Graphics: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 ran buttery smooth, even at 1280×1024 with all the bells and whistles turned on and was bug free aside from a little Alt-Tab crash, which is negligible. Environments come off a little bland texture-wise, but are modeled extraordinarily well and offer plenty of cover spots and chances for destruction. At one point I tore open a wooden door with a shotgun, surprising the terrorists behind it, and giving my team just enough time to breach in another way and take ‘em down as I reloaded.

Character models are, well, a mixed bag to put it nicely. Heads look pretty good, yet there are low res textures dotting the armor that drop what could have been a strong graphical point into the realm of unevenness. All in all, Vegas 2 is not a bad looking game. I’d just as soon say that we were here a couple of years back and it missed the bus.

Interface: The frontend strays little from what we’ve seen in other games, aside from your character model being displayed on the first screen in all of its customizable glory. There’s a lot to check out, though; stuff like achievements, leader boards, and awards are all easily accessible, as are multiplayer modes and the usual variables associated with them. I never got lost, and had plenty to browse before I got into the actual game.

The in game H.U.D is minimal, showing info like your rank, progress to the next rank and ammo count. Your health is reliant on a screen effect that occurs when you’re taking damage. This method works okay, although it proved a little hard to gauge when I was caught in crossfire. In other words, the effect when two bullets hit me at the same time appeared no different than just one bullet, but I still wound up just as dead.

Gameplay: Quite the basket of fun, this one! A decent single player campaign keeps you up to your neck in saving hostages and combating biochemical threats. Plus there is a terrorist attack mode and the robust multiplayer to ensure that this stays installed for awhile. It’s a pity about the story and antagonists, though. Hearing about terrorism has become so ingrained within everyday life that you almost wish a Cossack with an Ak-47 would jump from around the corner and threaten to take away the sun or something. Focus on the combat, and make your own story if it suits you.

Controls were tight and responsive, letting you sidle up to a corner and pop out to pick off the embattled, or point your gun around the corner for some blind fire action (which gives you exp!). This all felt very intuitive on a mouse and keyboard, and there is the ability to use a 360 controller as well. Squad orders came off as simplistic, yet context sensitive enough to keep things interesting. I could actually blame myself when a member of my team went down because I put them there.

Multiplayer: Whether it’s a co-op campaign or terrorist hunt, all the way up to any of the multiple adversarial modes, you can find a good time somewhere out there. Stalking from cover spot to cover spot and accidentally happening upon a camping sniper is a real thrill in deathmatch, and if you don’t like that, there are three attack and defend modes, team games, and a total conquest mode that works like a territories match. I encountered little to no latency issues, although the matchmaking didn’t like to put me with people of my own skill level and forced me to get good fast or die.

Sound Effects: A game with such a focus on guns should have skilled Foley technicians and Vegas 2 makes the grade here. I’m no gun specialist, but the rattle from a mini SMG made me feel very dangerous, and even more so with a Desert Eagle. Voice acting is done well, and some of the terrorist banter is priceless. There is a lack of variety in enemy responses, though, as well as some mixing issues when intel came through on the comm. It was just too low to be heard effectively over the fray, leaving me confused and checking my objectives every time an update came through.

Music: Much of what I heard in the background did little to heighten my experience, and came across as too familiar to stand on its own. What was there was dramatic and orchestrated, with a touch of electronica slid into the cracks to keep it futuristic sounding. I suggest turning this down or off completely so that you can focus on the action and keep tabs on your enemy’s whereabouts.

Intelligence: Your terrorist foes are fighting for one cause, and it involves killing you and your team. Unfortunately they’re not the brainiest bunch, as I saw a lot of heads popping out in the same place, and groups of terrorists doing their best Three Stooges impression of doorway navigation. Once provoked they did prove to be a tenacious bunch, it’s just getting them there that proves difficult.

Difficulty: Regardless of what your chosen level of difficulty is, there is always a chance of turning a corner prematurely and catching a bullet in the maw. That’s your own fault, so adjust accordingly. The casual setting is for those who want to see the end of the game, and anything above that is a mixture of pain and confusion. Sometimes I was awestruck by the challenges my team was presented with, while at other times I had to go looking for a fight. The campaign is pretty meaty, though, so consider it training for the multiplayer portion as you can never measure just how tough live competition will be.

Overall: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 delivers intense action, heavy customization and a great online component. Though this isn’t the winning hand Ubisoft (and players) have been waiting for, due to a tired story, inconsistent graphics and funky A.I. It’s not broken, it’s not particularly beautiful, but those who love this series won’t hate themselves for buying it.