Video Game Review: Rainbow 6 Siege

Developer Ubisoft
Publisher Ubisoft
Distributor Megarom
Where we got our copy Donated by Shaun Hillary
Genre FPS
Game modes Single Player, Multiplayer
Players 1-10
Reviewed on PC

Available on Playstation 4, Xbox One

Uberutang

Published December 8, 2015

Reviewed on PC.

Game code kindly donated to Geeknode by Shaun Hillary.

In writing this review I realized that I had to find answers to few pressing questions with regards to this game, so sit back, grab a coffee and let’s walk through this new tactical shooter from Ubisoft.

Optimization

I can happily report that Ubisoft Montreal has done a fantastic job at optimizing this game for a wide variety of hardware. The game runs incredibly well (2560×1440 – maxed out settings) on my GTX970, usually well above 70fps and never below 60fps.

The game has a multitude of PC centric options to select to get it ‘just right’ and it even ships with a benchmark tool to make sure you get the exact experience you want.

Gameplay

Shockingly this is the first Rainbow Six game that has no Single player campaign. You can play ‘terrorist’ hunt alone, but that is unhealthy according to my spiritual leader.

The game starts you off with training scenarios that offers a very good introduction to the various tasks and scenarios you will encounter in multiplayer and also features the introduction of the Operatives that you will have to unlock to play.

Completing any of the game modes or matches will net you renown and that can be used to unlock the various Rainbow Operatives from the various Rainbow Six nations.

Each Operative has their own strength and weakness and some can only be used to Attack and others can only be used to Defend. Overall the game manages to really balance the teams out and you can only have one specific Operative per side, so no ‘shield wall’ or snipers only tactics in this game. (Something that they improved from the Beta)

The multiplayer has several game types that always pivot around two primary goals: attack or defend.

You will always be tasked with either attacking some objective or preventing the other team from doing so. This could be a hostage, a bomb or variations on that theme.

Each match will have both teams play as attackers or defenders, with a 3 rd round to resolve possible score ties.

There is a nice variety of maps and modes to keep you engaged for several hours.

Terrorist hunt pits you and your friends against AI, but sadly the AI enemies are incredibly daft and even on the hardest difficulty you can easily master them once you have figured out their ‘trigger’ points.

Unfortunately it seems that Rainbow Six Siege is P2P hosted and that most of the player I usually end up with are manning a research station in Siberia.

Ok the latency is usually not that bad (200 – 250ms), but it is more than enough to result in some incredibly cheap deaths, that are clearly highlighted by the build in killcam.

Micro transactions

Yes. Those things. In a full retail priced game. With no Single player. The transactions vary between score boosters to cosmetic gun skins. Not a fan of this new trend creeping into retail games.

eSport ambitions

It is clear from the way that the game is setup that Ubisoft wants this to become a eSport game and it has the potential to really shine in that area, if they resolve the very low netcode tickrate, latency issues and most importantly drop the price of the game.

Simply put there are similar games available that gives you 90% the same experience either for free or at a fraction of the cost of this game. Games like the incredibly popular CS GO or Insurgency or even the completely free, with no micro transactions and LOCAL servers America’s Army Proving Grounds are strong contenders in the local ‘tactical team based shooter’ space.

Team Rainbow

Team work and communication is absolutely key in this game. You might end up in a lobby where everybody is a genius tactician and they use the build in VOIP correctly and those matches are absolutely splendid.

With the right squad, that plan each Operative and role carefully the game really shines as the ‘rock, paper, scissors’ nature each Operative is finely balanced.

With the wrong random squad however the game usually ends in a frustrating defeat.

Final thoughts

I feel that Ubisioft should have done one of two things with this title:

They should have included a single player campaign or they should have fully committed to the eSport ambitions of the title and made it either very cheap or free to play with Micro transactions.

They instead opted to go for a full retail price, without any Single Player (or coop) campaign and still included micro transactions.

