The number of ways a given position can be approached is enormous. In addition to this, breach charges can be used to blow out windows or non-reinforced walls. Boarded-up windows and doors can be destroyed by gunfire, or melee attacks, and bullets will go through all manner of surfaces – wood, glass and certain types of wall. Such flexibility of approach flows out of the destruction system at the core of Siege’s gunplay. If attackers are rushing past the wall next to you, providing it’s not reinforced, you can give them the surprise of their soon-to-be-over lives by unloading through it. They can hang upside down, smash a hole through a boarded-up window and shoot from that position. In Siege, the attacking operators can rappel up and down the building, enter through windows or certain walls, and once inside even blow through the floors. The most striking aspect of Siege is its buildings: each level is constructed around one or more structures, which have to be assaulted by an attacking team and held by the defenders. This streamlining actually feels like a positive, because it shows how focused Siege is on delivering a special multiplayer experience. This is more of a training mode than anything, with the only long-term option for solo players being the Terrorist Hunt mode – which allows you to choose a map and difficulty level, then clear out AI terrorists. To this end Siege has minimal single-player content – 10 scenario missions, set across the 10 multiplayer maps, which introduce mechanics like breaching. Siege is not just a return to form, but a return to first principles – and it’s not aiming at Call of Duty, but at Counter-Strike. The earlier entries in this Tom Clancy-branded series were popular for their unforgiving, simulation-heavy approach to virtual combat, and when later titles attempted to make this more accessible, they predictably flailed (with the exception of the excellent R6: Vegas). You won’t find such sunshine and lollipops in the Rainbow Six: Siege. Even if someone plays badly, goes the reasoning, it should still be rewarding. And so dying becomes an inconvenience, with near-instant respawns alongside constant experience points for common in-game actions. Call of Duty and Battlefront, the big mainstream titles, are all about empowering the player and making them feel like a one-man army – easy enough in single-player, if your explosions are big enough, but much harder in multiplayer. D eath is a contradiction in the modern competitive shooter.

Siege simulation games