Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is a hardcore first-person shooter with lots of real-time strategy and realistic feels to it. It is produced and published by Ubisoft and is currently in a Closed Alpha phase for PC with sign ups for the upcoming Beta that will be released soon. There will be more Beta keys released for the Closed Alpha so make sure you try to get a key.
Tom Clancy games are legendary games dating back to the 1980s. This long-standing series is one of the oldest video game series of all time and has never ceased to let the player down. Straying away from normal first person shooter games, it does not encourage fast-paced play or quick run-and-gun feels. Rainbow Six games prefer to make the player think and use team strategy in order to win.
We first saw this game last year at the E3 convention with a small gameplay presentation and an announcement. After that there was little talk of the game except for the occasional leak and discussion. However, now that the game is out you are able to see how the game plays.
In the closed alpha you are allowed to play a 5v5 hostage rescue with a limited 12 classes, or operators, as the game refers to them; and 2 maps that are complete. The developers say there will be more game modes to come in the future along with a total of 20 operators to look forward to.
As far as the controls and how the game plays out, it feels a lot like Battlefield 4. The guns are more realistic than other games with a recoil system which reduces the ability to spray. Also note that bullets do more damage as opposed to many other FPS games such as Call of Duty.
With the ability to destroy the map itself both vertically and horizontally, it really creates new ways to play the game. You can blow up floors, blow up walls, and many other forms of destruction in order to distract the enemy. With so many different entry points and hostage holding points you never truly feel as if you are playing the same game over and over.
The gadgets work extremely well on both sides. There are the typical items that you see in any first person shooter such as flash bangs, frag grenades, and toxic grenades; but there are also some new additions that such as the ability to place movable barricades, as well as two different sorts of breach charges.
Little additions to the game that are also new include the peek feature, allowing the player to look around a corner only exposing the head and the ability to harm the hostage. The way to win for defensive side is to draw out the time of play to zero or to kill all of the attackers.
In order for the attackers to win they must escape the complex with the hostage, or they must kill all defenders. So far while playing the game I have noticed that most games end up being won by way of killing, or by one team accidentally killing the hostage.
With all of this being said there are also several flaws in the game so far. One major problem is the heartbeat sensor. We have seen this in other games before and I am very surprised to see it in this game.
The greatest part of Rainbow Six Siege is the thrill of not knowing where your enemy is. With the heartbeat sensor, however, you can see where enemies are in real-time. Not only does it break the game with your ability to know where all of your enemies are coming from, but it also ruins all the fun.
Another major problem with the game is the Call of Duty style “last stand” mode. When shot in the game you take damage to your health. However, if you don’t die from the attacker but take lots of damage you go into a last stand mode where you can only crawl and use certain weapons.
Not only does this defeat the practicality of the game but then your team can revive you. Upon revival you get back up and continue on as usual. I feel like having a player go into last stand mode is bad but a revival system is unforgivable in a highly competitive game like this.
Others may love this feature however. Many gamers have fun just reviving people and don’t even bother to try to do any shooting. For these players this is an awesome and thrilling addition to the game. So really it’s just a matter of perspective.
Overall the game is very well made. There are some problems with the game that cause it to be unbalanced, but with some nice fixes I could see this game thrive throughout its lifespan. The game will be released on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC on full release. I look forward to the Beta version of the game and suggest that everyone does the same.
