
April 2008 Second Runner-up
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (PC)
In years past, Ubisoft's console-to-PC ports have been querulous beasts indeed. Typically riddled with bugs and saddled by cruel, even medieval, forms of copy protection, a number of these games have been very disappointing. But all that goes out the window with Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.
Sure, it doesn't feature the classic Rainbow Six-style of meticulously plotted room-entry tactics, but it performs magnificently, offering PC players significantly better-looking graphics than their console counterparts. While some bemoan the loss of grueling yet tedious mission planning, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 proves that consolization is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Vegas 2 presents a frantic and tense tactical shooter experience by excising the sometimes impenetrable pre-mission slog and replacing it with tight mechanics that have been even further refined from the first game. The excellent cover system dovetails perfectly with the improved AI and the additional squad commands, making Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 about as close to a guaranteed awesome PC gaming experience as you can get this month.