It’s wild to think that almost 10 years have passed since the release of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, a tactical shooter that heavily emphasizes destructible environments and team cooperation. Since its launch, Rainbow Six Siege has been widely considered one of the best tactical shooters ever made for offering deeper strategic gameplay than many others in the genre. However, now that it is nearing its tenth anniversary, it could use a bit of refining to open its doors a bit wider to newcomers and make its gameplay feel fresh again. That’s where Rainbow Six Siege X comes in — a transformative evolution of Siege that brings a new 6v6 game mode, gameplay changes that deepen its tactical core, a visual overhaul of classic maps, all with more updates to come.
Game Rant was recently invited to Atlanta, Georgia to check out Rainbow Six Siege X, its new 6v6 Dual Front game mode, its modernized 5v5 maps, and all the gameplay changes that come with it. After spending several hours with Siege X, it’s safe to say that it has every bit the potential to revitalize the game for the modern era and keep the blood pumping for the next 10 years. The majority of our time was spent trying out the new Dual Front game mode, which promises to be a welcome sight for newcomers, but we did get some time with the visual and mechanical overhauls made to Siege‘s traditional 5v5 Bomb mode as well.
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Siege X’s New Dual Front Mode Is a Game Changer for Newcomers
One of the more persistent complaints about Rainbow Six Siege in recent memory is that it has essentially become a playground for Siege veterans and competitive enthusiasts who effortlessly prey on newcomers and those without the experience or stress tolerance necessary to combat them. Rainbow Six Siege‘s ranked matches, especially, leave players with little room for error, as those who do happen to let their team down in any way can and likely will make themselves not just an enemy of the opposing team, but of their own team as well. Of course, that’s understandable with a live-service game as old as Siege, but it’s still unfortunate for those who are just now attempting to get into it.
Well, Rainbow Six Siege X‘s Dual Front mode is a game changer for newcomers, as it pulls out all the stops to level the playing field for those wanting to get into the game for the first time, and it does so without alienating the game’s veterans. Unlike Siege‘s traditional 5v5 modes, Dual Front is a 6v6 mode designed to ease players into the experience and give them a chance to familiarize themselves with Rainbow Six Siege‘s different Operators and tactics beyond the game’s tutorial. It doesn’t require as much communication as Siege‘s 5v5 modes, the pace is a bit slower, the map is large, and players can repeatedly respawn after dying until the match is over.
Rainbow Six Siege X‘s Dual Front more or less plays out like a “capture the base” game mode, where a circular map is made up of six different sectors — three of which are occupied by one team and the remaining three by the other team. Ultimately, the goal of Dual Front is to capture the enemy sector at the opposite end of the map. The catch, however, is that teams can only reach that sector by first capturing the enemy zones leading up to it, and players are only permitted in those zones one at a time and in order. Additionally, once a team captures a sector, they are required to wait 60 seconds before being allowed to capture the next in line. Both sides of the map are a complete mirror image of one another too, so players don’t have to worry about things being unfair.
In other words, since Dual Front is 6v6, half of a team is encouraged to capture the opposing team’s sectors while the other half of the team is encouraged to defend their own. Games last around 20–25 minutes on average, meaning it’s a bit slower paced than the game’s traditional 5v5 modes, but this is largely how it opens the door for newcomers. Dual Front also allows players to respawn an unlimited number of times throughout a game and even change their Operator between spawns, although they will need to wait 30 seconds before being allowed back into the game. It’s really a fun way to get players to experiment with different playstyles and change up their tactics throughout a single game.
Any Rainbow Six Siege veterans who might be tempted to roll their eyes at Dual Front’s increased accessibility over the game’s normal 5v5 modes should note that it isn’t by any means easy — it’s just easier. Our team was composed of Siege newcomers and casuals, and we were playing against another team with two 10-year veterans on it. Needless to say, we lost every single match. However, that never subtracted from Dual Front’s fun factor, as we never felt we were letting each other down too much by falling short, since the new mode allows for regular respawns and is a bit more forgiving on the gameplay side thanks to that.
