This squad shooter has been on my mind a little for 2 reasons. 1, I recently ran through Freedom Fighters and 2, the first game has a special place in my heart. Last time I had a group of friends to play games with was during the beginning of last generation and Rainbow Six: Vegas was the game of choice. I've never been much of a shooter guy, especially back then, and it was the only FPS I really got into last gen. It may be the reason I never got into COD4 and beyond because by the time that game rolled around, I had my fill of FPS for that console cycle.

Anyway, it had an uninspired but enjoyable campaign, a fun multiplayer but the secret sauce was the co-op joint, Terrorist Hunt. It was horde mode before horde mode became a thing and god, was it a blast. I remember reviews saying Vegas 2 tried to follow too much in the footsteps of COD4 and it just kinda came and went.

I still wonder though now and again about this game. How was this game? Not that I have anyone to play this with even if I picked it up but squad shooters are fun and maybe it'd be nice to have in my back pocket.

It was a Games with Gold title so I got it for free, but I only dabbled briefly in each mode. It always seemed like a slightly more polished version of the first one, which I spent a more significant amount of time in. I don't know enough to state whether one is superior to the other or not, though.

It was fine but not as good as the first. I actually went through the first again earlier this month since I felt I had nothing else to play, and tried to go through two again but stopped. The game isn't as polished honestly (which is contrary to the first post, but I believe it's true as I went directly to two after the first recently). It is also very much a 'same as last year' kind of title. The difference here is that you're getting a sprint ability, the ability shoot through some cover and a new story being led by a new protagonist which you can upgrade through a multitude of different looking equipment. Furthermore, I don't really agree with the uninspired campaign.

By the time that game came out, Rainbow Six alone hadn't seen a campaign of that form, and the only other game to do a mixture of first person and third person cover was Perfect Dark Zero if I remember correctly, then you can also add in the fact that it was a nice challenge compared to other recent shooters. From the sounds of it, it seems you liked Vegas due to the terrorist hunt mode and playing with others, and yet you're not looking to do that here. What are you interested in Vegas two for then? I'm not sure that due to it being a squad-based shooter is a good enough reason to jump in, but you decide.

Have you ever played Republic Commando? You might like that game, even if you're not into Star Wars. I also recommend trying to play the G.R.A.W. games, which I really hope goes onto Xbox One's backwards compatibility. In my opinion, they're superior on the 360 compared to the PC counterpart unless the thing you look at first and foremost is a more challenging experience. The PC versions play totally fine, but I was not as into the atmosphere that the setting gives off.

@ntm: Na, I like Vegas as a package top to bottom and I'm wondering how 2 turned out 'cause I think so highly of the 1st one. I enjoyed the campaign and I'm not trying to put it down by calling it uninspired. I guess I'm a story guy and I don't think it did much in the way of characterization, world building, or an interesting narrative. The single player is good cause the mechanics are strong and the levels solid.

So you think the 1st one was better?

@liquiddragon: Yes, the first was better in my opinion. Two was disappointing, but it wasn't bad. If you really liked Vegas, give two a go. As for the story in the first, I agree that it doesn't compare to the top echelon of games stories or characters, but I really loved that they went more in that direction with it from the previous ones and still enjoyed it quite a bit. I did however really like the locations in Vegas albeit you're mainly in the casinos throughout. I enjoyed Terrorist Hunt, but I played them (as I do for all games really) for the campaigns. Two is definitely uninspired, though. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has some cool moments, though, at least in terms of locations.

I thought it was nice to go to a gaming convention and a rec center, which was a change from the first. Vegas two changed too little, and some changes weren't welcome to me initially. I would have liked to see the story continued and finished through Logan Keller's perspective (Logan Keller is the main protagonist of the first Vegas). That said, when I played it last I actually came around to it to some degree since I felt it was kind of interesting in how they set it up. I also thought the game was very marginally worse in look. Oh, one more addition is that you can tag enemies. I totally forgot that you couldn't do that in the first game.

They're so similar though that even some of the enemy chatter is the same from the first to second. There are some points in which you'll hear two guys talking, and one guy is saying that Chris (just some random incidental person) won't like what they're doing, and the other guys tell him to F Chris as his orders don't matter. This happens in both the first and second. It's just kind of lazy.

@liquiddragon:

1: Freedom Fighters is so damn good. Wish it would get a remake

2: Vegas and Vegas 2 were great. Terrorist Hunts were some of the best coop I've ever had. Its worth your time if you have some friends to play it with.

If you liked Vegas and Terrorist Hunt, you should get Vegas 2. It's just a better feeling/better looking (mildly) version of that game. Plus, it has a better unlock progression for cosmetic stuff, and it actually allows you to use your custom dude in both Multiplayer and the Campaign, which is still fairly forgettable. However, playing it does go towards unlocking stuff. And you can still play the campaign coop as well.

I did not like it as much as I did the first Rainbow Six Vegas (multiplayer or story mode) but it was still decent.

I've dumped a good 67 hours into this game just playing Terrorist Hunt mode with a buddy. All around is a fun game, the only thing I rather detest about the game is that NPCs spawn in rather than just exist within the maps. So you could clear a room, move 5 inches out of said room peaking down a hall and 2 more NPCs pop in the room you just cleared.

But over all it's an okay game.

I echo sentiments in this thread, the first one is my personal favorite of the two. The second one dipped hard in the well. The multiplayer is good, thought finding a match may be difficult. I would recommend the first game over the second.

They were both great. I loved the campaigns of both, maybe 1 more than 2, but the T-hunt co-op was just absolutely fantastic. Some of my fav co-op ever. Would love UBI to follow-up with some new gen games in the series tbh. Seige doesn't do it, although I think it's good in its own right.