We will be keeping a careful eye on the game as it develops in ‘the wild’ and if Ubisoft do manage to address the pricing and latency issues we will update this review.

Update:

Ubisoft has released information on the “Year One” season pass.

One Year, Four “Seasons” of Content. No Paywall.

Over the course of a year, new content will come in the form of “seasons” that coincide with ranked gameplay. Over the course of the year we will be releasing:

4 new maps (playable on both online multiplayer and Terrorist Hunt)

8 new operators, with new primary/secondary weapons and unique Gadget

New cosmetic items

New game modes, events and/or activities

Maps and modes will be free and available immediately for everyone. New operators and most weapon skins can be unlocked with earned currency called Renown, or with R6 Credits (more on these below). The only new content that will be available exclusively by purchase will be a small number of premium weapon skins that are purely aesthetic and have no impact on gameplay. For an online, competitive multiplayer game it’s imperative that we don’t create a divide in the community or introduce “pay to win” mechanics. By doing it this way, we hope to keep our community united and engaged over the long term.

Ubisoft blog with more information here

Reviewed on PC. Game code kindly donated to Geeknode by Shaun Hillary. In writing this review I realized that I had to find answers to few pressing questions with regards to this game, so sit back, grab a coffee and let’s walk through this new tactical shooter from Ubisoft. Optimization I can happily report that Ubisoft Montreal has done a fantastic job at optimizing this game for a wide variety of hardware. The game runs incredibly well (2560x1440 – maxed out settings) on my GTX970, usually well above 70fps and never below 60fps. The game has a multitude of PC centric options to select to get it ‘just right’ and it even ships with a benchmark tool to make sure you get the exact experience you want. Gameplay Shockingly this is the first Rainbow Six game that has no Single player campaign. You can play ‘terrorist’ hunt alone, but that is unhealthy according to my spiritual leader. The game starts you off with training scenarios that offers a very good introduction to the various tasks and scenarios you will encounter in multiplayer and also features the introduction of the Operatives that you will have to unlock to play. Completing any of the game modes or matches will net you renown and that can be used to unlock the various Rainbow Operatives from the various Rainbow Six nations. Each Operative has their own strength and weakness and some can only be used to Attack and others can only be used to Defend. Overall the game manages to really balance the teams out and you can only have one specific Operative per side, so no ‘shield wall’ or snipers only tactics in this game. (Something that they improved from the Beta) The multiplayer has several game types that always pivot around two primary goals: attack or defend. You will always be tasked with either attacking some objective or preventing the other team from doing so. This could be a hostage, a bomb or variations on that theme. Each match will have both teams play as attackers or defenders, with a 3rd round to resolve possible score ties. There is a nice variety of maps and modes to keep you engaged for several hours. Terrorist hunt pits you and your friends against AI, but sadly the AI enemies are incredibly daft and even on the hardest difficulty you can easily master them once you have figured out their ‘trigger’ points. Unfortunately it seems that Rainbow Six Siege is P2P hosted and that most of the player I usually end up with are manning a research station in Siberia. Ok the latency is usually not that bad (200 – 250ms), but it is more than enough to result in some incredibly cheap deaths, that are clearly highlighted by the build in killcam. Micro transactions Yes. Those things. In a full retail priced game. With no Single player. The transactions vary between score boosters to cosmetic gun skins. Not a fan of this new trend creeping…

Video Game Review: Rainbow 6 Siege

2015-12-08

Uberutang

Total - 6.5

65 6.5

Keep an eye on it.

The game is very well polished, it has loads of potential and when ‘the plan comes together’ it is magical and extremely addictive, but (and this is Kardashian sized), it is hard to recommend this to anybody (and this is from a fan that has hundreds of hours in each of the previous RB6 titles), unless you have at least 8 (preferably 10 to make up two full teams) of dedicated friends to play with, or if you manage to snag it for really cheap and don’t mind the latency at all.

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