Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (PC)

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Setting a Rainbow Six game in that gaudiest of cities -- fabulous Las Vegas -- is a hard act to follow. Last year's Rainbow Six Vegas is surely one of the finest tactical shooters ever pressed onto a DVD. Vegas had it all: Thrilling action set pieces, a decent storyline, exciting casinos to shoot up, and terrific online action. The game also is a contender for "Best Shooting From Cover System" (a feat in a market that includes Gears of War and Uncharted), all set in a city rife with recognizable landmarks and gaudy splendor. That goes a long way to explain why, exactly a year later, we have a sequel that offers so much more of the same.

Not long ago in videogame history, the way these things were handled was simple: Release the original game at full price. If it's successful, follow up about a year later with a much cheaper expansion pack. Rather than taking its time and doubling down on something more risky, Ubisoft went with the safe bet and offered a few improvements and expanding on the setting, rather than offering something new. The result is a definite feeling of familiarity. There's the helicopter shot that shows the strip (not as breathtaking this time); the mission where we need to infiltrate a hotel from the roof (fun, but familiar); and the one where we need to run through abandoned traffic, picking off terrorists as we go.

You're no longer confined to the jackboots of Logan Keller; now, whether you choose to be male or female, you're simply known as "Bishop." Cleverly, the tutorial has Bishop teaching new recruits, so as you're playing through it, you can hear your own character dispense advice on tactics and equipment.

Unlike Keller, Bishop can sprint. You can't shoot while hauling ass into or out of a firefight, but you can't discount the ability to cut down on the time it takes to get across a vast and already cleared casino or convention center. That's a highlight of the game, by the way -- Ubisoft fully rendered the Las Vegas Convention Center (one of the largest in the world), and it proves to be an excellent place to exchange gunfire with terrorists. While the story is more coherent this time around, you'll find it's harder to get invested in it, because it lacks that "gotta save my partner" personal urgency. Ultimately this doesn't matter, as the terrorists are bringing the fear and loathing, you're bringing the sneaky hammer of justice, and innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire.

Vegas 2 does a bit more with its hostages than the previous game. Riffing on the scene in the first game where you could watch a video feed of the terrorists menacing hostages, this game lets you listen in on torture and murder at times. Listening to people scream in agony might be graphic and bordering on tasteless, but it does make killing terrorists more satisfying, and it gives you a reason to push that Sprint button. To complicate things, hostages can run toward you, spoiling your shot when you burst into the room. Shooting them ends the mission, of course -- and so does getting shot. This is still one of the easiest games in which to die, but at least your partners are smart and expendable.