In this post I’m going to be sharing my Rainbow 6 Siege PS4 review and telling you if it's worth the price.
Buy Rainbow 6 Siege Here
My Experience
I've played a few of the previous Rainbow 6 games. The last Rainbow 6 I played was Rainbow 6 Vegas 2. That was a game that focused more on the single player (like all previous installations in the Rainbow 6 series) and I don't think it had any multiplayer modes except for split screen multiplayer.
So when I think about Rainbow Six Siege I don't really think of it as a Rainbow Six Game, I think of it as a new multiplayer-focused, tactical first person shooter.
I was very sceptical about Rainbow Six Siege when I first heard about it. A friend told me about it and he compared it to the search and destroy game mode from the Call Of Duty series. I hated the search and destroy game mode, so I thought I could never enjoy Rainbow Six Siege. However, after hearing more good reviews and praise upon praise about Rainbow Six Siege I thought I'd give it a chance. I bought it for £17 on Amazon and in this review I'm gonna let you know if it was worth the price.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Rainbow 6 Siege is intense, tactical and heavily team oriented, but that’s the multiplayer (which is the bulk of the game). Let me first address the single player options and modes for those who are looking for a tactical squad based single player game like the old Rainbow 6 instalments.
The single player portion of the game is limited to the terrorist hunt mode and 11 'situations'. These situations put you into the shoes of a specific operator and then task you with completing different objectives on one of the multiplayer maps. These are basically tutorial missions to help prepare you for the multiplayer section of the game. I personally only completed 8 out of the 11 situations before I got bored and decided to dive into multiplayer.
In the terrorist hunt mode you can play with 4 other players or you can go it alone and compete against the AI in objective focused matches that feel ripped straight out of the multiplayer portion of the game. If you want to buy Rainbow 6 Siege for a single player experience then don’t waste your money. This game has no campaign mode and the single player experience is just the multiplayer experience with bots instead. You’ll likely be bored within 2 days if you do not get this game to experience the multiplayer.
The multiplayer portion of the game is where all the meat of the game is. You can pick from over 20 different operators with their own skills, strengths and weaknesses. Each operator has their own loadout options and a specific skill or gadget that only they can use.
The defensive operators are only playable on defense and the offensive operators are only playable on offense. You have to earn renown - the in game currency - in order to buy new operators as well as new attachments and cosmetics.
There is strategy and thought that goes into picking the right operator and creating the right team composition to handle different situations. You don’t know what operators the enemy team is going to pick and you can’t change operators on the fly like in Overwatch. You have one life per round so you need to make it count. If you pick Thermite (an operator that can break through reinforced walls) and you die before you can break through a wall then your team is down one person and you completely wasted your operator.
But this happens to the best of us and even after you die, you can still communicate with your teammates and help your team by giving them the information they need, by viewing cameras, drones or watching the screens of surviving players, to help them win the round.
Each round starts with the attacking team using drones to search for the objective and canvas the area while the defending team reinforces walls, doors hatches and sets up their defenses. After the starting period, the attacking team is tasked with completing the objective - capturing a hostage, securing the area, defusing the bomb or killing everyone - before the timer runs out.
Since you only have one life and many areas of the map are destructible, it becomes a very intense and frantic fight for the W. People can take you out from angles that you never dreamed of, through walls, floors and ceilings and you can do the same. Being stealthy and limiting the information the enemy team has becomes very important as a few shots is all that is needed to take you out of the round. Coordinating strategies with your team, executing those strategies and getting the win is one of the most satisfying multiplayer gaming experiences I have ever had. Getting a last second win with the odds stacked against you also feels immensely gratifying.
The multiplayer is much better when you have a team to play with. You can enjoy this game playing with random people or playing alone but having a well coordinated team is a much better experience.
Buy Rainbow 6 Siege Here
Renown and Micro-transactions
Earning renown in this game takes a very very long time. It seems that the slow grindy process is made that way on purpose in order to get you to buy R6 credits for real money. This hurts the game in my eyes, but the game is fun enough that the grind doesn’t get boring and annoying.
Updates
Rainbow 6 Siege receives regular updates and new features from Ubisoft. The latest update introduced alpha packs - which is pretty much Overwatch’s loot box system with a few changes. Instead of getting an alpha pack every time you level up, you have a chance to win one after every match you win and the chances are increased after every match you complete. These alpha packs contain cosmetic items and do not give any players an advantage. Of course these alpha packs can also be bought in the store.
Each year Ubisoft plans to release 4 free DLC packages called 'seasons'. These seasons are based around a specific country and come with new operators and a new map. The new operators aren’t instantly playable like the map, you have to buy the operator with renown. The price of DLC operators are particularly expensive at 25k renown. To put things in perspective, on average I receive under 400 renown after each match.
However these updates are free, so it doesn’t bother me that the new operators require a lot of grinding. I’m actually pleased at the fact that you can grind and spend nothing but time on the game and unlock all the operators.
Graphics & Sound
The graphics are great, but in this era of gaming I don’t really expect anything different. Everything looks good and I have no problems with the visuals.
The sound is amazing. So much of this game is based on listening to the sound of other players in order to anticipate their movements so it needed to be amazing and luckily it is. The guns sound good, the sound of a player rappelling on the side of a building sounds great. Hearing someone break through a barricade or run on the floor above all help me identify where someone is and provide the relevant information. The sound system in this game is awesome and you need to wear headphones if you plan to play it.
Is it worth the price?
Rainbow 6 Siege is currently £19.99 on Amazon. I’ve had a lot of fun playing it and I’ve played it for over 40 hours. I wish I had more time to play the game and it is well worth the price of £19.99. This is a brilliant multiplayer game with hours of fun to be had, but it is definitely not worth the price if you only want to buy this game for the single player as that is almost non-existent.
Here are some pros and cons to help you make the decision for yourself:
Pros
- The gameplay is intense and tactical
- You can still help your team if you die
- The sound design is great
Cons
- Game pushes you towards micro-transactions
- The single player is not good
Let me know what you thought of Rainbow 6 Siege in the comment section below and if you want to check out the rest of my reviews you can watch them in this playlist.
Join my discord channel to play Rainbow 6 Siege with me and get involved with the community. You can also find a bunch of Rainbow 6 Guides and gameplay on my channel. I’ll see you in the next review.