Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

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If you liked the first game, you'll definitely like the second. The core premise of the R6 Vegas games is relatively short, but white-hot gunfights in various locations. These can take place in large, open areas with lots of running; or strategic, carefully planned room takedowns where you have to worry about hostages. The AI is generally smart (and improved over the last game) and will flank you, or try to hide in dark corners. They will pop smoke grenades, use covering fire techniques, "leapfrog", and generally try to use wits as much as firepower. The locations of the game are also varied. You might have to sneak around a huge refinery, or you might have to escape a skyscraper before it blows up. It is a carefully plotted game, and very exciting, much like an action movie.

The frame-rate is very smooth, there are more levels in single-player, and the variety present in the online modes is astounding. The graphics probably won't blow you away, but this game is more about tactical choices than it is about eye-candy. The sound-effects are also top-notch, with guns and grenades actually sounding very realistic.

One interesting addition over the last game is the ability to customize your character for single-player and multi-player. There is a wide variety of faces (males and female), armor, camo patterns, and assorted gear. If you have a webcam or Eye Toy, you can put your own face on the character (it's creepily realistic). Experience points, used to unlock gear and guns, is accumulated over both single-player and multi-player modes, so you won't feel like a "noob" when you enter an online match after completing the story mode.

One warning: As of 3/21/08, the online modes are having a little trouble. This is a server overload issue, not a problem with the game. It will probably be cleared up within the coming weeks.

If you like challenging, tactical shooters, you will no doubt like this game. It's not run-and-gun like Halo, and it is definitely a very hard game (two shots and you're dead, and the bad guys are very accurate!) There are also a few minor bugs here and there, but definitely nothing game-breaking. While the graphics could have used a little more polish, and Ubisoft could have anticipated the demand for online play a little better, it's still a solid release, and might even take Call of Duty 4 out of your disc drive.

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The problem that "Rainbow Six: Vegas 2" faces is that it is faced again with reinventing the wheel. First person shooters are the staple of the current generation of consoles in much the same way as driving games were for the last generation. Moreover, last year's hugely successful "Call Of Duty" iteration raised the bar for what gamers should expect from the conventional FPS. "RS:V2" delivers polished shooting action, throwing in the requisite online modes, but without really blowing the hinges off what we would expect from a FPS in 2008.

The new "Rainbow Six" generally sticks to the formula established by Ubisoft Montreal in the first outing. The squad-based Special Ops action will feel very familiar to anyone that has played that game or its stablemate "Ghost Recon" games. Graphically and sonically the sequel matches the first game, although additions such as a cover system and experience levelling set-up (where you gain points for different aspects of fighting) are welcome additions.

Although based in Sin City, the game often accents on the mundane warehouses and leisure complexes of Las Vegas, rather than vulgar casinos and the like. This is my first complaint about the game: it seems rather samey, and at least in the PlayStation 3 version, the backgrounds can seem a little sparse: grey abandoned warehouse segues to nondescript hotel complex, and so on, without there being anything really to capture the eye or the imagination. The game does not feel as cinematic, as much of an "event" as "CoD4". Similarly, the mundanity often stretches to your direction of the AI squad members: move to the closed door, open it, clear the room and then repeat. There is no real incentive to lead the charge from the front, especially as you often earn experience points from the squad's action.

The squad AI can often be irritating, too. For instance, it is not uncommon for one of your "buddies" to block your line of fire, or stand in the middle of the war zone just waiting to be shot: often the squad will not respond to orders very quickly, either. I have also noticed that there is quite marked slowdown in some sections of the PS3 version of the game, which is pretty unforgivable in a current generation game and from a top developer such as Ubisoft, to boot.

On the plus side, "RS:V2" does provide plentiful reasons for immersion in the later stages of the game thanks to the experience levelling system: there seems to be some form of progression from playing through the game at point when you would otherwise feel ready to hang up your MP5 for the night. The online "Terrorist Hunt" mode, where you co-operate with other players online is a good idea, although I have often encountered connection problems trying to access this.

