Preview: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Are those the same showgirls, just different make-up?

With the release of the new Rainbow Six Vegas just a week away, hype is building. Ubisoft has promised a true sequel amid speculation that Vegas 2 could be just an expansion on its blockbuster little brother, but are these just empty promises to help boost sales?

On tonight's XPlay on G4, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 stole the whole half hour with a plethora of game footage, single and multiplayer play testing, and details on what has changed since Big Bro Vegas. Underneath this probably Ubisoft funded XPlay hype looked to be a Call of Duty 4 with a Vegas 2 onesie.

All Vegas 2 improvements seem to mirror what made CoD4 so incredible: improved AI, realistic shot penetration, and a revamped PEC (now deemed ACES). The shot penetration is nothing incredibly new to first person shooters but it was CoD4 that did it right, thus leaving all followers as simple copycats to a fully realised concept (a la Max Payne's "Bullet Time"). The new ACES system is interesting in that certain acheivements during gameplay, (headshots, successful silent kill, etc.) improve 1 of 3 statistics. So if you pop a terrorist square on the mole on his forehead, you get points to your marksman stat which in turn will unlock "marksmen-esque" weapons (sniper rifles, for example). The ACES system is no longer restricted to multiplayer though and so your progress in singleplay will produce these rewards as well. While this is a great new approach to an already great system in PEC, ACES is not a true reason to go out and purchase this title.

The Vegas 2 game engine looks truly refined, but from the game footage I have seen it still does not compare to CoD4's breathtaking visuals. I was disappointed to see that certain environmental elements in Vegas 2 carried over from its big brother (e.g. corkboards outside the gym facility that were on the LVU campus in Vegas 1) which further alluded to the fact that Vegas 2 is simply putting new make-up on one of their older showgirls and hoping no one will notice.

Though I fell in love with Vegas the first time around, I am leaning towards keeping that as a one night stand. In the end, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 does not look to be worth the $60 I am saving for a more worthy title like Mercenaries 2. I will be logging onto Gamefly.com later and adding this one to my GameQ; this Vegas 2 slot machine ain't getting my quarter.

SCP Preview Rating (Ick!, Meh..., Yum!): Ick!