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While Rainbow Six Vegas 2 got good reviews, it was clearly noted that it's got much more in common with the original game than new content. A fan pack was released this week adding in a map from the first R6V among other things, and my recent play time with a rental of Vegas 2 led me to not buy the game and miss out on this content, at least for now.

I still have the original Rainbow Six Vegas and there's not much wrong with it in the gameplay department. The visuals were a little rough even when it launched, there are some sound glitches, and the warts of the Unreal Engine were stereotypically present. That includes sometimes slower texture loading and pop-in. Overall it's a fun game, but I never did ascend even halfway up the ranking system in the game. Add in the fact that most of my PS3 online gaming group has the game and can play it pretty well and there's a good reason to sit tight with the existing version of the game.

By contrast Vegas 2 hasn't caught the interest of more than one of my PS3 gaming friends, and the game itself is not significantly different than Vegas 1. The visuals are significantly better and there are fewer sound glitches, but they're still there. The repeating sound of a gun clattering to the floor is one such annoying problem. Draw-in from the Unreal Engine is still there, but online play appears to be more stable. The new ACES ranking system is very nice, but since I never made it to the top of the original I'm not extremely motivated by their new ranking system, either.

In the end I didn't buy Vegas 2 when I had the opportunity to in the $35 range. Is it worth it to someone who doesn't have the original? Definitely. How about for folks with lots of their buddies playing it online? Ditto yes again. But for now I can wait and hope to catch it for less than its new $40 price point in the hope my other online shooter pals will pick it up then too.