It has been some years since we last saw a Rainbow Six title, with just a few years ago we got some nice teasers to the now cancelled Rainbow 6: Patriots. In fact, years went by without any word on the status of Patriots with mostly rumours that the game was cancelled and most of the team behind it had been removed. Ubisoft stated the game remained in development, but a year later announced that Patriots had been scrapped in favour of a new title.
Development on Rainbow Six: Siege began on January 2013, with some suspected cross-over between the previous in-development Patriots. Our first look at Rainbow Six Siege came on the E3 2014 event and the demo detailed greatly the multiplayer and environment focus the game would offer.
The game was delayed for two months, and has had many closed/open alpha and beta tests over the past year. Finally the game has arrived in its full form and we have spent the past few weeks with the game and are ready to deliver our thoughts on Rainbow Six siege.
Straight up the first draw back is that we have no single player campaign. This is especially saddening since we’re talking about a Tom Clancy game — which are normally riveting with a great story line/campaign that gets us ready for the great multiplayer action that follows. Ubisoft have stated that multiplayer was the focus of the game, and we’re guessing a campaign would’ve gotten in the way of development.
The lack of campaign/story will easily be a enough to turn some would be gamers away, but the multiplayer is the true focus of the game none the less. This is where most games last and as a playing style as solid as Rainbow Six – if done right it can be amazing.
Modes
While we have no single player campaigning, we do have a few different modes to talk about. Below is a quick breakdown of each.
Situations
The included situations are very much like a tutorial into the games entire dynamic. Each Situation gives the player a particular scenario to complete within a certain time limit. Completing each situation gives you a decent chunk of renown, which allows you to unlock operators/gear, we’ll get to that later.
Terrorist Hunt
The famed terrorist Hunt returns. Up to five players will team up against waves of AI enemies, while also having multiple objects to complete. Straight forward, and simple. Difficulty of course increases with every new wave.
Multiplayer
The games multiplayer is offered with both ranked and unranked play. If you wish to dive into the ranked matches, you must first reach level 20 by playing in the unranked servers.
There are a few different modes included within the multiplayer aspect of the game. Most however, will end with one team simply killing the other team. The objects seem mostly secondary as without real planning, the game can come to a complete shooting spree like any other FPS. However, successfully completely the objective does reward more points.
Hostage
Recovering the hostage is as straight forward as it gets. The defending team have a hostage, your job as the offensive team is to recover said hostage. The defending team must prevent you from doing so. The game can come to a quick end if the offensive team accidentally kill said hostage.
The added pressure of not accidentally killing the hostage makes this mode the only one to offer any real difference compared to the others.
Bomb Defusal
The offending team must breakthrough the map and diffuse one of two bombs. Again, this mode mostly ends with one team killing the other and the objective rarely comes into play.
Team Death Match
Probably the only realistic mode here. Straight up team death match. The object is to take out the entire enemy before they do.
Operators
The game launches with twenty different operators with each exclusive to either offensive or defensive teams. Each operator can only be selected by one player per match, and again only the operators available to their corresponding team – be it offensive or defensive.
