Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has arrived on Xbox One, PS4 and PC after a long wait and several beta tests. With the full game now available with a mix of single and multiplayer content driving the package, is this a tactical shooter to get into and more importantly worth the price of entry. Take a look at our Rainbow Six Siege review for the full picture.
Rainbow Six Siege Review:
Today we’re taking a look at Ubisoft’s tactical first person shooter Rainbow Six Siege which is the first game in the long running series to hit Xbox One and PS4. It comes off the back of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 which released way back in 2008 so after a long hiatus the wait has been long and drawn out. What Ubisoft has done though is ditch the traditional story elements of past games in favour of a more condensed offering that simply gets down to business without fuss or fight. You’ve got two options effectively here which is to play through a single player offline set of solo lone wolf missions which act as a tutorial for each of the operatives, then test your mettle against AI in the terrorist hunt mode with or without human partners – this mode is online only and can’t be played offline. Terrorist Hunt mode consists of hostage rescue which has you secure a hostage and then move them to an extraction point; hostage protection which has you holed up with a hostage defending against waves of attackers; bomb defuse where you’re tasked with finding two bombs and then defusing them whilst being attacked by terrorists; and Terrorist Hunt classic which is a standard you or a team versus the AI.
The alternative is to jump online as a 5 man team in matchmaking or as a party and play various attack and defend game types against 5 human opponents. However, due to the fact that there’s little to no co-ordination here between players (and the same can be said for Terrorist Hunt Mode) means that there are few tactics and is pretty much a free-for-all mess which is laughable at best and not the ideal way to experience the game. In reality, the best way to approach the game is to grab a group of friends who communicate with each other and make sure that each operative’s role is well used. Obviously this is harder than it sounds which means most people’s experience of the game will be with random mute players who go charging in with a variety of weapons, don’t use the camera tools to scout the maps first or help you up when you’re down, and generally treat the game like any other shooter on the market. Whilst some teams will be successful with this approach it really isn’t the way the game is meant to be played. Couple this with countless server and connectivity issues and you have a game that’s problematic at launch and far more rewarding to just play single player lone wolf.
Whilst opting to play solo might be quite subjective, there’s something enticing about the lone wolf mode in Terrorist hunt making it easily the best part of the game outside of getting like-minded friends to join in. It’s you versus the AI which has to be said has intelligence that ranges from extremely clever to as dumb as dumbo the elephant, oh and it cheats pretty badly when you up the difficulty. So for example, knowing your exact location regardless of stealth, having pin point accuracy, shooting through non penetrable surfaces and worst of all rushing to your hidden location when you whip out the remote camera drone. If you can stomach these annoyances then yes Terrorist Hunt mode is tense, often thrilling and edge of your seat gaming.
The bottom line is, Ubisoft has made a game that is purely designed for multiplayer online play where the single player content is half arsed and not fully fledged. Take the bomb defuse or hostage protection modes for example, these are clearly meant for more than one player and yet rather than tailor the single player offering to suit the lone wolf, it remains the same as if you have a full team of players so disarming two bombs is virtually impossible even on the lowest difficulty – the rewards are also lacklustre for all the effort as well which is a bit tight to say the least. It’s perhaps all too easy to complain about the single player game here due to its lack of options and if we look back at past games in the series it’s a massive step backwards in terms of what you can do. Classic Terrorist Hunt is the most rewarding of the modes, with hostage rescue a close second, but the set up is lacking. You can’t choose the enemy density, or whether you want a time limit imposed or not, and even selecting maps and modes is hidden away in an options menu rather than being managed before you jump into each match. It’s just a complete mess which pales in comparison to any of its predecessors and that’s without ranting on about the lack of team mate AI which has been removed for this game.
That said, the 11 maps are rather impressive with some neat details and astonishing destructibility making for the most engaging playgrounds of the entire series aside from the Bartlett University map which is just clouds of orange particles where you can’t see anything but your enemy can. The locations range from jumbo jets at Heathrow Airport, to a Biker bar, mansion , bank and such like giving some neat contrasts between each area. There’s lots of verticality too with the option to climb up the sides of structures, toss a flashbang through a partially smashed in window and dive through all Hollywood style. There’s some genuinely awesome moments to be had whatever the mode you’re playing thanks to the expertly crafted level design.
The visual elements are perhaps not as crisp as you’d expect for a 2015 release although this is most likely due to the balancing of performance against the full destruction of the maps. There’s some low resolution assets which although plentiful to create atmosphere are noticeable even in the thick of things. You can perhaps live with the lacking visuals when the game runs pretty smoothly at 60 fps on PC and steadily at 30 on consoles though. What has to be commended is the audio which is some of the best in any shooter to date and has to be experienced through headphones or at loud volume for the full effect. There’s just an incredible attention to detail that’s woven into the gameplay to the point you really need to focus on the sound as much as the visual, and due to the on a knife edge gameplay where death can come swift, using all the senses is paramount to success. You’ll hear the terrorists shuffle about on floors above you, lay traps, barricade doorways and give each other warnings about their intent. It’s excellent in every way and when coupled with great sounding weapons fire and explosions is a real aural treat where music is not needed.
Rainbow Six Siege entices its players to keep repeating the maps and modes to gain XP and renown so as to unlock more operators and weapons mods. You can cheat by spending real money on boosters but these time saving devices are optional for those who can’t spare the many hours it takes to build up points. There are 20 Rainbow Six members to utilize and each has their own set of skills which are useful for the various modes although the 10 defender characters can’t be used in any of the classic Terrorist Hunt maps. How long you keep playing the game is subjective and whilst the solo situations can be fully completed in a few hours, the random nature of Terrorist Hunt modes and the three levels of difficulty means you can keep coming back for more and it being different each time with or without human partners – the same can be said of the versus multiplayer. In this regard replay value is quite high and lasts as long as players are comfy playing the same maps and modes over and over.
Rainbow Six Siege is a mixed bag as on one hand there’s a complete scaling back of options, seemingly utter contempt for single player offline content, some dodgy AI moments that will have you throwing pads at non breakable walls in reality, and an online game that’s not really suited for matchmaking. However, on the other hand there’s a charming game full of personality that’s tense, thrilling and ultimately fun to play whether you’re a serious tactical gamer or otherwise. You can easily form a love hate relationship with this game, but in fairness the good outweighs the bad. Yes, it could be much better and more diverse like the older games, but the cool level designs, fantastic audio and genuine sense of fear are unmatched making for a great game to love and loathe in equal measure.
Score 8/10
