Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Siege (Beta)

The classic Rainbow Six series from Ubisoft is going to be expanded by one more title later this year – Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Some lucky players have been able to get a peek at this new tactical first-person shooter by participating in the beta testing phase. DLH.Net was there for our readers, so keep reading to find out what our first impressions were.

A rough start

At the beginning of the beta phase, things were a bit confusing. The timeline for beta testing, already relatively short, was cut even shorter, and then they extended it again, probably due to a variety of technical problems. At first, you could only access the game at certain intervals, and then you’d have to spend your time trying to track down other players. And the fact that Ubisoft is banking on using peer-to-peer for multiplayer mode didn’t help matters, either.

Of course, bugs and other problems are par for the course when it comes to a beta version, and as long as they’re taken care of by the time the final version comes out, they ultimately don’t matter. So in our preview we’ll be trying to ignore these technical issues as far as possible, and instead concentrate on the basic content and gameplay elements players are eager to hear about.

The beta version of the game allowed you to choose from two different game modes: Multiplayer and “Terrorist Hunt”. You get dog tags by completing missions, which allow you to gradually unlock several different operators.

Equipped in a variety of ways, operators are members of the five tactical units available in the game: FBI SWAT (USA), SAS (UK), GIGN (France), GSG 9 (Germany), and Spetsnaz (Russia). The attack-oriented operator “Blitz” has a special police shield that is modified to release a flash of light that blinds enemies. On the other hand, the defensive operator “Bandit” has a device that allows him to electrify metallic objects (such as barbed wire) to protect the team from attackers.

1. Multiplayer

In Multiplayer, two teams of five face off against each other, taking turns playing as the attacking and defending team. The first team to win three rounds wins the match, which means there can be as many as five rounds in a single match.

During beta testing, there were three playable maps available, with more or less the same basic composition. We fought through a nicely furnished consulate, a private home, and some kind of military storehouse. Each building has several different floors, lots of barricaded-up windows and doors, and many rooms with walls – and sometimes even floors and ceilings – that you can shoot through or blow up.

After the two teams select a starting position, there’s a short preparation phase. Attackers can use this time to send out a drone to scope out the area and locate any explosive charges placed around the building, which they have to disarm during the round itself.

Defenders prepare by barricading doors and placing booby traps, barbed wire, and other useful things designed to make it harder for the attacking team to get through. They can also reinforce walls to secure them against any attempts by attackers to break through. And of course they can intercept and destroy the attackers’ drones, preventing them from performing recon operations.

In each four-minute round, the defenders lie in wait (cynics might say “camp”), hoping to intercept and kill the attackers. The attackers themselves will have to find a way to get into the building before they can carry out their mission, the easiest option being to break through a barricaded door or window. You can do this by shooting them up, blowing them up, or smashing them to pieces. And just so the defenders won’t have it too easy, you can climb up walls and at various spots, you can use ropes to swing headlong into the building.

These brief, but tough rounds don’t just require a quick index finger; you’ve also got to have a good ear, and ideally, a good plan. At any time, the wall next to you can go up in smoke, or you can be hiding behind what you think is a protective barricade, only to see it riddled with bullets. Each new operator you unlock comes with several new tactical options to experiment with. But after a few matches, you’ll notice that no matter what map you’re on, the basic gameplay is always the same, which really limits any long-term appeal the game might have.

2. Terrorist Hunt

"If you want something done right, then you should do it yourself." For all those who live by this motto, Terrorist Hunt allows you to go it alone as a “Lone Wolf” if you don’t feel like playing co-op with four other players. In this mode, you play against tons of AI enemy terrorists, who have barricaded themselves up in one of multi-story buildings you’ll recognize from multiplayer mode. Your task is to take them all out.

You’ve got to be extra careful as a Lone Wolf, since you won’t have anyone to cover your back. A good eye and a quick index finger aren’t enough here – you advance, kill one enemy, then retreat to a secure position to plan the next few steps forward. You trick enemies into following you so you can take them out undetected, climb up exterior walls, and blow up barricades to create new ways in.

This is where the recon drone is especially helpful. You can use this little guy to investigate room after room, marking your targets. Then you park it in a safe spot so it’s not discovered and destroyed by enemies on patrol. After performing recon, it’s time to collect the fruits of your labor. Enemies stay marked for several seconds, so in many cases you can kill them without any putting yourself in danger by making direct physical contact. Toss a grenade around the corner or shoot through one of the walls or barricades, and you’re one more step closer to a successful mission.

But even with the best efforts to scout out the area, it’s still pretty easy to overlook an enemy in the labyrinthine interiors of the buildings, so you’d better make sure to keep your ears open. The sounds enemies make when moving around indicate whether they’re walking down a corridor, right around the next corner, or on the floor above you. And your listening skills are also useful for other purposes, since the terrorists will have set several deadly traps around the place, in addition to the barbed wire used to slow you down. If you listen closely, you’ll be able to find where these traps are placed, since the device makes a noise that sounds kind of like poor cell phone reception. Even if the AI doesn’t always put up too much of a fight, playing as a Lone Wolf is a very suspenseful affair.

Graphics and Sound

While the graphics in Rainbow Six Siege aren’t exactly groundbreaking, they’re still really nice to look at. They’ve done a great job with the smoke and particle effects, and the textures leave a solid impression. While the movement of the characters looks somewhat unnatural at times, you hardly notice it in the heat of battle.

The sound design seems to be above average. It’s not that explosions sound so powerful – they’re relatively easy to place, and the whole effect is underscored by a slight shaking of the camera, which gives makes the effect feel even more real.

The sounds of footsteps and gunshots also sound different, depending on whether the other player is above you, below you, behind you, or to the side of you. It’s not all that uncommon to be able to hear enemies before you actually see them. Taken together, Rainbow Six Siege is a real feast for the senses.