I enter the house by the front door. Probably not the best point of entry but maybe it was the least expected to the terrorists for me to come in that way. My new found comrades chose to enter via the roof and the windows. I walk cautiously up the stairs. Having checked the full ground floor, the hostage must be up here. I hear commotion on the other side of a makeshift barricade. This is it. Setting up a breach charge I prepare myself. Full clip in my G36C ready. Then boom! The barricade is blown to bits, gunfire ensues but I haven’t shown my face yet. An enemy pops out to see where I am, I fire first. One down. I storm in the room, 3 of them are dead already, one hiding behind a desk. He injures me but a swift head shot puts an end to the match.
It’s situations like this that makes Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege a multiplayer game like no other. It adopts an attack and defend style of game-play with teams of 5 taking turns to either secure or defend an objective in a diverse mixture of maps. The game solely focuses on teamwork and planning. Each team having a set amount of time to prepare or plan before the match actually starts. Attackers utilise a wheeled drone to seek out their enemy and objectives while defenders can fortify their position. Defending is way more fun. Having such options as barricading open doorways and windows to reinforcing weaker walls with steel, defenders must be prepared for anything as the fully destructible environments means that team Rainbow could come in from any direction. The coolest thing here though is the ability to rappel up and down walls. You actually have the option to change your stance so that you are hanging upside down which opens up some cool new opportunities.
Before the match, you are required to select a class. Each one has their own special trait which differs them from each other. Attackers have Thatcher who is able to use EMP grenades to disable electronic equipment or Thermite who is able to breach reinforced walls whilst defenders have Kapkan who can booby trap entry points or Pulse who can detect enemy heart beats using his Heartbeat sensor amongst others. It’s these diversities that make your choice an important one and embraces your style of play. Do you storm in guns blazing or take your time with a bit of finesse? Although the latter takes more time, the matches aren’t very long. The match types are pretty much irrelevant in Rainbow Six Siege. We have situations such as Hostage where attackers must secure or extract a hostage to win or Bomb which requires attackers to use a diffuser to two bombs then extract it to Secure Area which is plain old Team Death-match. Whatever the match type, its almost guaranteed that the match will play out the same way with players just hunting each other as killing all of the opposite team secures a win too.
The gunplay is brilliant. Whilst no story or campaign is present, single players can hone their skills before taking on the world in Situations mode which plop you in different types of scenarios. From securing a terrorist infested plane at an airport to rescuing a high value target in a huge mansion. They are great fun to play but leave an empty feeling when they re all done. You can make things tougher in Realistic mode. This ups the tension to the max. One shot and your dead and terrorists have deadly accuracy. Completing these Situations helps you boost your progress before you get underway with multiplayer by leveling up one or two levels. Leveling up grants you Renown which is in-game currency which is used to unlock different Operators and kit out owned operators with new weapons and attachments or even boosters to help gain levels faster for a short time. Terrorist Hunt returns from Rainbow Six Vegas too which allows you solely or with a team to take on a group of computer controlled terrorists which is a nice break from the norm.
Rainbow Six Siege is a winner in the multiplayer market. The attack and defend game-play is mixed beautifully with some tight knit gun-play and an impressive amount of variety with Operator types. Teamwork is key here. Playing with a group of mates is a cracking time but even if your with a set of strangers, Rainbow Sic Siege is a fun but intense time. Where will they come from? The windows? Roof? That door over there? Its fantastic!