I’ve had my fill of first and third person shooters on the PS3 recently, so I was looking for something a little different when I came across Rainbow Six Vegas 2.  I was surprised at the amount of tactical effort needed to get through the levels while playing the game at a friend’s house and after trying the multiplayer out as well, I was hooked.

So now I own a copy of the game (cheaply, thanks to Ebay!) and have been busy playing through the missions as well as going online to pit my guns against other Tom Clancy fans, and I’m glad I did.

The second Vegas game runs parallel to the first and then overtakes it, helping to tie up some storylines left open from the first.  But it’s not just a straight sequel.  Having now played the first game, I can really see the effort put in to making this a much more polished title.  More customisation of the characters, better weapons and a better upgrade system.  In fact, after playing multiplayer, I realised that the ACES system, which gives you experience points, seems to work online as well as off, meaning that you’ll take less time and effort to start getting your character up to speed in order to deal with the enemy.

The AI, however, isn’t always that great.  Teammates seem to stumble over you, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time just telling them where to go (sometimes only to find they end up moving by themselves and giving away my own position, cheers!).  Enemies can be a bit mixed too, sometimes coming around to flank you from behind (good) and sometimes just staring at thin air as you crouch right in front of them (bad). Perhaps this is how your enemies would behave in real life, though?  (maybe if they’d been sniffing too many of the drugs they’d been using for terrorism funds, perhaps). 

Despite this, the game really feels tense and exciting without resorting to the usual gun and run tactics of the generic shooter.  The snake cam is great, you can look under doors (no, there aren’t any female terrorists in skirts) and your bullets do a load of damage, breaking windows and making holes in walls, which makes it feel that much more realistic.

The multi-player holds quite a few options, not to mention 12 game maps (and more to download soon).  There is a 16 player game, plus all the usual multi-player options, but the fact that you can use the same tactics here as in the single player game really sets It apart from all those other straight shooters.

The graphics are adequate, but never really shine against any recent PS3 title. There are some good effects and damage models and if you have a PS3 Eye you can add your own face (though I still haven’t got this to work myself), but other than that the game world is more functional than pretty.

Despite it’s faults, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a great game with some difficult levels and a range of fun multiplayer options.  Well worth buying if you fancy something a bit more tactical.

8/10