Rainbow Six Siege has become one of the most popular shooters in the world over the last couple of years. And while I’m still relatively new to it all, my hour of hands-on time with Siege’s new DLC, Operation Grim Sky, painted a clear picture as to why the game’s so beloved. Fluid and fun, tactical and competitive, Rainbow Six Siege is a game that wants you to deep dive into all of its little nuances and features, and Grim Sky’s two new operators and redesigned map are a ton of fun to play.
Having teamed up with a handful of other Aussie journos at the hands-on session in Paris (each with very little to a lot of experience with the game in general), playing through each phase of Siege’s frantic, team-based gameplay was enthralling. But that’s nothing new to write home about, considering the game is an entirely different beast to what it was back in 2015.
Referred to as a “black sheep” in its launch state by Brand Director Alexandre Remy, Siege has subsequently been shaped and refined by community feedback and consistent updates, in turn developing into a different experience to what it was back in its infancy. Having played a bit of it during its initial release and falling off the wagon fairly quickly, I was impressed at how much better everything felt as I made my way around the redesigned Hereford Base — a map that been completely reworked for the upcoming Grim Sky DLC.
Encounters are fast and frequent, and I had a blast with both of the new operators that are coming to the game via the new DLC. Clash, a defender, is equipped with an electrified shield as her primary and was perfect at distracting and luring in enemies, in turn allowing my teammates to hold up behind me and lay off a couple of lethal shots to punish distracted opponents. Tasers on her shield made it easy to keep enemies at range, too, though she could be taken out fairly quickly if flanked or ganged up on by too many other players.
Maverick, an attacker, has a blowtorch that allows him to create small holes in the environment, opening up new sight lines and ways of taking on the objective. The blowtorch is extremely quiet when burning through walls, with the best players in my matches setting up small lines of fire that would overlook corners around the objective. It’s worth noting, however, that the gadget itself can only burn small holes in walls and isn’t as effective in making spaces for players to crawl through. While it is an option and you can still do it, the blowtorch’s fuel will be used ridiculously quickly, leaving you at a disadvantage as the round progresses.
I took to Maverick more than I did Clash, only because I felt uneasy without a weapon to protect myself if I got into a firefight early on in the round. As Clash only has a shield as her primary, she can’t fire back on enemies when it’s equipped, though her secondary weapon is certainly useful when getting the jump on enemies. Maverick on the other hand has an AR-15.50 or an M4 to pick from as a primary, and the lethality of the attacker made for some fantastic rounds of combat during my time with Siege.
While I’m no expert at the game by any means, I’m a bit concerned in regards to the balance of the two new operators coming into the game. Clash feels great to use and is a perfect teamwork-focused operator, though Maverick’s blowtorch just seems to add a completely new dimension to attacking play, and could well take some time for players to come to grips with in terms of countering. I’m definitely intrigued at the prospect of how the community will take to both of the new operators, and can’t wait to see their implementation following Operation Grim Sky’s release.
I had a ton of fun playing around with the new operators on the reworked Hereford Base, too, and as someone who’s been out of the Siege scene since the early days came out with a very positive mindset of how far Siege has come since its struggles at launch. The new season is shaping up to be great, and I’m even quite excited to jump back in after all these years.