An overall assessment of the new "Rainbow Six" would be that it is a good enough game, which offers plenty of challenge. However, judged by the impressive yardstick of "CoD4" and the deluge of up-and-coming releases for the PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360, the game is not really individual or exceptional enough to warrant more than an extended rental play.

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to start: this game took a while to load. It might have seemed even longer to me, because when I got it on the 24th of March PSN also released a Systems Update. So I had to wait for that to download/install. I started the game. RB6V2 had a patch (1.10). So I had to wait for that to download/install (this one was short). After that the game had to install itself. This took about as long as the Sys Update. It was just kind of ironic since I was anxious to get started.

RB6V2 is a good sequel. I had tried out the first, and it was just ok. The sequel is more enjoyable in my opinion. The ranking system and the new ACES system that allows for you to gain XP and weapons based on your style of play is a nice / welcome touch.

Within a couple of levels I noticed my "Marksman" and "CQB" XP rose very quickly as opposed to my "Assault" XP. So it depends on your personal style of play. Tag a headshot on a guy through a window while repelling will earn you points toward Marksman, while chucking a grenade into a room will get you well on your way towards the next Assault tier. And every other level rewards you with another weapon; while the Ranking system (total XP) seems to be more geared towards personalizing your character.

I especially liked this feature, and am looking forward to unlocking some features later in the game. Just remember that while outfitting your character, certain camo-styles are NOT appropriate for all terrain/situations!

(Kinda like Corky Romano, Brick: "Nice tie." Corky: "Thanks!" Brick: "It should give some lucky sniper a nice target to aim for.")

I also like how you can play through Single-Player (or Co-Op) to gain XP, which can be used Online as well. CoD4 had a similar system, but XP was only gained for ranks, and could only be gained online.

Heh... speaking of which, unfortunately it took me a second or two to get used to the controls after playing CoD4, the L1 is now "Cover" as opposed to the Weapon Scope, which is R3. Made for a couple "interesting" firefights when I first started.

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While the first installment of Rainbow Six Vegas flew under the radar the first few months it was out, the sequel has been eagerly anticipated by the large group of enthusiasts who swear by this franchise. Well here it is. This is not your average sequel! The folks at Ubisoft Montreal knew they had a good thing, and merely improved the game where they deemed fitting, and left alone what worked. New to this game is an experience system that encompasses EVERY game mode this time around, rather than just online multi player. A useful 'sprint' command has been added to the game, which allows you to run faster in short bursts. The graphics are very similar to the first game, just a bit more crisp and refined. This game also still can boast the most realistic weapon physics of ANY fps out to date. Even if you have never played a Rainbow Six game before, RSV2 is a perfect place to start. You will not be disappointed. Enjoy!

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First off, I will say that I am not a fan of games where you simply run around and shoot things. Granted, some days you just need to do that in a video game, but for long-term fun it just simply does not occur. I am more of a fan of strategic games and absolutely loved the "Rogue Spear" title way back in the day ("Rogue Spear" is a mix of first-person shooter and strategic planning for multiple teams). Knowing little about what the Rainbow 6 franchise moved to, I purchased this title thinking it would be more like "Rogue Spear". Unfortunately, it was not.

Now, that's not to say that I hated this game. The storyline was quite interesting overall and there is clearly an effort to tie it in with a general Rainbow Six master storyline. When playing, it does move towards being a "run around and shoot stuff" game, but it keeps some strategic elements to it that I hoped for. For example, you have two assisting Rainbow Six swat officers that you can command around, such as sending them to clear a room, throw grenades, or hold position while you survey the area. This is a "bottom-up" strategic approach, which is better than nothing in my mind, but I really hoped for a more "top-down" strategic approach. The AI seems a little dumb... you can shoot terrorists by firing off a gun repeatedly, yet their buddies a level up seem to only think that "something might be up." It's a step-up from older games where you could shoot one terrorist and his pal would continue smoking a cigarette over the dead body, but it's still a little peculiar.

Overall, if this had been only a game where you shot things, I would have given it 2 stars. I gave it one more star for a creative story and another star for the "bottom-up" strategic planning. It's certainly not the best game I've ever played, but it was not a total waste. At the very least, the multiplayer/terrorist hunt element can provide some entertainment.