As promised earlier this week, Ubisoft today presented the next season of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Named “Demon Veil”, this one will carry the code of “Y7S1”, meaning first season of the seventh year. The publisher took advantage of the Six Invitational tournament to show on video the new features that await players. And on the whole, these contributions seem very promising.
Azami or the art of architecture with a knife
In Siege, which says new season, says new Operator. The Japanese Azami will arrive in “Demon Veil” from the Defenders side. This specialist in close security has made a name for herself in the private sector. Having worked for some members of high society around the world, she will bring a rare elegance to Rainbow agents.
His special ability is likely to create a lot of change in the META on Siege. Indeed, it will be equipped with a very particular type of throwing knife. These blades will contain a chemical device released on impact. The compound will then form a solid foam disc called the Kiba Barrier, only the center of which needs to be attached to a surface. As a result, it will provide new visual and physical protection once morest the enemy.
To equip and throw his knives with speed and dexterity, Azami will have a system hidden in his armband… This is reminiscent of the equipment of a certain Brotherhood also born at Ubisoft.
With this process, Azami will thus become the very first character of Siege to be able to “fill in the holes” created by the attacking team. The material used for these protective discs will be enough to block the view and the bullets. However, three melee attacks or an explosion will be enough to destroy it. Despite this, Azami will be able to compensate for openings created in reinforced or unreinforced walls, doors, windows, trapdoors, and even destructible floors.
The unique skill of the Japanese will make her a true architect on the battlefield. To perfect this aspect, it will have a balanced speed and protection. Azami will therefore be able to adapt to all situations, on or off site. And his arsenal, which you can discover below, will be versatile enough to help him.
“Emerald Plains”, the return to castle life
No, it’s not a dream. For the first time in almost three years, Rainbow Six Siege will know a new map. This will appear in the game not at the beginning, but during the “Demon Veil” season.
“Emerald Plains”, or the “Emerald Plains” in the language of Molière, has a name that directly refers to the country where it will be located. The vast green meadows of Ireland will indeed be in the spotlight. The map depicts a vast mansion with the ground floor modernized but the upper floor retaining its historical appearance. The lower level will include large rooms suitable for distant confrontations. At the top, the narrower rooms will promote more nervous fights.
This unexpected arrival may mark a turning point in the history of Siege. Ubisoft has been reworking and rebalancing existing cards for a dozen seasons. The intent to design new environments may mean the studio has gotten its way on those old levels. Towards other brand new cards in the future?
New mode, new challenges
He was in the pipes of the Montreal studio for a long time, here he is finally. The Deathmatch mode will indeed make its debut in Siege with the “Demon Veil” season. This deployment follows the test phase on the Test Server during the previous season, a visibly conclusive passage.
Here, it will no longer be a question of defending or attacking a very specific position. No more bombs, hostages and other containers to “secure”, it will simply be a question of eliminating your opponents as efficiently as possible. Surely the gameplay will be somewhat different for this mode. We note for example the possibility of choosing several times the same character within the same team. But it should bring a new breath to the game by attracting a new part of the public.
For the other already existing modes, Ubisoft will also deploy another feature from the Test Servers. The Second Choice Attacker will allow the eponymous team to change their deployment options at the start of a round. In Siege, the first 45 seconds of a round sees the defenders organizing their position with gadgets and wall reinforcements. Their adversaries, on the other hand, are confined to reconnaissance by drone.
The observations thus made will allow the attackers to adapt their choice of Operator and equipment if necessary, before the end of this “Preparation Phase”. This is a good way to rebalance attack versus defense, a long-standing topic within the gaming community.
Goyo loses his shields but wins on the exchange
Ubisoft has a brilliant idea here regarding the Mexican Operator. The agent’s shields will indeed disappear in the next season. Far from being a disadvantage for the defender, this will allow him to adopt new strategies.
The central element of Goyo’s gadget will indeed be retained and will even gain in practicality. Rather than being attached to the back of a shield, the explosive block filled with flammable liquid will now be able to be attached anywhere. In this way, new ambushes can be set for attackers by placing the trap on a wall or on a ground of strategic importance.
Finally, the fire will spread over a wider area following the object is triggered, once more by a shot or an explosion. From what seems at first sight a loss of power for Goyo, Ubisoft thus manages to perfect his character.
Better aim, better view, better repair
Some other modifications, more secondary, will come to decorate Rainbow Six Siege for this new season.
First of all, the possibility for players to choose any viewfinder, except magnifying glasses, for any Agent. Until now, only certain versions of the “red dot”, “holographic” and “reflex” optics were available each time.
The functionality of replay, already present on PC for a few months, is also coming to consoles. It will now be possible to view and use the last two hours of play recorded on the user’s device. The editor specifies however that in the long term, it is the last twelve games played that it will be possible to view. The studio must first optimize the recordings so as not to clutter up the players’ storage. This tool will delight content creators, or simply those who want to analyze their performance or that of their teammates and opponents.
The other tool launched in 2021, the “R6 Fix 2.0” program, is apparently enjoying happy days. The platform dedicated to reporting bugs by the community is a great success. On its previous version, 300 daily visitors came to contribute by reporting faults in the game, even if not all of them were proven. Now, more than 1400 daily reports contribute to the improvement of the title.
The promised rewards system has a lot to do with it, of course, and it will be triggered this next season. Depending on the seriousness of the problem highlighted by a player, he or she will receive from three to twelve Alpha Packs, the cosmetic rewards of the game.
Towards the end of the toxicity tunnel?
Ubisoft ends its presentation with a beautiful icing on the cake. Toxicity issues, whether cheating, anti-gaming or unsportsmanlike behavior, are rife in Siege.
The editor brings a first solution which will be implemented with “Demon Veil”. It will now only be possible to access Ranked games if the user’s Ubisoft account is linked to their mobile phone number. This additional security should make it possible to limit bad behavior, as well as the existence of several accounts for one and the same person.
A cosmetic “One More Thing”
Before leaving us, Ubisoft gratifies us with a new Elite cosmetic set, this time for Nomad. The Moroccan Operator thus fully assumes her status as an explorer of modern times. Against the backdrop of a treasure hunt, its aesthetics, which is reminiscent of a certain Lara Croft, will delight adventure lovers. And the whole thing of course echoes the Elite set Tomb Raider which has been equipping Ash for several years now.
Ubisoft is thus launching its new year with great fanfare and finally seems to be providing content and improvements to match its ambitions. The full presentation of Year 7, scheduled for this Sunday, will probably confirm this trend. And to make sure, it will of course be in the field, when the update is deployed, probably in the second half of March. Until then, you can still enjoy Rainbow Six Siege sur Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One et PC, via le Xbox + PC Game Pass.
