' Rainbow Six Vegas 2' and 'Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare '

OK, I'll say it: "Rainbow Six Vegas 2" is a better first-person shooter than "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare." But then, I think "Abbey Road" is a greater album than "Rubber Soul," too. My point: These are good problems to ponder, thankfully. So here goes.

Unsurprisingly, "Vegas 2" - which launched in late March - is an excellent shooter and merits comparison with the epochal "Call of Duty." In its newest iteration, the "Rainbow Six" franchise continues its preoccupation with infinitesimal detail, weapons physics that are accurate to a fault, and cool single-player and online maps that you'll want to revisit to try different ways of completing objectives.

Activision, publisher of "COD 4," isn't ceding an inch. It unveiled a new "Game of the Year" edition of "Call of Duty" within a few weeks of the release of "Rainbow Six," so if you're just getting back from the international space station and don't already own "Call of Duty," the new edition is the perfect excuse to buy it. It's the same game that has siphoned away millions of potentially productive hours since it premiered in November, updated slightly with four new multiplayer maps.

As for the new "Rainbow Six," the premise is standard Tom Clancy stuff: good guys vs. bad guys in Vegas in the not-too-distant future. Gamers and readers alike have been fortunate Clancy decided to switch media. That's because it no longer takes 900 pages to pad out the concept, "Dude, wouldn't it be cool to have my guys fighting terrorists in a casino?" As introduced in Clancy's 1998 novel, Rainbow is an international squad of special operations butt-kickers, dispatched around the world to rescue hostages and neutralize tangos.

The hallmark of the Clancy brand is accuracy, which comes through mostly in the single-player mode. It's impossible to shoot accurately when you're moving. Bad guys will run away or outflank you if they can.

It's always better to scout ahead and plan your attacks, rather than charge ahead. This can be irksome for action-oriented players, and if "Rainbow Six" has a downside, it's that the single-player mode is so detailed it can get annoying. You have to remember several keystrokes to order your squad to form up outside a room, then throw in a flash-bang and storm it, although you do this maneuver so much it becomes second nature.

The endless room-clearings began to strain my patience, as did re-fighting the same battle 15 times because bad guys were able to drop me with a supernaturally accurate first shot.

The multiplayer mode is where "Vegas 2" is really outstanding. A vast smorgasbord of weapons is available, even in your early experience levels, and you can immediately access plenty of add-ons: Every rifle has an optional suppressor, laser sight, extended magazine and other toys. Compare this to "Call of Duty 4," which you must play for days before you can upgrade from iron sights to a scope.

The level of graphics detail in online play is incredible, from the individual rust patterns on metal railings in a warehouse to the electronic jingling of slot machines in a casino - which disgorge quarters if you shoot them - to a "Splinter Cell" arcade game. "Vegas 2" is so detailed, in fact, that there are ads in it for real-life companies such as Cisco Systems and Comcast.

Here are a few other points to consider in the inevitable "Rainbow Six" vs. "Call of Duty" debate. In both games, it's difficult to get kills shooting from the hip, but, for my money, "Call of Duty" makes it easier to quickly sight down your weapon and begin firing.

On the other hand, I prefer the broader range of weapons in "Rainbow Six" and thought the general work of moving and killing was easier to master. Then again, "Call of Duty" rewards consecutive kills by giving you radar and airstrikes. And "Call of Duty" has a melee attack, enabling you to finish off a bad guy with your knife if your magazine goes dry.

Still, I found it easier to get to know the smaller, real-world "Rainbow Six" multiplayer maps, as opposed to the grander, future-battlefield boards of "Call of Duty." This argument will continue in barrooms and on message boards until somebody brings up "Halo 3," at which point everybody's going to need another round.