Should you play Rainbow Six Siege in 2021?
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Rainbow Six Siege is now on it’s sixth year. It’s crazy to think that I’ve been playing this FPS ever since it went live in 2015. A competitive shooter that has remained unique to this day and continues to be a joy to play with friends casually, or sweat it out in it’s unforgiving Ranked game mode.
There’s a running joke with my colleagues -“Rainbow Six: Siege, Game of the Year, every year”, a phrase we love to throw around whenever the annual GOTY talk comes up. Of course, it isn’t taken seriously but there is some truth to our little joke as R6 to us has become a fallback to when the current FPS game offering for that year has gotten stale. When you need that competitive FPS fix to simply unwind and have fun, R6 was there and delivered every time. Thanks to its constant evolution, the game has maintained its position to be my go-to shooter in 2021. But how does it stack for newcomers and returning players?
Rainbow Six Siege Content in 2021
There’s a lot of elements Ubisoft has done to keep it fresh and engaging. Each Operator in the game brings unique gadgets that change the dynamic for either the defending or attacking side. Through the years, the developers have slowly ramped up their creativity with the gadgets they put in the game as we now have holograms, laser barriers, healing stations, even an Operator using his body like a battering ram. The game currently has over 60 Operators available and the variety of weapons and gadgets keeps people guessing at what to expect when a round begins.
Then, we have the R6 destructible maps that can be approached in multiple ways. Players can destroy soft walls or wooden floors for a tactical advantage, or create choke points to secure key paths to the objective. You can lay traps to waste time or create holes to open lines of sight.
The amount of options a team can do to fortify or breach a site still feels endless due to how they structure each map, and since the developers are now in a state to aggressively rework old maps, map knowledge for players constantly evolve. Sadly, it's been more than two years since the game received a new map as the last map added to the game was Fortress, introduced in Year 4’s Operation Wind Bastion season back in 2018.
As of the current season, Operation Crystal Guard, there are currently twenty maps in the game, with thirteen maps in rotation for Ranked and Unranked competitive play.
A steep learning curve that rivals MOBAs
With how R6 is played and the constant map reworks, this makes Rainbow Six: Siege to have a steep learning curve that rivals competitive titles like the ever so popular MOBA Dota 2 as I’ve seen friends struggle to understand the basics of R6 as it can be overwhelming on the onset. The tutorials available in the game is severely lacking as Situations, the only pve content available in the game, only provides just a taste of what needs to be known in the world of Rainbow Six: Siege. Aside from simply playing the game yourself, weapons, map knowledge, recoil patterns, attachments, Operators - all of this information is vital and you’re better off learning what you can from other sources outside the game.
It’s not a game you can simply pick up and understand in one sitting. Frustration will come much earlier than later. But this hasn’t slowed down the game’s growth, especially in esports as it’s considered one of the up and coming esports titles to hit the scene. Esports organizations want a piece of the R6 competitive action as the overall player base continues to grow. In Steam alone, Rainbow Siege Siege has an average concurrent player base of over 50,000 every month in 2021, with peaks going over 100,000 in certain months.
Bugs still exist in the game but performance and stability in any of the available platforms (PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S, PC) is mostly stable, so you’ll unlikely experience technical hiccups while you learn the ropes. Connectivity is also solid, even with a player like me in the Philippines so you won't have much problems in that department. With a decent internet connection, pings can go as low as 20.
Player toxicity and cheaters in R6 remains high
But there are a few hiccups that continue to plague Rainbow Six: Siege. Player toxicity is at a high right now as the random players you match up with have a high chance of trolling or simply ruining the experience for other players, and this happens in any game mode available. If you’re not doing so well in a match, you might just get killed by a teammate for your performance. You might be called names for not clutching a 3v1 situation and you could find someone just insulting you on the mic with no reason at all.
The toxicity levels can be either similar or higher than other known competitive titles and sometimes your best weapon against such behaviour is the trusty mute chat and voice option. But to rely on such a feature poses a problem that Ubisoft hasn’t resolved. There are respectful players in various skill levels that greatly highlight the beauty of the game, but nowadays, in 2021, it’s rare.
Then, we have the cheaters that seem to be everywhere. Aimbots, wallhacks, you name it. Ubisoft continues to struggle in keeping these players in check as waves of bans happen on a daily basis. Even in low rankings Rainbow Six’s Ranked mode is still filled with experienced cheaters.
For newcomers
Despite the community issues discussed above, Rainbow Six Siege is at a good place as a live service FPS shooter. As a new player, it would be best to take your time and learn the basics by playing Operations (even though it’s horrible) and take the time to watch video guides and walkthroughs to get a better understanding on certain aspects of the game. Of course, playing R6 will be the best way to learn, but your first hours with the game will be a positive one if you have a friend or two with you showing the ropes, eager to answer all of your questions in the game.
There’s no game that’s like R6, so the game requires a lot of patience on your end, and thanks to how it plays, you’ll either completely enjoy it or flat-out hate the experience. It’s rather cheap to begin your journey with R6 as the cheapest version of the game is PHP 750, which features the base operators, and it goes even cheaper once Ubisoft’s occasional sales come in effect.
For returning players
For returning players, it’s a good time to get back to the current meta as there have been numerous changes done recently that improved the quality of the game in the long run. In Operation North Star, the introduction of shattering glass in certain gadgets like Mira’s Black Mirrors and Maestro’s Evil Eyes is a big highlight for me so far, and that’s just one big change. More are coming in the next season named Crystal Guard, as it will feature three map reworks (Bank, Coastline, Clubhouse), Operator gadget upgrades (IQ, Fuze, Twitch), changes to how armor works, and a lot more.
