Here at Push Square we've been checking out the closed beta for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege on the PlayStation 4 – and boy has this game been kept under a rock since its first announcement at E3 last year. There's been a distinct lack of interest in the title since its reveal, but it finally appears to have found its feet with this pre-release taster. Anyway, onto the game itself...
For those of you out of the loop, this is a five-versus-five multiplayer title which involves a SWAT team taking on a group of terrorists in a realistic shooter, where each player only has one life per round. It's a similar setup to classics like Counter-Strike, SOCOM, and even The Last of Us – just with lots more destruction of walls, ceilings, and floors.
The primary difference between Six Siege and the other shooters is the sheer number of options that you have available when defending and attacking. This is a game that's best played with friends who you can communicate with, right the way down to selecting which class you'll choose prior to a match. You'll then need to decide between you where to defend or attack from, and which tactics you'll employ. We like this element of the release, as it brings something refreshing to a stagnating genre.
There's an absolute ton to think about: each room has multiple entrances, windows, doors, and trapdoors. And, of course, there's the destructibility which means that every round will play differently to the last. We've played several rounds now where our team has been undone by a breached wall, and we've been forced to learn from our mistakes as a consequence. Sometimes, though, a well-executed strategy will simply get the better of you – and the tension that this creates is wholly unique.
There are two different game modes in the beta: Disarm Bomb, where the attackers have to shut down some explosives in order to win, and Secure Area, where you have to prevent the opposing team from entering a marked location. Both modes are similar, but so far we prefer the accessibility of Secure Area, even though we suspect that Disarm Bomb will have slightly longer legs.
In addition to the two playlists, we also got to explore a couple of the maps that will be available in the game: one's set in a large house, while the other takes place mainly in a concrete building with shipping containers around the outside. With these maps the terrorists get a choice of which areas they want to defend – each including different advantages and pitfalls.
We also got to play as some of the different classes – or Operators, as they're known in the game. Each one is either a defender or an attacker and comes with different weapons and a unique special ability. Smoke, for example, is a defender who can place down poisonous smoke bombs that can be detonated on his command; Fuze, meanwhile, is an attacker who comes equipped with a riot shield, and his special is a cluster bomb, which can be placed on breakable surfaces so that you can drill through into rooms. These different classes can make the difference in a game that comes down to the wire, so knowing how to use them is essential.
The only disappointment at this early stage is that friendly fire is on, which means that you absolutely have to play with people that you know. We've started several rounds in which we've been blown to pieces or shot dead right from the start, and it's just not fun. As the title's playerbase matures this will probably become less of a problem, but it is something to be wary of if you're planning to pick the title up.
Still, the game's shaping up to be a very enjoyable shooting experience that's getting short shrift in a holiday period packed with blockbusters like Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Fallout 4. The fact that it offers something fundamentally different to the competition may be what helps it to stand out in the end, though.
Have you had a chance to go hands-on with the Rainbow Six Siege beta yet? What are your impressions so far? Think carefully about your next move in the comments section below.
Comments 21
I'm still waiting for my code
@CD456 I'll have it if you don't want it haha
@CD456 Yes please buddy. Or send it via a PS4 message. My PSN ID is wardie3223 thanks mate
@CD456 Send me a friends request too if you like
@CD456 Nice one man, thanks again.
@CD456 I excepted the friends request before writing down the code haha My bad. Next time you're online could you resend it, sorry man haha
No rush though.
@CD456 I did it on my Vita as I was outside waiting to see the blood moon lol Thanks man.
My only issue is that the XB1 gets Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2 for free. I wish Sony would have implemented backwards compatibility for the PS4 instead of PlayStation Now. While I do think that the service has alot of potential, I don't think the world is ready to stream games. Average internet speeds need to increase across the board, and Sony also need to get the price down. Besides, im not going to rent games at £4,99 and upwards when you can buy the physical games for the same price.
I read that it supposedly has a campaign mode as well. Seeing that they've only been promoting the pvp aspect of the game so far, I have a feeling that the campaign mode is most likely a tacked on content.
Registered my code for 'guaranteed" beta access months ago, still waiting for the email with the actual beta code...love rainbow six series(vegas 1/2 not so much love)but i really wanted to try siege as im getting mixed feelings from what ive seen and heard so far...People saying its been dumbed down and doesn't have that classic rainbow six feel,the maps in the beta arent very interesting and one of my concerns is that siege might become a little repetitive quite quickly...still hoping my code will arrive and the game is still a likely buy for me
@WanderingBullet I read recently that there isn't any at all which is very disappointing to me. However I have enjoyed the multiplayer overall.
I haven't played a Rainbow Six since Vegas 2, but I may pick this one up.
@yokokazuo Thanks for the update.
@WanderingBullet hi, as far as I am aware there isn't going to be a campaign but there is going to be a single player mode with AI bots.
@fit6958 Oh, I see… thanks for the clarification.
@WanderingBullet No problem, if anyone else has any questions just link me in the comment and I'll reply as soon as possible.
Played it at EGX and it was probably my game of the show
Another game with no SP campaign.. no thanks
Great beta I managed to get in and was playing as a server stress tester a couple of day's early, only managed to get to level 11 though the server's were terrible as for the game though it's better than I expected and no SP is an extra bonus for me Ubisoft are concentrating on online play only? That's a step in the right direction as far as i'm concerned great new's
This'll be a brilliant game for the right group of gamers. Not for me, alas. It's hard enough getting 6 together for a Destiny raid.
So I feel like the destructible environment is being over shadowed by the mechanics and the poor graphics, my personal opinion. What are people's thoughts on that?
Im sure I'm not the only one who feels the deadzone only shrinking to 5 is a pain to deal with.
I'm sure this Beta would be good (bossed the Alpha at EGX winning on stage ) if I could get a match going!!!
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