Bishop is the main protagonist that the player controls and guides throughout the events of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. The appearance and gender vary, depending on the intended look by the player. If co-op mode is enabled, Knight, whose appearance also varies depending on how the player desires them to look, accompanies Bishop on missions. Knight's role, however, is limited as merely a co-op player, and Knight is not critical to the single player campaign's story. Playing as Knight allows the player to unlock co-op achievements.
 
Single-player
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 includes a single-player campaign/storyline mode as well as a variation of the Terrorist Hunt mode included in previous games, which involves repeated encounters with enemy AI terrorists in a non-linear map.
Terrorist Hunt mode may be played in "Lone Wolf" (alone) or with a pair of computer-controlled allies that may be issued environment-based contextual commands. Both the campaign and Terrorist Hunt game modes support cooperative multiplayer which can have up to three friends playing. Present in all game modes is a multi-dimensional advancement system.
The game goes into third-person mode when the player takes cover behind a wall or piece of the environment. While in third-person mode, the player can shoot enemies blindly or aim using the reticle, without the ability to look directly into their weapons aiming sights, unless a scope is attached.