Though Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 doesn't do enough to top it's predecessor, it's still an awesome experience
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 takes a change of story from the first game. The first game had one of the most unsatisfying stories and endings of this generation. Luckily that old story was tossed away along with the old protagonist Logan Keller. Now you play as Bishop, a character you can fully customize and rank up while you play the campaign. The story is about a terrorist named Miguel Alvarez and his plot to detonate various chemical bombs around Las Vegas. Of course in typical Tom Clancy fashion this is a plot riddled with various twists and politics.
Of course anyone who plays these games doesn't come here for the story and you most likely shouldn't. The story does a good job but like the first game it doesn't engage the player. At times it's hard to follow because the sound can be a bit off but by the end you'll understand it all. It's not a great story but it's effective and it sets up some great action sequences which is really all that matters.
The single player campaign is full of various scripted firefights which are both intense and difficult. This is the bread and butter of the single player which is what makes it worth playing. On the normal mode it can be challenging but it's never anything unfair. This is an improvement over the first game which I found overtly difficult on normal at times. There is also a new casual mode which seems to be a theme for this game because various new features seem to be targeting casual players for this traditionally hardcore franchise.
There are many new improvements added to the single player which makes it both faster, slightly more tactical, and more fun in the end. The addition of sprinting is great and well implemented though it can be a bit awkward to hit the left bumper to sprint considering how much you will do it within the campaign. It does help you survive though and it works well. There is also a new system of tagging enemies which tells your teammates the order in which to kill them. This is another well received new feature and it works well. My only complain is you can only tag two players, I think three or four would have worked better.
The best new feature in Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is the A.C.E.S feature which makes ranking up easier and also unlocks your weapons. Though it is by no means difficult to level up in this system it does give you incentive to play through the single player and terrorist hunts. It helps to make the new rank up system better but my only complaint about it is that ranking up has become almost 'too easy'. I still think it's a good feature and one I hope to see return.
The last thing I'll talk about is the online. The online has sadly been changed from what I found to be perfect. It's been essentially 'casualized'. Respawns have now been addded to Attack and Defend, Team Death Match and Deathmatch which makes games shorter. They're still fun but I do miss the old versions of these games which would often be long epic matches. Of course this makes the online faster and you can get through more games in a day which many consider a good thing. I remember there being a lot of complaints about how long the games in the first were and I can see why Ubisoft changed it but it's not something I'm a huge fan of.
Luckily for me and fans of the first games online Ubisoft gave us two modes with unlimited respawns and ten minute plus games. These are team conquest and team leader. These two modes are a lot of fun and work as a sort of base capture mode and protection mode. They work well and are a lot of fun to play. They are also the most played game types so it's easy to find a game in these modes.
Overall Vegas 2 is a great package and well worth buying, if you liked the original this one will most likely appease you and it's a great value. There is a lot of stuff to do in it and the co-op play is as excellent as it was before. The online has been given some disheartening 'improvements' but there is also two new modes to appease fans of the old style. This game adds enough new features to make another visit to Las Vegas worth the price of a ticket.
The Good: Co-op is as fun as before, Single Player has been changed for the better, Rank system is heavily improved, Team Conquest and Team Leader are awesome!
The Bad: Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, and Attack and Defend were made worse, it's a bit too easy to rank up, unstable framerate. Graphics appear dated as the engine is the same.
Overall: A great game well worth buying.