Full disclosure, I am a huge fan of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. Played the hell out of that game on the 360. When Siege was first announced, I was a very excited boy. When the gameplay was shown, I was a little bit less of an excited boy.
The game had switched it up a bit, from the Vegas formula. There’s no campaign, no 3rd person, and no cover system. Things I was a huge fan of from the original game. You can however, shoot through walls now and destroy almost everything. A nice consolation.
Now that I’ve actually played Siege, I can give it a proper review.
It’s not a Vegas game. That was evident in the gameplay previews, and even more evident in the gameplay itself. This is a different game altogether, despite sharing many similarities.
First thing I noticed, this is a bit of a smaller game. Smaller matches, Less People, tinier maps. In Siege’s case, this is not a bad thing. The maps are tighter, they work well with the playstyle of the game. Siege is meant to be played slow and steady, peeking through every window, easing around every corner. It is a game of patience and practice.
The first person camera fits well into this. Everything you do in this game risks your life. If you want to look around a corner, you have to lean your squishy little head out into the open. If you want to go through a boarded window, you have to smash it open, alerting all nearby enemies to your location via the sounds of boards splitting and crashing onto the floor. You can even send out your little robot drone to sneak around and find the location of enemies, but meanwhile you’re meatbody is sitting still, staring at it’s phone somewhere, waiting to be executed.
It’s a game of choices, in addition to a game of skill. Quick response times, precision aiming and teamwork are necessary. Not only to win the game, but even to just enjoy it. I feel that Siege has a very high entry bar for skills. Even playing against the AI bots on the easiest setting, my friend and I were struggling unless we really give it our all and coordinate. It is a demanding game, and like any demanding game, it is extremely satisfying once you start improving.
I give it a “go play it” out of 10. Very cool game, and I’ll be playing it for the next couple months. (Or at least until Tuesday when Mass Effect Andromeda comes out…)
-TR
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