The story mode is just as entertaining as the first, if not even better than the original’s story mode.  The problem we run into once again is that the you can easily beat this game in one or two sittings, and some of the in between levels provide more excitement than the final level.  One piece we were rather disappointed in with story mode was the ability to only have one other human player accompany you.  In the previous version you could have a total of four players, including yourself, and while you can still do a four player game in terrorist hunts, not having it in story mode is a huge letdown.  We do applaud the game on not interrupting at all when a player joins, but we still would have rather seen four player co-op instead.

Multiplayer is more of the same from last year, but it’s more polished this year along with a newer selection of weapons.  Weapons have been tweaked to create a more balanced game, and the Desert Eagle will no longer own your average assault rifle.  The gameplay is almost completely identical to the first version, but things are done extremely better than the first version.  Visually, multiplayer takes a hit as in most games, but it’s a step up from the previous attempts we’ve seen from Ubisoft and company.

The area that Vegas 2 shines in the most would have to be the incredible level designs.  Through the countless amount of shooters that we have played in our years of gaming, there have been very few that have impressed us more than the Rainbow Six Vegas series when it comes to levels.  Whether you’re in Dante’s Theater on the third floor balcony with your sniper, or in the Vegas junkyard hiding behind old signs of casinos, Ubisoft delivers once again for the multiplayer groupies.

We’ve noticed quite a few glitches here and there in multiplayer, but nothing quite like what the first version seemed to present.  There are still problems with textures showing up delayed, and the framerate has the tendency to slow down considerably when multiple grenades go off at once.  The small issues that we’re picking at rarely take away from the enjoyable nature of Vegas 2, and a patch is being worked on to tweak and fix these issues.

The controls are still very fluid, and easy to get used to within the first 10 minutes of playing.  The sprinting button has been mapped to the left bumper (LB), and while some may hate this movie by the Vegas series, we applaud it as it adds another element to the game and lets the players move around the map much easier than before.

The sound is something that was actually one of the less notable increases in the series, and our favorite environment has to be Dante’s Theater due to the background music displayed while you’re in the level.  We’ve noticed a few issues with surround sound, as some of the noises do not seem to be coming from the correct channels at times, but all in all the sound is very solid.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is easily one of the best shooters on the market, as it added on to arguably one of the best formulas in the shooters market.  With the bar being set so high with the first version, fans have been somewhat over critical.  The game is incredibly solid, and if you find yourself renting the game, you’ll more than likely find yourself purchasing it at some point.  Rainbow Six Vegas 2 clears up the mystery in the story mode from the original, and polishes up an exceptional array of multiplayer modes while adding new weapons and two new modes.  If you own an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, you owe it to yourself to buy Rainbow Six Vegas 2.