Great tactical action returns, but it doesn't expand enough to warrant a sequel.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 marks the follow up to the wildly successful first game under the Tom Clancy moniker of titles. It manages to improve the multiplayer mode in every way that actually needed improvement, but somehow falters a bit in the single player mode, offering up a short experience reminiscent of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 that doesn't capture the same amount of wonderment found in my initial exploration of Sin City a year and a half ago.

Instead of following the tale of Logan Keller from the first title, you'll be creating your own player with RB62, a character that everyone refers to as Bishop (side note, have you ever actually met anyone named Bishop?). The story itself is a mishmash of quite a few other "terrorist attack" titles, and definitely isn't the main reason for playing. The core idea of "terrorists siege Las Vegas" is still at the heart of the game, and that concept thru brightly colored casino set pieces remains the selling point of the sequel.

The realistic challenge of the original title, and other Tom Clancy themed games, remains prevalent. You can't commando your way thru a level taking damage at will, instead you're forced to make good decisions and use a certain style of tactics in taking out the entrenched terrorists. You'll have a variety of gear to get the job done, including the standard staples of the genre, such as flash bangs, smoke grenades, laser sights, and more. A small boost to the gameplay comes from the introduction of a sprint button, something that definitely comes in handy when trying to move from cover to cover quickly, or just speeding up the process of a long corridor or outdoor environment devoid of enemies.

Everything is team-based, and you'll be accompanied thru most of the game by two other characters. Co-op is also an option, either online or off, and it definitely feels like the best way to play the game. The AI of your allies is good enough to not get you killed, but you'll find yourself constantly needing to bring them back from the brink of death. They're also a bit slow to respond when it comes to mapping out locations for them to stand, and every so often they seem to just do what they want, which then leads to you have to save their asses on occasion. Also, for some reason, co-op has been paired down from 4 players to just 2. This leaves you with a couple odd men out, which can only be controlled by one player, instead of making each player have their own AI partner.

The other multiplayer modes include entries such as Team Leader, Total Conquest, and Demolition. Team Leader at first appears to be a standard protect the VIP mode, but with a small twist that rewards you with re-spawn points as long as you keep your VIP alive. As soon as he's dead you'll find yourself in a much tougher position to come back and win. Demolition is a protect-or-destroy mode, and Total Conquest has you controlling 3 transmitters for a set amount of time. Team Leader is definitely the most fun you'll have outside of standard death match, but all the modes are worth playing through and definitely work within the context of the game. The leveling system from the first title returns as well, and while it isn't nearly as fleshed out as the one presented in Call of Duty 4, it's still a nice thing to have. This time you can also level up outside of the online world, so when you hop into your first match, assuming you've played thru the campaign, you'll already have some options unlocked.

The environments in RB62 have made a slight adjustment from the original as well. In the previous game the majority of your time was either spent inside a casino or on the streets right outside, but RB62 takes you to a few more interesting locales while still capturing that Vegas feel. In particular there's a theatre stage where one could easily imagine a magician's show, or old school singer's act taking place.

Unfortunately though, the overall feeling you're left with after putting the controller down is that you've played a slightly beefed up version of the first game. Outside of the addition of a sprint button and the offline experience gains, not much has changed in the single player modes. As far as multiplayer goes, everything feels completely polished, but the cutback on co-op from 4 players to 2 definitely hurts, and doesn't make a lot of sense considering you can still 4-man Terrorist Hunt. The whole package feels like it should have contained a bit more, but since the foundation it's based off of is so solid, you can't really complain about the core gameplay. I'd only suggest picking it up for the multiplayer aspect, and if you don't have any interest beyond the single player campaign then it marks itself as a rental at best.