The premise of “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege” is reminiscent of Sun-Tzu’s famous saying: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a thousand battles.” Reading your enemy is key but know that they’re also reading you. This is a tactical first-person shooter (FPS) emphasizing preparation, execution, and impulsiveness.
“Rainbow Six: Siege” is no ordinary FPS. Like most Tom Clancy games, running in guns-blazing won’t lead to victory but, instead, a swift death from a barrage of bullets.
There are three game-modes: Bomb Defusal, Hostage Extraction, and Secure Area. Every match is different because of who you play with. The fun of “Rainbow Six: Siege” is from the vast array of operators to play, from organizations like America’s FBI-SWAT to Brazil’s BOPE.
Each operator has a loadout with different guns and different speed-to-health ratios. What diversifies them are their unique gadgets or abilities. To maximize their efficiency, you must learn their strengths and weaknesses.
A match in “Siege” pits five attackers against five defenders, and the teams switch every few rounds. After the teams choose their operators, the match begins with a preparation phase. This requires both sides to act fast. Defenders must build barricades and rig traps. Meanwhile, attackers will try to case the joint on RC-cars (dubbed “drones”) with cameras. Once the prep phase is over, the fun begins.
“Siege” requires coordination and contemplation of every measure. Like chess, this is a game of trading blows with risks and rewards.
Defenders can use security cameras to scan attackers and mark their location, but attackers can easily destroy them. However, if an attacker plays as Dokkaebi, they can hack a dead defender’s phone and gain access to remaining cameras. On the other hand, attackers can breach through walls with explosive charges. If a defender is playing as Mute, a charge will be deactivated if his signal-disruptor is nearby.
There are many different scenarios that ensue, paving a steep learning curve with this huge operator roster. While Vigil’s camera-invisibility or Fuze’s wall-piercing cluster-charges are vivid, some operators’ abilities can be confusingly similar. A sudden explosion might make you inquire whether Zofia fired an impact grenade or if someone set off one of Kapkan’s tripmines.
Some operators are also great for countering others. For example, Caveira is a stealthy defender born to roam the map and interrogate downed players for enemy locations. Since she’s constantly on the move, Jackal could use his gadget to follow her footprints and give her a taste of her own medicine.
Maps are like multitools due to their flexibility with plenty of entrances, breakable surfaces, and cover spots. Hatches are excellent for a defender’s escape route or for attackers to drop in on enemies. Nooks and crannies are great for secret cameras, traps, and people. As a defender, you can reinforce walls with metal shielding, but leaving it unreinforced or blowing holes in it could catch attackers off-guard.
Even the exterior has multiple approaches. An attacker can stay back and do reconnaissance through an open window—especially Kali with her bolt-action sniper rifle. For those going inside, attackers can rappel across walls and flip upside down before entry. Defenders get marked if they go outside, but sometimes even that is a strategy, like Clash luring attackers into a trap while using her electric shield to slow them down.
Following true to other Tom Clancy games, there’s a slice of stealth-action in “Siege.” Everything someone does makes some form of noise, whether it’s walking slowly across a wood floor, struggling through barbed wire, or moving through pieces of a destroyed wall.
The intensity of certain moments—like when the last player on one team faces four enemies—keeps your heart racing and leaves you speechless. It draws suspense and sometimes fear with the element of surprise combined with stellar sound design. You don’t know if you’re safe to move forward or if someone like Pulse can see your heart beating through a wall with his cardiac sensor. All it takes is one mistake to take a bullet, and in the instant that it happens, it’s enough to make you flinch or jump from your seat.
“Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege” is the best in its series. The dynamic quality of levels combined combat in every match is a remarkable achievement, especially when its content is free, getting more every season.
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