Rainbow Six Siege

Throughout the history of Rainbow Six, one of my favorite modes has been Terrorist Hunt, a classic cooperative experience where players team up to take out all the enemies on a map. Being successful required a patient approach and flexibility to react when enemies start flanking and attacking from multiple angles. For Rainbow Six siege, Ubisoft Montreal is reviving this classic mode with a new coat of paint and a deeper experience. Now dubbed Terrohunt, the classic mode is refreshed for a new generation of Rainbow Six.

The centerpiece of Terrohunt is a new A.I. that Ubisoft says is the most challenging CPU controlled force its ever made. Ubisoft Montreal programmed the A.I. to become "siege experts" who are equally capable of attacking or defending. While on the offense, the A.I. will survey your defense, rappel to find a good entry point of attack, disarm your fortifications, and breach walls to create new angles of attack. While defending, the A.I. fortifies its position, monitors its surroundings to identify your point of attack, and sets up traps to halt your progress. You can play solo or cooperatively with up to four other players in both attack and defend scenarios. 

The hands-on demo we played placed our attacking group outside of the French consulate. Our goal: Diffuse two bombs placed within the building before they explode. After each choosing from among the eight operatives available, we spawn outside the building. Normally a team would use drones to get the lay of the land, but our team proves impatient and we immediately rappel up the side of the building to find a good breach point. After disabling some nitrate bombs and cutting through barbed wire, picking off a few hostiles on the way, we reach the bomb and start the defusing process. While the bomb is being disarmed, the action shifts from offense to defense, with enemies attacking from multiple sides, breaching through walls, and creating a general sense of chaos. We survive the wave of attackers fully intact, healing a couple of our fallen comrades during the skirmish, and repeat the same process with the other bomb to emerge victorious.

We meet our match when the Ubi rep ups the difficulty for the second round. Currently Terrohunt has three levels of difficulty - normal, hard, and realistic – the most ruthless of all.  

Bomb diffusion isn't the only mission style available in Terrohunt. Four different game modes are available - classic Terrohunt (where you eliminate every enemy), bomb disarming, hostage rescue, and hostage protection. Each mode is playable in the 11 globetrotting maps, each of which can be experienced in day or night scenarios.

We've now played multiplayer and cooperative modes in Rainbow Six Siege, both of which show promise. One element is currently still missing in action - any semblance of a story-driven campaign. We hope to find out more about this possibility as we move closer to the October 13 release date. A beta will start on September 24.