Let me start by saying that essentially everything good in the Rainbow Six franchise, and not what little that was wrong, has been carried over to the latest installment, making what could possibly be the best Rainbow Six game to date.

The story doesn't pick up right after the first game like you'd expect, but instead takes place before, during, and after the first in several critically placed missions. You'll fight your way through several intense missions as counter-terrorism operative Bishop, and/or his/her Co-op partner Knight. You will obviously be deployed in Vegas, but you'll also see action in the Nevada desert, Costa Rica and the Pyrenees Mountains.

Many features from the previous Rainbow games have been revamped and some newer ones added. For starters, the enemy AI has been made much more aggressive and friendly AI more responsive and tactical. Both will execute complicated maneuvers to keep themselves alive and kill their enemies in more ways than are probably needed. In addition, the customizable multiplayer characters of Vegas 1 have been carried over to the campaign of Vegas 2, allowing you to make your own character (male or female for the first time) and customize everything from your body armor down to your face paint and facial hair (thankfully not an option for the ladies). In addition to this, about 10 new weapons have been added to the already vast arsenal for you to arm yourself to the teeth with. Speaking of Multiplayer, gone are the days of getting killed halfway through a match and waiting another eight minutes to get back in. Now you can join in the middle of a match, game modes with more frequent respawns (toggles on and off for hard-core players or people with a lot of patience) and is just generally more playable.

All in all, this game is definitely worth buying with its exciting story, great graphics, realism, improved multiplayer and huge replay value as people are STILL playing the first one.

Francis Trujillo is a sophomore at Academy for Technology and the Classics. You can reach him at fx-trujillo@hotmail.com.