the character will jump around sometimes. There also always seems to be some bullet lag. I also experienced instances where gun shot sounds would get stuck and keep playing until I pause the game. Also some gun shots would sound muffled where they shouldn't be or just not make any noise at all. For the most part your teammates AI is pretty smart, but in some cases they got stuck or took ridiculous paths to get to their destination. It would seem Vegas 2 didn't receive any graphical updates, but Vegas still looks pretty in HD.

All these minor setbacks are disappointing but they wont kill the overall experience. While it feels a bit clunky, Vegas 2 is a solid package. It's easy to recommend if you're a fan of these types of games, but hard at the same time since this sort of feels more like an expansion pack than a full on game. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is still a great game with the new A.C.E.S. system, but if you were looking for anything more than what the last game had, you're out of luck.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/08

Game Release: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (US, 03/18/08)