Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Xbox 360)

Tom Clancy games on the X-Box have always been one of the best for gameplay in my opinion, most notably the Splinter Cell games. I have actually only played a demo of all the older Rainbox Six games but bought a copy of Vegas 2, which came strongly recomended from a friend, second-hand when I bought the X-Box 360 console for my son for Christmas.

The main factor I like about Vegas 2 is that it's not all just pure straight action and shooting everything in sight. You actually have to be quite stealthy, think about things and work out a strategy for the various scenarios throughout the game which I definitely think adds a lot more playability and even makes the game a little more addictive. Finding decent hiding places to snipe and shoot from a distant can be quite fun at times, though at other times you could be smashing in through the windows of a building into a room full of enemies so you also need to be on full alert.

The sound effects are pretty good and fairly realistic, which also adds to gameplay. Sometimes you can hear muffled voices getting louder as you approach rooms that contain enemies or where they are hiding and you can command your team to cover you or send them in first. The ability to heal your team-mates is also a useful facility for when one of them gets injured.

The graphics are fairly rich in detail although nothing particularly special and the animation is relatively smooth. However, it seems to become a little slower and jerkier at times of gameplay where there is a lot of action happening.

The game also seems to slow right down when playing on X-Box Live, which is good but you have to be quick in reponse! My favourite mode for playing online is plain and simple free-for-all though Call Of Duty 5 has become the main game for that now and to be honest, is a lot better.