After six years, Rainbow Six Siege is continually growing and changing to maintain itself as one of the best online tactical shooters. With each season Siege wants you to adapt your playstyle by throwing in new operators and map reworks. I have been playing Siege on and off since its release, and I am continually amazed by how versatile and unique this FPS experience is.
Last week I had the opportunity to go hands-on with what Ubisoft has in store for the series in its Year 6, Season 3 content update. Kicking things off, our hosts at Ubisoft ANZ took us through a presentation of what was awaiting players as part of Crystal Guard. I was a little out of touch with Siege, so a quick revision session helped calm my nerves and prepared me to jump in. Osa, who hails from Croatia and has a background in electromechanics, is our new attacking Operator. She comes equipped with a transparent bulletproof shield known as the Talon-8 Clear Shield, which can be carried or deployed on floors or window frames. The shield, while completely bulletproof, is vulnerable to explosives, and like Mira’s mirror it has a pressure cannister that can be destroyed to collapse it. Its range of deploy ability allows for tactical site and angle holding.
Meet Osa
A few of the existing Operators have had some neat little buffs given to them. IQ was one of the first Operators I started to play as, as I felt somewhat useful pointing out enemy devices. Unfortunately, I struggled to identify what enemy devices I was detecting. IQ now uses the new ping 2.0 system, where she can identify what enemy devices she is spotting. This should increase IQ’s pick rate and make her a more valuable Operator. Twitch now starts with a normal drone during the preparation phase and equips her shock drone during the action phase. The shock drone now can jump and shoots a laser that destroys enemy devices instead of just disabling them. The shock drones’ new manoeuvrability adds a layer of freedom that turns Twitch into a more useful Operator. Also, Fuze’s cluster grenades can now be deployed through reinforced surfaces, allowing for more attack points.
Ubisoft has also tweaked some of the game’s maps, with Coastline, Clubhouse and Bank all receiving minor changes. The biggest change is that there are now more access points than before, which allows for more rotatability. These new map changes force players to play more inside the buildings and reduces the ability to spawn peek.
But that wasn’t all the additions Ubisoft had in mind for Crystal Guard, with the team adding a nice little quality of life improvement in the form of player rim outlines, which now prevents unfair camouflage from dark clothed players hiding in dark corners. Furthermore, Ubisoft surprised us with the announcement that Resident Evil’s Leon Kennedy will be crossing over into the Siege universe with a themed Lion Elite skin. Ubisoft also announced a Collector’s Edition case, with details releasing shortly.
Siege keeps surprising me and pulling me back in thanks to an ever-changing state of play. The introduction of Osa and her skillset will once again force players to adjust their playstyles and I can’t wait to see her in action when the content for Crystal Guard drops on the Test Server on August 18 (although Osa won’t be available until August 19).
