Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is out and about, and players are admiring its different approach — less shooting, more strategizing.
The game retains the five-on-five setup of the Rainbow Six series, and Siege brings back the no respawn rule, making each teammate's life more valuable and crucial for victory. Communication in death still works, though. The destructible environment is also a key to success.
"Destruction is no gimmick; shooting through walls, blasting through floors and ceilings, and keeping as much of your corporeal Special Forces husk behind fragile cover during firefights is key to extending your life in each of the respawn-free modes," Ryan McCaffrey of IGN says.
Firefights are at the heart of competitive shooters, but what's new here is that the game emphasizes strategy, driving a bigger need for seamless teamwork. With just enough gunfire to satisfy the marksman within, the planning aspect introduces an extreme experience.
"Gunplay is, of course, still central to the Siege experience, but there's so much more to it. You'll spend just as much time strategizing with your teammates, carefully laying traps, reinforcing destructible walls, and feeling your heart race as the dull, distant rumble of your enemies' breach charges suddenly gives way to intense and immediate chaos. And that's just on defense," Scott Butterworth of GameSpot says.
In Siege, audio plays an important role to be aware of the enemies' positions. The game supports a 7.1 surround sound system, where players who have the right equipment will have a considerable advantage over those who don't.
"Audio, however, is where Siege really shines. You don't really stop to think about it, but knowing where your enemy is, is half the battle, and hearing where they are coming from can mean the difference between gaining a kill or being taken out," Paulmichael Contreras of PlayStation Lifestyle says.
The only problem that most players find is that Siege doesn't exactly have a single-player mode, although it does have "Scenarios" that'll train and get players ready for tactical multiplayer combat.
"So far the majority of complaints from those who are still deciding whether or not to purchase this game concern the lack of a single-player campaign. It's true that Siege is pretty much an exclusively multiplayer, online experience. There are ten 'situations,' however, which you can play through offline, and these are specifically designed to be played solo," Matthew Hayes of Cheat Code Central writes.
With minimal firefights, it is different in a way that it focuses more on strategy and teamwork to win. A lot of players have found the game to be refreshing with a ton of potential.
"For a game with so many branches of complexity and potential, Siege is the only shooter I know that encourages such tactical depth, player expression, and creative teamplay. It's a game that wastes no time getting to the primal, creative, social, everything core of what makes competition so much fun," James Davenport of PC Gamer says, finely summing up what Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege can bring to the table.
