I had seen a game in development called "Due Process" some time ago. It was a very in depth game about police vs ... Not police? Anyways, I watched the guys at Node on YouTube play and was instantly hooked.
(If you'd like to see, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EYq7ShPVJc )
Anyways, it's still a long way off. Last I saw, it was still using block looking dudes ala less than mine craft for its player models, so there was no chance for some time.
However, some time later I saw gameplay for Rainbow 6 Siege, which had similar gameplay to Due Process, but was due later in the year. I'd seen Rainbow 6 a few times in the past, but hadn't had much exposure otherwise. I decided though, based on what I'd seen, I'd pick it up.
So far it's been less than a week, but from what I've played, I love it. The actual skill curve is quite steep. I can shoot, sure, but communication, tactics and planning, play far more a part than just merely the shooting.
The game starts you out with 3 modes. One that stands in for single player, Multiplayer, and then Co-op multiplayer. In lieu of full class customization, you instead unlock characters with special abilities and gear, whom you can then make a few choices about them such as a couple weapon choices, then attachments for said weapons, sidearm, followed by a choice between a couple equipments. Characters are however separated into offense and defense types, so if you unlocked nothing but offensive, you are then stuck with the base "recruit" class, which has very limited customization, but will get you by, until you can aquire enough credits to buy a character. If another player picks the only character you've bought, then you're out of luck. It's first come first serve.
As previously mentioned, characters are separated into offense and defense types. Then further by faction. Each characters purchase will first cost you 500 credits. Credits are gained by playing matches, but you are given enough to buy at least a couple characters to start out. Factions are SAS, FBI, GIGN, Spetsnaz, and GSG 9. As you buy into a faction, each having two offensive and 2 defensive characters, the price to buy another will add another 500 credits to the price. So in the end, to get all of say, the FBI, will cost you a total 5000 credits.
I started off playing through the single player content, which is a series of missions, each letting you play one of the characters, and teaching you a portion of the base mechanics. I thought this was a cool way to let people try out each character to get an idea of your play style, while also learning the mechanics.
My only real gripe with this however is not being able to choose which character/lesson I want to learn or refresh on. Instead it's linear progression, making the player complete each mission before moving onto the next. Once I ran into a mission with a character that I didn't care for the feel of, I failed a lengthy mission twice and no longer had much interest in trying again. Thus character purchasing has been sheerly shots in the dark or based on watching other players in multiplayer.
After this, I jumped into the co-op with my roommate to get a further feel of how the game played. It was fun, but communication often was non existent. This was only exacerbated later on in full on multiplayer. I'll get into that a bit later.
The maps were fairly fun, but there are a multitude of enemies which could be quite difficult. One map in particular is full of gas that you can't see through very far and while is interesting, the computer can see what you can't, leading you to walk into ambushes all to often. This wouldn't be an issue, but the map rotation for co-op is a little rough around the edges, and as result, I played said map for what felt like 70% or so of my matches and I was finally sick of it.
Each match comes with one of a variety of objectives. While co-op is focused purely on completing the objective, multiplayer objectives serve as an alternate win condition which usually only comes into play when one or two defensive players decide to hide or not pay attention. Though they can play a solid part of strategy in some cases.
Objectives are bomb defuse, bio hazard container, and hostage. Bomb defuse has 2 bomb locations that splits the defense between 2 locations requiring the defense of both. The offensive team has one player per team who has a case that is deployed in vacinity of one of the bombs which then starts to disarm on a timer. At this time, defense has to defuse it or lose. Even if the offensive team is killed, the case can still serve as a sort of "torpedo in the water", which if not located can still win the match for the offensive team. Defense no matter the objective has to either kill all attackers, or defend until the time runs out. Time is around 5 minutes total. Also, if the player on offense whom is carrying the disarming case is killed, their team must reaquire the case or kill all defenders to win.
Biohazard instead is more about defending the room that the objective is in. (From the rainbow 6 wiki):
- Attackers must locate the room housing the biohazard container and hold the position inside for at least 10 consecutive seconds.
- Defenders must prevent the attackers from locking down the biohazard room by maintaining a presence within the same room.
- The timer can be interrupted if any Defenders enter the room, Attackers must work to either eliminate them, or force the Defenders out of the room.
I found that the most fun as a defender as it was easier to secure the room. And it felt the most fair for both sides.
Hostage is similar to bio-hazard, but with a dangerous twist for both teams. The hostage spawns in a room much like the previous game type. At this point, baring killing the entire opposing team, the offense must acquire and safely escort the hostage to the extraction point marked out by flares. The catch here however is that if either team kills the hostage in the ensuing fight, their team loses outright. This poses a real challenge and need to use caution when using grenades. There is a character named "Fuse" whom has a special charge that injects grenades into a room for example. It is a running joke that on the hostage game mode, when chosen, he will invariably kill the hostage. The sad truth is, he really does, more often than not. It's a tense game type but can be a lot of fun.
The biggest key in this game is communication. As I said earlier on, teammates whom do not have mics are a huge hinderance. It is the opinion of this Emperor, that if you don't want to talk to your team, randoms or friends, you should not be playing this game. Too often teammates will ignore warnings of booby traps or ambushes resulting in their own death or in my case being next to them when they kill themselves resulting in my death as well. Thus, Mics are a must! Talk or get out. As my friend Mike (Toast King) Sailor said "take your copy back to Walmart and get a refund".
Final issue of important note is issue with servers and net coding. While the overall gameplay is very solid, the game suffers from rampant server disconnect issues. From day one my friends and I have suffered through inability to connect to one another, mics not working properly, and just inability to play multiplayer. After a month now, the problem is still a serious issue. Also as I speak for me anyways, netcoding in this game is quite poor. Damage not being dealt etc, and my biggest gripe, people being a few frames behind where they actually are. People walking out in the open, and shooting me before I can actually see them. My hope is for patches and fixes for these issues before too much longer .
Despite the mentioned setbacks, I still have spent many hours with friends playing and hope to do more as more of my friends have picked up the game.
In the end, I give Rainbow 6 Siege - 7/10 Thug Lars Eyebrow Scars. I highly recommend you pick it up if you're looking for something new but don't want more cod in your life.
-Emperor Tiberius
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