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Rainbow Six: Siege: Played at E3 2014

June 13, 2014 12:00 PM

Ubisoft blew the audience away with the surprise announcement that a new Rainbox Six game was on the way. Rainbow Six: Siege, which has been in development since 2013, puts an emphasis on multiplayer. Two teams of five square off against each other in intense, indoor, tactical combat. Past Rainbow Six games have always separated the teams with walls. Siege expands that wall into a stronghold, and the teams must fight to control it. The defending team (aka The Enemies) must fortify the building and hold their position with everything that they have. At the same time, the Rainbow Six team has to observe, plan, and breach to take control away from the defenders. However, the wall that separates them can be broken. Siege introduces environmental destruction for the first time in the series, and it opens up all new level of strategy and gameplay. Many of the house's interior walls can be destroyed by shotguns or explosives. Invaders can make their own entryways and exits, while defenders can purposefully blast a hole in a wall to create a firing position. The playable demo uses the same hostage rescue scenario as the one seen at the Ubisoft pre-E3 press conference. Defenders must keep the hostage in the house, while the Rainbow Six team has to escort her out. Each team currently uses to three classes, which some overlap between the teams. For example, both sides have a class that employs a heavy, bulletproof shield, but while the Assault side can carry it around (limiting the player to using only a pistol), defenders have to plant theirs at key locations. Defenders also have a trapper class, which throws down barbed wire and other fun toys to impede the opposing side. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Six team has the Assault class, who carries a pack full of explosive charges to blast open entryways through walls. Each game is made up of three rounds, and starts with a setup period. Defenders run around the house fortifying walls, laying down traps, and closing off entryways like windows and doorways. At the same time, the Rainbow Six team uses small drones to observe the house, find the hostage, and get a good look at how the enemy fortifications are set up. What sets Rainbow Six apart from other shooters is that it's as much a match of wits and strategy as it is about gun play.

The setup period ends and the match officially starts. The Rainbow Six team has to figure out the best point of entry, which could be almost anywhere, since the team can climb up the side of the building using grappling hooks. I played the first round as a Defender and immediately set to setting up fortifications and tossed down an explosive. Gear includes wooden barriers for windows and doorways along with wall reinforcements so that sections cannot be destroyed. I didn't really know what I was doing, but experienced players that really know the map could set up a defense that forces the Assaulting team to walk into a trap. The intensity ramps up as soon as the house is breached, and some players have a tendency to panic. A teammate accidentally (I hope) killed me while I was taking cover behind a shield. But that enabled me to watch the battle through the house's security cameras. Each round a battle against the clock and each other. The RB6 team has to get the hostage out of the house before the timer runs out, so if the Defenders can't hold out and keep control of the hostage, they can try to outlast their enemy and keep them from leaving the house. Matches move very quickly. Once the bullets started fly, members from both of our teams started to drop. It eventually came down to one remaining defender against the RB6 team, shooting across a hallway. My teammate shot the explosive that I had thrown down earlier, almost by accident, which blew away the enemy and won the match for us. It's not difficult to imagine that the action would be even more intense between two experienced teams. Playing Rainbow Six: Siege is as much about outsmarting your opponents as gunning them down. Yet, at the same time, the fully embodies how the best laid plans have an expiration of about one second after you begin executing it. Players have to coordinate, communicate, and work together during these matches. Then they have to think fast when the shooting starts. Even when all of that isn't enough, sometimes a stroke of luck is all it takes to take victory.

Steven Wong

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June 13, 2014 12:00 PM

Steven Wong posted a new article, Rainbow Six: Siege: Played at E3 2014.

Ubisoft blew the audience away with the surprise announcement that a new Rainbox Six game was on the way. Rainbow Six: Siege, which has been in development since 2013, puts an emphasis on multiplayer. Two teams of five square off against each other in intense, indoor, tactical combat. Past Rainbow Six games have always separated the teams with walls. Siege expands that wall into a stronghold, and the teams must fight to control it. The defending team (aka The Enemies) must fortify the building a
- bolneze
  
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  June 13, 2014 12:13 PM
  
  I was surprised it was playable
- threeup
  
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  June 13, 2014 12:49 PM
  
  I'm very excited! A highly tactical shooter with some interesting destruction innovations, yes plz.
  - bozer
    
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    June 13, 2014 6:50 PM
    
    Agreed. My body is ready
- Gwyndion
  
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  June 13, 2014 5:28 PM
  
  If they get anything close to the original Rainbow 6 games with the planning phase and execution, that would be amazing. Those first few games were so good... there really hasn't been anything like that since.
  - [deleted] 341930907
    
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    June 13, 2014 5:55 PM
    
    [deleted]
    - Haku-Jin
      
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      June 13, 2014 9:15 PM
      
      I'm certainly not. Today's audience doesn't have the patience for the planning phase as it was in the originals. It was great to spend hours planning, ending in complete failure, then adjusting. Also just trying to lone wolf it.
    - Madwacker
      
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      June 15, 2014 7:41 PM
      
      I said that in a previous thread during E3 and got shit on. That's exactly what it is.
  - AxeMan808
    
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    June 13, 2014 6:43 PM
    
    This seems pretty solidly centered as a Counterstrike style game, fast action-y. Rainbow Six was no-fooling TACTICAL until the Vegas games.
    - Gwyndion
      
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      June 13, 2014 6:49 PM
      
      Yeah, I have to admit I didn't watch the video and skimmed the article. But made me think of those awesome old games.
  - [deleted] 540407593
    
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    June 13, 2014 6:48 PM
    
    [deleted]
  - usmcmueller
    
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    June 13, 2014 6:53 PM
    
    I want a updated Rainbow Six like no other. This is not that game.
  - sammyl
    
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    June 13, 2014 6:57 PM
    
    This seems to be an attempt to make an action version of that, where the planning/setup phase is still there but drastically reduced in time and importance. I think it's a good way to go.
  - duncandun
    
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    June 13, 2014 9:06 PM
    
    I really loved Raven shields multiplayer. I think I just love FPSs with low health pools (1-2 shot kills) because I have super good reflexes for that kind of shit but I am terrible at tracking, which is where I lose out in bullet sponge games like UT or Quake etc.
- PenicillinX57
  
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  June 14, 2014 7:54 AM
  
  This really does look like a happy medium between the Rainbow Six of old and new. It's about the best we could hope to get out of Ubisoft. Shame about the absolutely bullshit marketing though.
- X-GOUKI
  
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  June 15, 2014 11:17 AM
  
  can they just remake rogue spear please?
  with guns that don't seem straight out of cod.
- rtricoche
  
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  June 16, 2014 5:38 AM
  
  To bad, Patriots read and sounded "innovative" this is nonsense. Just another shooter, in a sea of shooters. Whatever.