After springing a few leaks here and there, concerning the two new Operators and one new map, the first DLC pack for Ubisoft’s tactical shooter is finally available to download. Black Ice brings Frost and Buck onto Team Rainbow, as well as a bunch of new weapon skins and the new Yacht map. The new map is free for everyone, Frost and Buck is automatically available for Season Pass owners, with others being to able to buy them for either 25,000 Renown or £3.99.

This DLC brought with it a big 3.6GB patch with a boatload of bug fixes, UI improvements and fan requested updates. The more notable ones are that Spectator Mode is now available in custom games, with there being a 11th player slot for those who wish to watch gameplay and learn more about specific maps. Operator shouts are now muted for the enemy team so you no longer give away your position when barricading a door which is good for the Defenders but not so good for Attackers trying to find that last hostage. One of the most welcome changes is the ability for Defenders to vote for their objective location, allowing them to pick a certain strategic position rather than constantly cycling through the same two points every round. To stop teams continually voting for the same location to defend, you cannot go back to that location once someone has won on it but all locations do become available again if a match goes to Overtime.

Noise levels on Defender gadgets have been reduced, mainly Mute’s jammer so you can’t hear the interference from two floors down. Castle’s barricades and reinforced walls now have collision when they are being deployed so you can’t get shot in the face if the barricade is already covering your face and Thatcher finally has a shotgun to match with his actual art on the Operator Select screen. Those are the major patch changes, besides the ability to actually see the game type and map at Operator Select and for Attackers to pick their individual spawn positions in a Ranked game as to stop them being spawn camped by a knowledgeable defending side. If you want to see every little change, check out the official patch notes page on the Rainbow Six Siege site. It seems that despite initial and some continued teething problems, Ubisoft is actively listening to the Siege community and is implementing community desired changes to keep the game popular. I hope this trend continues.