Rainbow Six Siege is releasing this week and I played the crap out of the beta last weekend. Therefore, I couldn’t help but write a quick little feature about the three things I love about Siege and yet hate at the exact same time. I want to make it clear these are based off the beta, and not the full game, which could be different. I could never expect I would’ve had such a love/hate relationship with Siege, but like any love/hate relationship, I cannot get enough.

  1. Everyone has to be a different character / can often miss out on being your favorite character

In a game that requires so much teamwork with characters that all have different abilities, it’s important that everyone has a different character chosen. This remains true in any game involving special abilities. Even Black Ops III has different characters with various abilities for people to use in tandem for the best possible team. Sadly anyone that has played Black Ops III multiplayer knows everyone chooses the same character more often than not. It defeats the entire purpose of having different abilities and this would ruin Siege.

If an entire team was made up of all one type of person it wouldn’t be fair or fun. That’s why I understand Siege forcing everyone to choose a different person. I understand this and respect this. I also like that it does this. But I can’t deny the frustration in never getting to be your favorite person. It’s a mad dash to select your character and beat out your teammates. There were entire games where I couldn’t be my first, second, or third favorite character. It made that entire match less fun, but it’s a necessary evil to make people the teams diversified.

  1. Friendly fire makes every shot important / terrible teammate means you will get shot in the back a lot

For those that don’t know, there is friendly fire in Siege. It makes you pick your shots and check your corners. You can’t just toss grenades in a room with teammates or spray mercilessly. It’s important that you are careful with your – ya know – deadly weapons. I love this and how it makes you think twice before shooting and the absolute horror when you blast a shotgun right into your teammates back. I mean it’s their fault, of course, they shouldn’t have been standing there.

The problem is when you get absolutely atrocious teammates. Getting accidentally shot by your teammate will happen. It can be forgiven in most instances. Sometimes, it’s very clear that it wasn’t an accident. Sometimes you will get a troll that will find it funny to shoot his entire team in the back and then leave the game. Sometimes one person can’t forgive an accident and will shoot the person in the very beginning of the next round. This can last all game as people keep shooting each other in revenge. Again, this is bound to happen and hopefully it was only in the beta and won’t be in the main game. The beta was free and attracted anyone while the main game will hopefully get people who are seriously trying to play.

  1. Little health makes for intense battles / many BS deaths from lucky shot

Rainbow 6 games are known for very low health and that makes it more intense. It’s challenging when you can’t soak up bullets, crunch in a corner, and be back to full health seconds later. You may take out a member of the other team, but you are left within practically no health. The next encounter you face will most likely end with your life. Once again, this makes everything very intense.

This can also get really annoying when someone takes a lucky shot and blows you away. It’s all part of the game, sure, but you can’t help feeling the frustration when you don’t even get a chance to fight because someone shot through a wall at your feet. A little more difference between where you get shot could go a long way, but right now it feels like no matter where the bullets hit me I always take a crazy amount of damage. Or I die from someone blindly spraying and getting a lucky hit on me.

Do you understand my love/hate relationship now? All these things are necessary and they make Siege what it is. At the same time, I can’t help but admit how annoying they can all be as well. Maybe when I play the full game the scales will tip more in one direction more. After all, betas are for this purpose of seeing how players respond. I look forward to the full game to see if my love/hate relationships are cured or they only worsen.

About The Author

Neil has had a passion for video games ever since the Atari entered his life so many years ago. He's been writing about them for over two years and sees no end in sight. Reach out to him on twitter @nconnors13