Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (PS3)

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Vegas is back - for the last time.

For plenty of in-game footage of the multiplayer mode in action, head over to our Rainbow Six Vegas 2 video preview, where Philippe Therien from Ubisoft Montreal talks about Vegas 2's key features.

We loved Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas so much so that our esteemed leader Tom gave it nine-out-of-10 when it was released back in December 2006. But since then the first-person military shooter bar has very much been raised. You know what I'm talking about: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

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And so, with the bar raised, Ubisoft Montreal has quite a job on its hands developing a sequel to the acclaimed Vegas that's not only a step forward for the series, but stands out as a shining light for the genre. With this in mind, we sprinted (that'll make sense later) towards Ubisoft HQ to get some serious hands-on time with Rainbow Six Vegas 2's multiplayer, and found out what the score is.

On the face of it Ubisoft Montreal has developed Vegas 2 very quickly. Assuming the game doesn't slip, we're looking at a turnaround under a year-and-a-half. Now, this sparks a couple of questions. One: how did they manage it? And two: is it a proper sequel or more like a director's cut?

A lot has happened since the original game came out.

The answer to the first question lies with the Unreal Engine 3, which the team used to build the first Vegas game and this one. With the original Vegas the team spent a lot of time getting to grips with the engine. Now, with that under its belt, the team was able to concentrate on new features and gameplay mechanics rather than get bogged down worrying about whether the game would work. Hence the shorter development time.

The answer to the second question is more subjective. Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an interview you can view elsewhere on the site, designer Philippe Therien told us that there is a feeling that Vegas 2 is Vegas: The Director's Cut, or the game the team always wanted to make. So now we've got a multiplayer mode that has graphics on par with the single-player game. We've got a new sprint (left bumper on the Xbox 360 pad), better AI, two-player coop and a "more interesting story" which takes in some varied locales - the Nevada desert, Vegas convention centre, Indoor Rex Centre, a Strip Club and some of the seedier parts of town to name a few.

Speaking of the story, Rainbow team leader Logan Keller has been replaced as lead character by Bishop, a soldier who can be played male or female and with your own face through the PlayStation Eye or the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera. Throughout the story you'll get a lot of explanation as to where Bishop fits in with the Rainbow team hierarchy, but the dev team is keeping quiet on this at the moment. It's part prequel, part sequel and also runs concurrently with the original Vegas time line (while Logan was in Mexico, Bishop's team was still in Vegas). Vegas 2 will also mark the end of the series' time in Vegas and wrap up the story. "This will really be the end of the Vegas storyline this time" Philippe said. Here's hoping we actually get a proper ending this time.

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