Let me start off by saying that I would have had this Rainbow Six Vegas 2 review up sooner if I wasn’t playing so many hours of the game. RSV2 picks up where the first game left off and builds on a winning formula by polishing up gameplay elements and making the experience more full. RSV2 gives you both an engrossing off-line and on-line experience that it tries hard to mix together in order to keep gamers interested.

Presentation & Graphics: The graphics on RSV2 are great; explosions, flashbangs and blood spatter all look realistic. There are some funny physics at times when you shoot enemies and they go flying, but nothing that won’t just make you laugh. Level designs are great, providing cover where appropriate and really emphasizing the theme of the particular map. One of my favorite maps is the convention center where you can fight among the different convention booths and boxes, which makes it feel like a real convention. 9 of 10

Sound & Music: Sound in the game is great, with the booms and even ear ringing from a flash bang being great touches. The random chatter of terrorists is hilarious at times, when you aren’t shooting them in the face. Terrorists often yell at each other to shoot you in the head or fight amongst themselves as to who should pop put first and attack. The music of the levels add to the feeling and mood. Nothing beats when the music changes in story mode and you know the shit is about to hit the fan. 9 of 10

Gameplay: Gameplay in Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 follows its predecessor closely, which is a good thing. Same cover mechanics are in play where you need to grab some cover or consider yourself terrorist target practice. Tactical elements like the snake cam are back and clearing out rooms still is in play. You carry two gadgets, a primary and secondary weapon as well as a handgun.

Brand new to this version is the new ability to make your character sprint, so if you gotta get out of dodge in a hurry just press a button and run like hell. This helps in situations that you are reloading or just need to get across the map quickly. It does change the tempo of the game and speeds things up nicely.

Also new to the game is that all of your achievements and experience is uniform and transferred from offline to your online character. The character you create is used in all modes of the game and all experience, kills and achievements are also carried over to all modes of play. This is nice in that you can build up your character offline or play through the story and then go online with the same character that has now earned some guns and different armors.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 offers a ton of weapons in different categories that you need to unlock by increasing your overall rank, as well as armors and customizable clothing for your character. As you perform different types of kills you can also raise your A.C.E.S., which are specific categories like close quarter combat, marksman skills and assault. You can build these up and unlock special types of weapons by getting specific kills like headshots, grenade kills, rope kills, etc. This adds to the fun of the game as you not only build up your level but your skills as well.

The story mode is not rich in plot but definitely rich in gameplay. You can set up an online story mode and play with another person through the entire campaign. One great thing is that players drop in and out of your story game and not disrupt or disconnect your game. If you are the host you control two agents that you give orders to while the other person just follows you around and gets no agents.

The only downfall to the gameplay in RSV2 is the occasional AI wonkiness. For the most part the two computer AI characters that you control are vicious killers that really help, but every once in a while they decide to take a break and wander off leaving you to be punished by terrorists. Luckily this does not happen often, but typically you will see this occur when you rappel down the side of a building and don’t send them first, as they will stop for some coffee and leave you by yourself.

Great gameplay all around. 9 of 10

Multiplayer: Multiplayer on Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is tight and I experienced little to no lag even in games that were 12 person deathmatch. There are a good number of multiplayer maps and modes to keep you and your friends busy for a while. You can expect the usual Team Deathmatch, Terrorist Hunt and the new additions of Team Leader, Total Conquest, and Demolition. There is enough multiplayer action with just the modes, not to mention just getting some buddies in a room and shooting each other for fun.

Terrorist Hunt is one of my favorite modes, where there are a set number of terrorists on a map and you have to hunt them all down. It’s a great way to level and try out new weapons. The only downfall of RSV2 is that they do not have dedicated servers for the game, but if you log into a game that has good ping you should be fine. 9 of 10

Lasting Appeal: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 has a lot of replay value, from unlocking all the different weapons to leveling your character, not even taking into account the hours of multiplayer action that can be had. The single player story mode can be played online and offline and replayed again with a friend to unlock some achievements. There is also the different online modes to keep you busy, tons of Rainbow to be played for months to come. 9 of 10

Final Word: A solid shooter that took their original formula that wasn’t broken and just built upon it to make it even better. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is a definite pick up for anyone who likes shooters or anyone who played the first version and liked the game. The game keeps you playing by introducing the leveling up system and all the different unlockables. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is the best tactical shooter to hit any console and a must have.

Overall: 9 of 10

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