| SAS OPERATORS | ||
| Operator | Class | Ability |
| Sledge | Attacker | Carries a Breaching Hammer that can break through walls. |
| Thatcher | Attacker | Carries EMP Grenades. |
| Mute | Defender | Carries a Jammer that prevents the use of UAVs, drones remote charges. |
| Smoke | Defender | Carries explosive charges that, when detonated, release harmful chemical gas into a room. |
| FBI SWAT OPERATORS | ||
| Thermite | Attacker | Carries Thermite Breaching Charges that are capable of destroying reinforced walls. |
| Ash | Attacker | Can fire a Breaching Charges from a distance. |
| Castle | Defender | Can place Reinforced Barricades that are capable of sustaining large amounts of damage. |
| Pulse | Defender | Carries a Heartbeat Sensor to detect enemies through walls and barriers. |
| GIGN OPERATORS | ||
| Twitch | Attacker | Can pilot Unmanned Drones that can disable traps and deliver electric shocks to enemies. |
| Montage | Attacker | Uses an Extendible Shield that covers his whole body when deployed. |
| Rook | Defender | Deploys Armour Crate containing body armour for teammates. |
| Doc | Defender | Carries a Stim Pistol, which he can use to distance revive his teamates and himself. |
| SPETSNAZ OPERATORS | ||
| Glaz | Attacker | Has a Flip Sight scope, allowing for him to change the magnification of his zoom on the go. |
| Fuze | Attacker | Has the ability to use a Cluster Charge which latches onto walls and releases grenades on the opposite side. |
| Kapkan | Defender | He has an Entry Denial Device which allows him to set traps in entrances like windows and door frames. |
| Tachanka | Defender | This soldier can drop a Mounted LMG that can be used by his whole team to mow down enemies. |
| GSG 9 OPERATORS | ||
| Blitz | Attacker | Carries a G52-Tactical Shield which can use a flash to blind enemies, even while being used as mobile protection. |
| IQ | Attacker | Uses the Electronics Detector to locate any electronics in range through obstacles such as walls. |
| Jäger | Defender | Uses an Active Defence system to intercept grenades before they detonate. |
| Bandit | Defender | Sets high-tension Shock Wire on metallic gadgets, dealing damage to enemies. |
Renown
As players enjoy the game, they rank up, but also earn renown credits. This comes from winning matches, getting more and more kills, and of course completing objectives. The renown system is no different than most games where in-game credit is earned and then used to unlock different items. Earning renown allows users to unlock different operators, attachments, reticles, and skins.
The game does include micro-transactions, but these do not give players access to anything that cannot be gained using the in-game renown credits, bar some special skins that add not functionally. Both future maps and modes will be free for all players of the game, and the micro transactions are aimed at unlocking content faster, or buying exclusive skins that do not affect gameplay. It’s a fine line, but Ubisoft did a decent job not making the game pay-to-win. If a user wishes to unlock their gear faster, they can pay to do so, but that can take away from the fun of the game, and that same content is easily unlocked by simply playing the game.
Conclusion
After spending a few weeks with Rainbow Six Siege, we feel ready to give our conclusion on the game.
Rainbow Six has always been a unique FPS game. It has been some years since we got the last great one, and since then, it has always sat in the background with many users wondering what was to come next. Since patriots went dark, and assumed to be shelved, we finally got word on Rainbow Six Siege.
First things first, the lack of a campaign, this is of course the biggest draw back of the game. Like we mentioned earlier in the review, this is especially saddening since we’re dealing with a Tom Clancy’s game. Games like these need stories, but it seems more and more games are launching without any form of story/campaign.
There is no definitive reason as to why a campaign was left out, but likely Ubisoft felt the multiplayer was the true focus and would be enough. They were mostly right.
While we would have loved a story to the game. It really is a top Rainbow Six game that we have thoroughly enjoyed over the past few weeks. Gameplay can become a bit numb with most modes coming down to killing the other team, but tactics are a true factor within this game. Communication is borderline a requirement for a more fun and successful game. Something most developers would try to dilute, but we’re glad they stuck to their guns on this.
The maps do offer a decent level of choice, but map rotation can be a bit of a drag at times – with maps repeating within a only a few matches. This has eased up somewhat with some updates to the game rolled out. Every level and every team you play with/against can really change the dynamic of the game. The location of the hostage/bomb also varies, which affect your tactics for the match. it would be nice to see some choice on locations in the game, rather than be random — which it was somewhat in the alpha/beta.
The games customization starts and ends with the weaponry. Players can unlock scopes, grips, and skins, but that’s it. Ubisoft included a good amount of weapons at launch, and most are very well balanced between matches. There is a particular operator (Glaze) that comes with a special weapon that is pretty much one shot one kill, but thankfully can only be picked once like all other operators.
Overall, we’re very pleased with Rainbow Six Siege. It offers a true tactical shooter that requires planning and team work to win. The future of the game will come down to the addition of new modes, operators, and maps, but for now we’re very much enjoying the game as it is, and look forward to what more it can offer.
