The first factor is where the defenders have placed the objective. The team vote to decide where to place it in the location. Whether this be on floor one, two or three of a building. This means that every game the attackers must search everywhere in order to discover where this single objective may be, without getting their drones disabled or destroyed in the process. With the Beta there were three maps we could play on. These were a house in the middle of a little suburbia, a presidential mansion and a swat team raid house. Since there were only three, players were able to learn them very fast and were able to pinpoint locations very easily. However, even if you know where the enemy have placed the objective, getting to it is another thing entirely.

This is where the game truly exceeds on the attacking side. So let’s say you found the objective on the top floor of the mansion, what do you do now? Well it is now up to you and the team to devise how you will tackle the situation. This first starts as you voting on where you would like the team to spawn in on the map. Afterwards you can then approach the building and tackle it as you wish. This can vary from entering from the ground floor and work your way up, rappelling to the roof and then rappelling again down an open section to catch enemies off guard or even heading to a nearby window, setting charges and blasting your way in. With so many options for you to tackle the objective, you can mould your strategies as the games persist allowing for more dynamic and thrilling matches. But this is truly just the icing on the cake as these tactics go even deeper depending on what play style you have and what character you choose.

In an interesting move, Rainbow Six Siege has decided to bring in a loadout system coupled with a character class system to truly allow you to mix up your experiences. Confused? Then allow me to explain as it is very simply to understand. First off you have your Operators, characters that have unique weapons and abilities to bring into the missions. You select and purchase one of these operators by simply playing matches and earning renown. Five hundred is needed to get your first character from any of the different well known military units and then every other one from then on costs more going up in five hundred renown increments. Don’t worry if you think this is too much as you get a nice chunk of renown each game, ranging from around fifty to a hundred and fifty pending on your points and your teams success. Operators are also split into two different categories, Attackers and Defenders. Attackers have skills better optimised for tackling objectives such as a breaching grenade launcher that throws grenades into a room through a wall. Defenders on the other hand have skills better suited for tacking on the other team whilst guarding the objective. This includes putting down barbed wire traps or laser systems that can immediately destroy enemy grenades. There is a lot of variety here to choose from and since they all have their own unique backgrounds, styles and abilities, you will quickly grow attached to your favourites.

Throughout our time playing the game we could not help but enjoy the multiplayer as well as the return of the legendary Terrorist Hunt from the Vegas series. Coupled with the art style and the level designs, this game is great to get behind. However, there were some concerns that arose in the beta that we would like to let you guys know about. First off is the matchmaking system, which some players have dubbed the worst they have ever seen. Sometimes you will get a great session of anywhere between five to ten matches without so much as a hiccup. But you could also be waiting up to forty minutes or even more to get into a single match at times. It makes the matching system seem very on and off and it aggravated me so badly during a livestream that I had to play something else simply to show how bad this matchmaker was performing. With that said however, this is what the beta is for. Whether it didn’t stand up to the stress of the beta participants or whether it was struggling to find optimal internet connections, I am certain this is a top priority for Ubisoft to look into as the game continues development.

Another problem however that had both us and players debating every single day of the Beta were the operators that carried shields. As seen in the original trailer for the game, you can indeed equip yourself with a shield if you want to play more of the tank role on your team. Although these can only be equipped by attackers, some players suggest that these shields are too over powered. Now how can you make a shield OP I hear you say? Well it is as simple as this. Taking on a shielded enemy head on is basically a lost fight to start with, unless you are insanely skilled to pick off the odd spot on the enemy that is out in the open. This would mean that the best way to tackle these players, at it should be, is to flank them on their sides or behind them to take them down unguarded. This however is easier said than done as most players tend to use the shields as point men. By becoming the head of the team and taking full brunt of the enemies attacks, allies can easily spray down targets that are identified by their shielded allies allowing for very easy attacking strategies.

With all this said however, nothing seems to be too over powered right? I mean all that’s happening is that the players are taking full advantage of a games mechanic to create better techniques for them to win the game. This is true, but the concern comes to the shields themselves. Guns have ammunition, if you run out of ammo your down to your knife. Grenades and other thrown or used weapons also have a limited resource, so why doesn’t the shield? This is the only weapon in the game to not have any draw backs. No durability loss or anything of this sort. This means that you can drill your entire clip of both your main and side arm weapons into a shield and it would keep going. This in turn has led to a debate between players as to whether these should be balanced to have durability, so that if it takes too much damage you throw it away and resort to using just your pistol. But others are defending the shields stating that it is a simple matter of play style and utilising it to the best of both yours and the teams abilities. My opinions are as followed: Although I can see the argument from both sides of the game, I think the shields are fine as they are. It is simple as out playing the team or the opponent in order to win. There are ways to tackle shielded enemies effectively, it just comes with learning the game and adapting to different play styles, which overall makes the game a more fun and engaging experience. This is especially if you really want to kill the guy hiding behind that thing all game long.

Rainbow Six Siege is definitely a game to keep on your radar this coming Christmas season. The Beta, when you were able to get into a match, was very enjoyable and opened what we could expect from the games release. With a few tweaks here and more additions there, this could be a game that not just rivals that of CS:GO but may even be able to beat it. To the extent that I can already see this potentially being played at an E-Sports level, pending on weapon balancing and whether the whole ‘Shields are Overpowered’ debate can be solved once and for all. It is great to see the series return and I for one am definitely looking forward to Rainbow Six Siege this Christmas.

Were you in the beta for Rainbow Six Siege? Did you share our thoughts or have your own likes and dislikes? Let us know what you think about the game and be sure to keep an eye out for it as it releases on the 1^st December 2015.