Siege‘s traditional 5v5 modes don’t allow respawns, so when a player dies, they really feel the weight of it, as they have no choice but to sit there and spectate the rest of the round. Dual Front therefore offers a more relaxed experience and is even less likely to attract toxic behavior because of it, not to mention the fact that even the newest players can spend most of their time playing the game rather than merely watching it. Speaking of toxic behavior, Rainbow Six Siege X is bringing with it reinforced player protection to ensure that players who are toxic will be punished and prevented from playing, while players who are positive will be rewarded.
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Rainbow Six Siege X’s Modernized 5v5 Maps Breathe New Life Into the Game
Rainbow Six Siege X wouldn’t be Siege without its traditional 5v5 modes, and those have all been modernized to make the overall experience feel more immersive and realistic. As a result, Siege veterans get something different to look at and play with, and any newcomers diving into the heart of what Siege is all about can experience what feels like a fresh start for the 10-year-old game. While the graphical overhaul of the maps is certainly pleasing to the eyes, however, some of it actually impacts gameplay as well, making it a doubly welcome rework.
The lighting engine for Rainbow Six Siege X has been rebuilt to produce more realistic environments, and the materials and resolution of major surfaces have been redone to appear more real as well. First-person shadows have also been added to the game, which not only increases immersion but also adds more of a tactical edge to positioning, as players can now know better whether they’re giving away their position around a corner. Additionally, texture resolutions have been doubled in size, and Siege X‘s PC version will even have an optional 4K resolution texture download for players who want to get the most out of the game’s visuals. And finally, a weapon inspect function was added to over 100 weapons in the game, so players can finally check out their weapon skins in the game proper.
Perhaps the most substantial gameplay element added to Rainbow Six Siege X‘s modernized maps is an array of new destructible ingredients. Siege has always emphasized destructible environments, but these new destructible ingredients add a whole new layer of strategy to each session. Fire extinguishers, for example, create a temporary smoke screen when fired at and will even concuss enemies who are close to them when they go off. Gas pipes will cut off rotations or roamers that might be behind players, as they spew out fire when they are shot. Eventually, they’ll even explode and briefly leave a pit of fire on the ground. Metal detectors will also set off when players pass by them, but they can be disabled temporarily or permanently if necessary.
On every single Rainbox Six Siege map now, players can rappel around every corner and sprint from side-to-side while rappelling. It even looks much better in Rainbow Six Siege X, as Ubisoft utilized motion capture to refine and polish the animations. With Siege X‘s Audio 2.0 system, players can also experience improved sound propagation and reverberation, and the effects of that overhaul are clearly noticeable. It’s easier than ever to precisely detect where another player is at, and it’s honestly one of the most engaging aspects of the whole experience. There’s nothing quite like hearing the thunder of approaching footsteps from all sides, heights, and depths while waiting quietly in a corner to ambush them.
Again, we spent the majority of our time during the Rainbow Six Siege X hands-on preview playing the new Dual Front mode, but we did get some time with the traditional 5v5 Bomb activity, which has proven to be the most popular mode available in the game. In this mode, teams take turns defending their bombs and attacking the opposing team’s bombs, and its pace is quite a bit quicker than Dual Front. As such, it’s generally the mode Rainbow Six Siege professionals flock to first, but newcomers should be able to pick it up after spending some quality time with Dual Front and the game’s various tutorials.
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Final Thoughts
It’s definitely not a stretch to say that Rainbow Six Siege X may be the shot in the arm the game has needed for several years now. What Siege has long needed to admit to itself is that it is getting old, and the only way for it to stay alive and even thrive in the future would be for it to inject some youthful energy into its muscles to get it sprinting again. This is precisely the aim of Rainbow Six Siege X, and based on the time we spent with its new 6v6 Dual Front mode, fresh tactical gameplay elements, and modernized maps, its aim seems to be right on target to carry it into the next 10 years of Siege.
- Released
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December 1, 2015
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Violence
Rainbow Six Siege X will be playable on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Game Rant was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.