I’m stuck in the middle with what to say about Vegas 2, other than “whatever your feelings were about the first game, they won’t change based on the second.”

What it comes down to is that:

• The storyline makes little sense, has little bearing and forces your created character “Bishop” play the role of teacher and all-around good guy
• The game is fairly buggy; audio tracks glitch and loop infinitely and guns refuse to display hi-res textures until you switch weapons during a Terrorist Hunt
• The AI is a bit more aggressive, but also feels stupider on this victory lap; oftentimes, enemies will just stand still looking around when they should be pursuing
• The leveling/experience system adds something to the game…
• As does the character creation system; it’s nice to be able to skin your own character, customize their gear and camouflage
• Nearly half of the Terrorist Hunt maps are updated versions from Vegas 1; spend some more time creating new levels for crying out loud!

As much as I was really looking forward to this game, I can’t help but say that I’m fairly disappointed with how it turned out. If this were treated and priced more like an expansion pack, I would have been much more complacent with the game itself, but in it’s current state, I can’t help but hope that then next Rainbow Six game that gets released adds something new to the mix. In a way, it’s like ordering a favorite meal at a new diner and finding it surprisingly average and not really satisfying.