great game

The first Rainbow Six: Vegas put new life in the series, adding a new cover mechanic (press and hold the L Trigger to snap your back up against a wall and put you in the 3rd person view), a more enjoyable locale to shoot up, and a great multiplayer mode. The sequel to perhaps on of the best shooters of yester-year is, without a doubt, more of the same. In this case, though, that isn't exactly a bad thing.

The first thing you will do when popping in the game is to create your own virtual character. He will be the man you control through both the single and multiplayer segments of the game, though you can go back and change him around at any time. You can choose your weapon sets for both single and multiplayer, which you will be doing a lot of as each level can be played out multiple times with different loadouts.

With the CoD4 style of earning new weapons a big hit, Vegas 2 has decided to expand upon the formula a little bit. Instead of simply earning XP for multiplayer kills, which earns your points in a system called A.C.E.S. (which basically splits up your kills into 3 categories which are in charge of what new weapons you unlock), you can now earn XP in the single player campaign. This is a nice addition, as it rewards new players who go through the campaign before jumping online, and TRIES to put them on the same playing field as those who simply play multiplayer (more on this later).

New features now include a sprint button (the L Bumper). While you wouldn't think this would make much of a difference, it speeds up the gameplay a lot. Instead of being forced to saunter from cover to cover as you push up against the enemy, now you can dash across the open areas. It also makes getting around the multiplayer maps much easier.

The single player story takes place mostly before the first game, with the last two levels or so continuing the fight from the first game's cliffhanger ending. The first level is more of a tutorial mission, and takes place a few years before you are scaling the skyscrapers in Vegas. It tries to set the scene for the game, and attempts to kind of rope you in.

Unfortunately, you spend more time going from scene to scene to see what new fight situation you manage to get yourself into, rather than what happens next in the story. The ending in particular tries to get emotional, though its comes off as uninspired and forced (and if you are playing on Realistic, an absolute nightmare to get through).

One thing not forced, though, is the graphics. The first Vegas was a benchmark for the Xbox 360, a hard thing to do as it was released near Gears of War. While the graphics now won't make your jaw drop as much as it did before, but the new bullet effects, gear hanging off your SWAT team, and environmental effects are pleasing.

Sounds are good too, from the chattering of machine gun fire blasting apart window panes to the thunks and tinks of bullets playing off your cover. The voices in the game are fairly well, though the script having some better work done on it would definately have helped.

One slightly disappointing aspect is the environmental damage, which is still not to scale as games like Call of Duty. Blasting a computer monitor with my M4 on automatic should do more than just make a bullet hole, it should blast it apart, or at least move it across the desk a measly inch. I guess the computers in Vegas as made of steel and concrete.

Now onto multiplayer, which is still as great as before.

Some maps return,

Slow, jerky, buggy and just not fun.

I love FPS games and was expecting more from R6V2. The story mode consists of a team mode and single player mode. In the first few chapters, you have two computerized companions who obey your commands (most of the time). You have to tell them to "Stack Up" at every door which becomes tiresome pretty quickly. Then all of a sudden, it's solo time. That's when it really goes down hill fast. My character has the heaviest and strongest body armor and caries to LMGs -- which is more than adequate for most situations (except maybe sniping). Since it's a game, I not too worried about the over-penetration of bullets that the game warns you about (LOL). Anyway, my tank player is slow to say the least but he should be bullet resistant. Not so in R6V2, he dies consistently with one shot. Go ahead and walk into a room with 3 "terrorists" and see how long you last. The thermal night vision goggles are a major pain since they distort your perspective and have a very limited range. The game is dark in too many places.

My other comments are related to gameplay. First of all if any real action occurs (like you're shooting somebody who is shooting at you - imagine that?) the game gets jerky and skips for a few seconds (WTF?). Secondly, it takes forever to reload from a checkpoint after you get killed (easily 10-15 seconds). And lastly, the checkpoints are really far apart (like every half an hour if you do everything right). If I've been down the same set of stairs 10 times killed 15 terrorists 10 times, I don't really want to do it next time I respawn.

When the opening credits ran and I saw Unreal Technologies, I new instantly I was in for a disappointment since Unreal Tournament 3 was such a let down too. I hate to say I told you so -- but I told you so.

In my opinion, Call of Duty IV is the the best FPS game ever made - Period. End.

Better than the first RB6 Vegas and A++++++

So first person shooters are not my favorite style of game....but RB6 Vegas 2 is starting to change my mind. I have been a RB6 fan since the start and had some major issues with the "older" ones. When RB6 Vegas (the first) came out I was quite impressed with the different things you could do in the game that you cant do in other 1st person shooters (take cover behind a wall instead of just ducking behind it, shoot around corners, assign your team to take and move positions and fight in different tactics styles).

My one gripe with RB6 Vegas (the first) was the lack of multiplayer options. The game felt very solo built and not really made to have a great time online playing others.

RB6 Vegas 2 however, took not only the solo player options to the next level, but also crushed all my concerns with the multiplayer mode. Now you can play the entire game with a friend(s) online in story mode or play "kill as much as you can" mode or the standard Versus mode.

If you are a fan of military style games, you must get RB6 Vegas 2 or you will never know what a premium first shooter feels like to play.

The game is not overly complicated, but does give you a lot of actions you can make/take while playing. Even in solo mode it feels like a well put together multiplayer game because you have total control over what the other members in your team does (and how they react).

With RB62 you can even built your charector as you go along in the game (like an RPG style game). Completing certain tasks ans missions allows you to upgrade your armor, weaponry and clothing. You also now get promotion via exp points, and can completely design your own charector.

Call of Duty 4 used to be my favorite 1st person shooter. Now COD4 sits as my 2nd favorite and RB6 Vegas 2 takes the top spot by a flippin' landslide.

Buy this game. You will not be sorry you did. If you are looking to put yourself in the role as a counter-terrorist operative....join the Army, Marines or skip the whole "risk of death" factor and just buy RB6 Vegas 2.

Better than other versions!

The buttons on the controller are the same as PS2 - that's a plus. The maps are very detailed and there are brighter maps than in previous versions. Choosing weapons can become tedious, but being able to make so many choices gives you more control over who you are as a soldier. Main menu not encouraging for a quick multi-player split-screen game. I had to 'hunt' for the correct screen. Other than that this game has much more to offer than other versions (which were good in their own ways). Very comfortable game play, especially being able to shooting around corners. Excellent for terrorist hunt (2 player split-screen). I would like this much better than Halo and similar type games if you could play co-op with more people without being online...sometimes the best soldiers are in your own living room...long live co-op split-screen!

awesome mutilplayer game

This game is made for co-op and multiplayer, offline and online, very realistic in how fast you can die if you dont take cover. has up too 14-players in vs matches also has a mode called territist hunt. Four players can play in this can carry two primary weapons, have two lives, its really fun. Also the story can be played spilt screen with story mode, and terristist hunt but not when vs. other players online. Alot weapons and customization with all weapons and armor also clothing. Can also be a female and or male charachter you choose that at the begging of game. If love a game with alot replay value a great Realistic shooter then this games for you.