Why Rainbow Six Siege is the Best Game You're Not Playing

Rainbow Six Siege is easily the best game many of you are probably not playing; and my favorite game this generation.  Maybe some of you played it during the alpha/beta or at launch and were quickly dismissive of it; well the game has come a long way since then.  Ubisoft has adopted the mentality to support their games long after launch and provide additional content to keep gamers engaged; just this past December the division had another update, a game many of us even forgot was out there. This sort of dedication is how Siege can thrive three years late and have attracted 25 million players globally. 

For the unfamiliar, Siege is a very tactical first-person shooter with Operators instead of classes; by the end of the season of play the game will have a whopping 44 operators to choose from, evenly split between offensive and defensive operators.   Each operator has a short bio which includes a little backstory as well (and more importantly) a unique ability; these abilities can range from being able to setup additional security cams on defense to being able to briefly track enemy footprints on offense.  Each operator ability can be countered via one or more operators on the opposite team, so it does become a chess match when two good teams are playing as Siege is very heavy in its meta.  

There are 3 objective game modes for PvP and although they seem similar to each other, the strategy for each change greatly.  In the Secure game type, the defense must keep the opposing team from taking control of a specific room on the map; the offense attains victory by breaching said room and then being able to control the room for a given amount of time with no opposing operators in the room.  In Hostage, the defense must protect the hostage from being escorted out of the building while of course the offense is the rescue team; if either team kills the hostage they lose.  The last game mode is Bomb and this is the game mode played at the Pro League level; in it the defense must defend two bomb sites on the map simultaneously while the attaching team must plant a defuser at one of the sites and the defend it while it defuses the bomb.

At the start of each round, each team has time to prepare.  The defense can setup reinforcements which make the walls harder to breach and depending on their unique ability can setup additional traps.  The attacking team uses small remote-controlled drones to drive around the map and locate the objective as well as identify the operators on the opposing team so that they can know what to expect. Once the preparation phase is over the attacking team makes their way to the building from the outside and then towards the objective, taking out security cameras on the way to not give away their location.  The next part can often be unpredictable as the attacking team has to be mindful of players roaming on different floors as well as players anchored down to protect the objective.  The defending team prepares for an attack or rush that can come from any side or even floor.  Since a lot of the environment is destructible, the attacking team can breach through walls, windows, or even hatches on the floors above and below the objective.

On the PvE side of things, we have the Rainbow Six classic, Terrorist Hunt.  In this mode, you and a team of friends can attempt to breach and clear a map full of enemies.  The objective can change as sometimes you must defuse a bomb, rescue a hostage, or simply clear the building of opposing forces.  The mode is quite challenging and has additional difficulty settings which add a lot of replay value, it also has the option for matchmaking if preferred. On March 6^th, the PvE gets a boost in the form a limited time even called Outbreak which will bring a short story and 3 maps for cooperative for you and 2 friends.  In the mode you have a mix of familiar horde and zombie modes with a Siege twice.  You sometimes are the attackers while other times you need to hunker down and reinforce a room before a swarm of monsters tries to breach.

The meta and overall strategy changes every 3 months when Ubisoft introduces 2 new operators to the mix which can sometimes change entire strategies on a map on both the offense and defense since you know must plan for the possibility of these new operators being on the opposing team.  Normally they will release one offense and one defensive operator, but that isn’t always the case as will be seen on March 6^th when 2 new attackers are added.  By the end of the year of content however, both sides will be balanced with an even number of operators.

Along with new operators each season of Siege comes with new maps, map reworks or buffs, as well as a patch to further balance the game.  This is all of course based on how people play the game and what Ubi observes from all the feedback.  The changes can be “buffing” or “nerfing” a particular operator or be as drastic as a complete overall of a map to balance it out and make it more competitive.  Unlike the operators which must be unlocked using either in- game currency (earned after each match) or real-world money, the maps are always free for everyone at once.  The game of course has loot boxes, called alpha packs, but these are merely cosmetic and can be earned freely through gameplay as well as through in-game currency or real word money. 

Ubisoft says they have no plans of making Rainbow Six Siege 2 and are instead going to be releasing more maps and operators or the next 7 years for a total of 100 operators in the span of 10 years.  While this would normally seem like a pipe dream, they are well on their way and the player base only seams to grow.  Siege is game that has only gotten better with time and is well worth your attention at this point. It’s a game that force teams to work together and communicate, something that games like Call of Duty don’t adhere to. 

I was never an adopter of season passes and additional DLC unless I found reason to be passionate about the product as a whole; I am now on my 3^rd season pass for Siege and have no regrets.  Every 3 months I look forward to news breaking on what the 2 operators will bring to the meta or what changes and balances are getting patched in.  With the game being available on multiple platforms, and now offering more content than ever, the time is right to either jump in for the first time, or jump back in and take in all the great evolution the game has seen over the last 3 years.

If you’re a bit skeptical just keep an eye out for a free play weekend which happens often.  You can always check out some wonderful pro level players on Twitch to see what you’re missing or watch Pro League teams show off and really hook you into the game. The game offers multiple price points to for beginners to jump in and while it can seem overwhelming at first, a few games of casual and you’ll never want to play another FPS again.