Ubisoft Montreal has released a new blog post for the highly anticipated Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, with the development team detailing on how some of the core mechanics work and how players can utilise these in the title’s competitive team-based matches.
The developers have explained how the drone, which was shown off during Rainbow Six Siege’s pre-alpha demo at E3 2014, offers the attacking team an advantage through the use of “information warfare,” as members of the team can use its live feed to scout out the enemies’ position before a round commences, while the drone is also available during the round if the defenders fail to destroy it.
“Our drone is designed around a real life tool in active use by many tactical teams worldwide,” the blog post reads. “We saw interesting reports of CTUs [counter-terrorist units] using these recon drones to scout areas during bomb defusal situations and made it part of our original prototype. Fans of the series probably remember the snake cam, and this is essentially our version.
“In addition, pretty much all CTUs come into a situation prepared with an aerial view of the operation zone, whether via helicopter or flying drone. Attackers in Siege will have some eyes in the air with the Eagle Scan, a flying drone that slowly circles around the defender’s building. All attackers have access to the drone’s camera and it gives a great view of the situation outside, allowing players to spot any defenders who might be running around or flanking outside. The design is very preliminary and we have some interesting iterations planned to make it even more useful to attackers.”
Rappelling from buildings has been a linchpin feature in the black ops-style titles developed in the Tom Clancy series, and Montreal is once again implementing this mechanic in Rainbow Six and allowing more versatility through two different methods: seated rappelling and Australian rappelling.
Firstly, seated rappelling is the standard position that allows players to breach through a window and, as Ubisoft confirmed in their blog post, utilise Siege’s “RealBlast destruction engine” in order to create new routes into the building depending on the texture the explosive is placed on. Secondly, Australian rappelling is the position your character will automatically assume from the top of the building, allowing for you to look directly towards the ground and offering more leeway with the ability to swing and gaining a vantage point when peering into a window — a feature which was previously implemented in the cancelled Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots (see picture below).
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots’ Australian rappelling.
Siege’s developers even went into the realism they added to breaching, as they believed the original prototypes that allowed players to throw charges “was pretty convenient but not especially realistic.” Additionally, flashbangs have been emphasised by Ubisoft as a tool “No self-respecting CTU would head into an operation without,” while adding that frag grenades have been included in the title but they are limited owing to the fact that “CTUs traditionally do not carry frag grenades into operations” and they want to avert Siege from becoming a “fragfest.”
The ballistic shield was also touched upon by Ubisoft, with the developer claiming the equipment acts as “a very strong active support tool” — continuing to reiterate the emphasis placed on team-based support and work — but coming at a cost to the person using it, as their movement will be restricted compared with their fellow teammates.
Over the past few months, Montreal have discussed the realism they are continuing to strive towards in Six Siege and how it’s impacted their decision on certain features in the title, including the feedback they used from the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a real-world French-based special ops unit, and adding a “No Respawn rule” during rounds in multiplayer matches.
Running at 60fps on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is scheduled to launch in 2015.
