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.

As in the last game, shot partners lie there bleeding to death, but you can rescue them with a miracle syringe, or order one of the remaining ones to do that. They still sometimes get stuck on things like slot machines or boxes. It doesn't happen often, and you can order them to different areas easily, but man, does it spoil any realism when this happens. The sidekicks are useful, because they give you a choice. You take the fight to the terrorists yourself, like an action hero -- and risk dying in one of the many ambush set pieces here -- or just send your two buddies in to flush them out, figuring you can just inject your sidekicks with drugs and they'll be hale and hearty. Man, if only it worked that way in real life!

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 shares another trait with its predecessor: The online play is almost as good as single-player. Multiplayer offers the same mixed bag of scenarios as single-player. Nondescript warehouses, hotels and office buildings drably sit among the convincing replica of the Vegas Convention Center and a lovingly recreated theater where one team gets the balconies and the other has to make do with the confining stage. You might remember a level like this in the original game, and you'd be right, but in single-player, that level had you fighting from the stage; this one casts you as the attacker.

Taking a cue, perhaps, from Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 takes its experience point system offline. This means whatever ranks you attain, or equipment or costume options you unlock, can be taken online with you. One problem with this addition is that when you shoot, blow up, or kill a terrorist, you see the experience points flash on the screen. "Shoot through cover" = +5. Can you see the problem with this? When you shoot a bad guy through cover, you now know he's dead because of the experience points. Before, you had to send a partner to check, or look yourself, a harrowing prospect now missing from the game completely.

Online play has been streamlined. Playing together is a lot of fun simply because of the tactical options. One guy bursts through one door, the other guy enters through the balcony, and the terrorists never know what hit them. It is cool that now one player gets to control the artificial intelligence partners, so you're no longer limited to a two- or three-person assault. Even better, a friend or sibling can jump in or out without hurting the campaign.

A few new multiplayer modes round things out (Team Leader is especially worth a look) and there's also the addition of armor and shields. You can sacrifice movement for protection and vice-versa. The riot shields are just plain cool, forcing you to aim your shots carefully or use a precious grenade. Thankfully, anyone carrying the shield is limited to using the pistol (and yes, you can pick up the shield and use it, too).

It's only been a year since Rainbow's first foray into Vegas, and given that the online community is still strong, it makes the value of a glorified expansion pack (sold at full price, I might add) questionable. Do players wanna play Sin City again? Fortunately, the answer is still "Buy It!"

This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the author.