Rainbow Six Vegas 2: HAHAHAHA Epinions
I'd like to start by saying that I've been at Epinions for something like six and a half years and the inventory/search database is just as bad as it was in 2001. I kid you not, if you search for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 the first listing you'll get says that EBgames is selling this title for something like $50,000, which is enough to buy Former Governor Spitzer sex like 13 times. But, if you go the very end of all of the listings, you find the actual game at its actual price. Go Figure.

Anyway, I've never been one to love "tactical" shooters. I'm not sure if this can be attributed to the fact that I'm too stupid for strategy, too ADHD to shoot, cover, and repeat, or sadistic to settle for only 1 kill a minute. Either way though, this particular genre has never really been my cup of tea. In spite of that though, I did manage to find a lot of enjoyment in Rainbow Six Vegas, and found it to be probably the most under appreciated launch title for the Xbox 360. However, Vegas 1 still ended up being a game that I would have rated lower than most critics, so realize in advance that my tactical shooter and bad Tom Clancy game storyline(a different rant) biases still do exist.

Gameplay
Rainbox Six Vegas 1 had one of worst cliffhanger endings in recent gaming history. There, got that out of the way. Rainbox Six Vegas 2, however, does a decent job of tying together some of the loose ends, and the continuity factor actually works better than expected. The basic premise of the game is that terrorists are back at it in Vegas, and your character, referred to as "Bishop" in the story mode, has to take them down before they take Vegas. With this comes all of the basic missions in any of today's anti-terror games, including things like saving hostages, keeping terrorists away from dangerous chemical weapons, and taking back valuable territory for the "good guys." All this, of course, set in and around The Strip in scenic Las Vegas.

The strangest thing about this game is that I got most of my enjoyment from the Story mode regardless of the fact that they did SO MUCH wrong in it. While controlling Bishop you also take over control of two of his sidekicks, who must be bipolar of something because sometimes they show flawless combat skills, and other times they get stuck behind walls. It's really a "crap shoot"(LOL Vegas Term) as to whether at any given moment, you'll be able to sit back and let your sidekicks maul through tons of enemies, or whether they'll decide to run out into their death while you're tactically taking cover. You can also play the story mode Co-operatively with another player(you could 4 player in Vegas 1), which is definitely the way to go. Unfortunately though, your lackies remain with you in Co-Op mode and only player 1 can command and control them. This leaves player 2 sometimes feeling as though he should be on a hanging from a short lease behind player 1.

The story mode isn't particularly long but it transpires very seamlessly and is extremely addictive, especially when played co-operatively. Some of the stages are also particularly memorable, my favorite(also everyone else who's ever written a review's favorite) being the theater stage. In general though, the maps that were more Vegas specific were the ones that really stood out. You can fight your way through a warehouse in combat video game, or if you're Steven Segal, in all of your movies, but where else can you steamroll down a towering hotel complex or blow the crap out of slot machines, almost as payback for them "stealing" $50 from you last time you were at the casino.

In short, Vegas 2's gameplay is very similar to it's predecessor's. In each stage, you proceed through a series of checkpoints, only to fail in your bid to save an entire city if some random, no name hostage is killed in the process.(I say that jokingly, but it's true) The controls are also essentially unchanged, save for the addition of the ability of sprint by using the left button. I know that this sounds like a small add on, but it really cuts through some of the of the boring down time seen in the first game, especially when you're running through open, actionless territory, or backtracking because you missed something. The other main addition to the story mode is that you now earn points for doing things like completing missions and killing certain numbers of enemies that can you be used to unlock new weapons and items and add to your XP.

To go along with the story mode, which regardless of my criticisms remains my favorite part of the game, there's also a multiplayer mode in Vegas 2 featuring 12 maps and a few game types. There's a co-operative terrorist hunt, where the game gives you a certain amount of enemies to kill and you remain in the map until they're all dead. Along with that there's also Team Leader, Total Conquest, and Demolition modes. Team leader is a like VIP game type, where your team's players can continually respawn over and over again until your designated VIP is killed. The Total conquest is essentially king of the hill/territories spinoff, and in demolition one team guards their base while the other team attacks it. Overall, mutliplayer in Vegas 2 is fun and adds replay value, but is lacking in comparison to its competitors like Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3.

Graphics and Audios
Graphically, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 stays consistent with it's predecessor, showing small improvements, but lacking dramatic change. It runs on the same engine as the first game, which has its positives and its negative. On the positive side, the character models, shooting animation and realism, and portrayal of Vegas scenery are all excellent. Inversely though, the game still has some slowdown issues, especially when playing in multiplayer mode with a lot of bodies around, and it doesn't look nearly as good as Call of Duty 4, for example. That said, the backgrounds and maps have been improved in terms of detail, and are also considerably more interactive than in the first game. All and all though, I can't imagine most gamers having any serious complains with the visuals.

In terms of sound, Vegas 2 gets the job done adequately, but fails to wow. The soundtrack is well done, and goes nicely with the pace and feel of the game, and the sound effects of guns being shot, people dying, and things blowing up are always nice to hear.(morbid, I know) It's hard to put too much emphasis on a shooter's soundtrack though being as though all I ever hear in multiplayer is the constantly smack coming out of my mouth, so I also have no serious complaints here.

Summary
I feel like the tone of my review would leave most readers thinking that I didn't enjoy Rainbow Six Vegas 2, which is far from the truth. In reality, I found it an to be an entertaining title that didn't quite live up to the expectations met by the first game. Fans of shooters(Especially those who didn't play Vegas 1) should definitely give it a look. For gamers without a ton of time or a tight budget though, I would recommend both Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 over this one.


Recommended: Yes