That night in Vegas, I felt your breath upon my neck

This past long weekend, my brother and I engaged in a ritual that I fear had been lost in a sea of AAA releases and the pressures of modern life. We went hunting.

Before you get any crazy ideas, I've never been one for the outdoors, so this wasn't your average trawl through the woods. We weren't interested in traditional game: rabbits, deer and bears would be saved from the wrath of our customizable arsenal. We were hunting the scum of the earth, dear friends. We were baggin' us some terrorists.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2's Terrorist Hunt mode is quite simply, the most terrifying cooperative multiplayer experience available on current generation hardware. No matter what difficulty you play it on or how dense you set the enemy population, these bad guys are ruthless. They will swarm around you, they will find you, and they will kill you.

Rubes and I thought we had a winning strategy: find a corner and create a cacophony of noise to stir the proverbial hornet's nest. This works on the smaller maps; but in some that span multiple floors and have a wealth of open spaces, the call of your hand cannons will yield few takers. We got lucky sometimes, but when we had to leave our sanctuary, my heart leapt into my throat and my bowels loosened (sadly, the latter observation is not hyperbole).

Those moments when you're leaning against a source of cover only to see your customizable avatar turkey-slapped by a shotgun barrel are equal parts hilarious and startling; particularly on the higher difficulties when ammo and respawns are scarce. If you love tactical shooters and splitscreen multiplayer, you simply must play this game. Hell, if love survival horror, you have to play Vegas 2's Terrorist Hunt mode.