Ubisoft wowed me and everyone else by showing off a brand new entry in the Rainbow Six series last night at E3 2014, Rainbow Six: Siege. The trailer starts by letting you know this is a pre-alpha footage captured from a multiplayer match, alright expectations in check Ubisoft, let’s do this.
We see it’s a 5 on 5 match and the game starts in the planning stage which is a great sight for fans of the series like myself. When playing a tactical shooter it would be nice to actually think and plan strategies before going full auto, Rainbow Six: Siege is thankfully bringing that back.
Looks like there’s also some fortification abilities for the enemy Rogue team so you won’t just be waiting around for your demise while the good guy Raven Team plans your execution. The graphics all look good, maybe too good for an alpha, that Watch Dogs E3 2012 feeling is starting to creep up here.
More current gen graphics, lights and shadows look good, the good guy Raven team doing some repelling, a breaching sequence with destructible windows and along with hostage rescue. This is all standard stuff for an FPS so far and it looks like you want current get to look. Then 2 minutes and 19 seconds hits, a member of the Raven team goes down, ok so we have bullet penetration, yawn, been there, done that. However after the smoke clears a bit we see the walls are torn to shreds, uhm, that’s pre-rendered right?
The Raven team blows more holes in the wall and proceeds to throw a grenade through the opening. As the teams battle throughout the house more walls, floors, roofs and household items are shredded to pieces. Didn’t they say this was alpha footage for Rainbow Six: Siege? 90% of Steam Early Access titles would be jealous of this alpha.
Then we see a double breach as a Raven team member blows out a random wall, gets to an elevated position above the enemy sets a charge on the second story floor and blows out the floor while his teammates blow out a wall to pin the enemy Rouge team with suppression fire from two different angles, wow, that’s impressive.
Then there’s the hostage, she seems to have AI that reacts accordingly to the situation, trying to escape when in captivity and slowing down Raven team trying to be extracted. She was also able to be injured and then had to be revived which is a nice twist from all the previous one shot and you lose VIP escort missions of the past.
Here’s where this might not all be bullshit, Ubisoft released a Press Release saying all this destructibility is thanks to the Realblast engine, just a name to you a me, I know. But if you remember Battlefield: Bad Company 1 had some pretty nice destruction on a large scale and we were promised the same piece by piece destruction, which we got a bit of that. Going back further the Red Faction series has let players take chunks out of the environment and that was in 2001. So why can’t Ubisoft pull off this kind of tech in 2014?
The other thing that comes to mind is this is a Rainbow Six game which means close quarters combat. It should be entirely possible to simulate the kind of dynamic destruction shown in the trailer for one or two buildings per map. Adding in the reinforcing abilities is just icing on the cake but I do like how it adds something for the Rouge team to do.
Rainbow Six: Siege is only coming to current gen in 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. That means I expect no hiccups in the frame rate, resolution or PC port department Ubisoft. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check but based on what we’ve had in the past and the focus on CQB I don’t see why they can’t pull off this symphony of destruction and I can’t wait to play it.
Source Link: YouTube | http://www.rainbowsix.com
PRESS RELEASE
TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX® RETURNS WITH TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX® SIEGE
Latest Installment of Acclaimed First-Person Shooter Franchise Being Developed Exclusively for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC
Los Angeles – June 9, 2014 – Today, Ubisoft announced the development of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, the latest in the best-selling Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six franchise. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege will be available in 2015 on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.
Development of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is being led by Ubisoft Montreal. Inspired by real world counter-terrorist organizations, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege puts players in the middle of lethal close-quarters confrontations. For the first time in a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six game, players will engage in sieges, a new style of assault where enemies have the means to transform their environments into modern strongholds while Rainbow Six teams lead the assault to breach the enemy’s position. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege gives players unprecedented control over their ability to fortify their position – by reinforcing walls and floors, using barbed wire, deployable shields and mines, and more – or breach the enemies’ using observation drones, sheet charges, rappelling, and more. The fast pace, lethality and uniqueness of each siege sets a new bar for intense firefights, strategic gameplay and competitive gaming.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege also features a technological breakthrough that redefines the way players interact with a game environment. Leveraging Ubisoft Montreal’s proprietary Realblast engine, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege incorporates procedural destruction that is realistic and unscripted, meaning the environment reacts authentically, distinctively and dynamically, based on variables like the caliber of bullets or the amount of explosives used. This advance allows players to leverage destruction in meaningful ways. Walls can be shattered, opening new lines of fire. Ceilings and floors can be breached to create new access points. This ability to modify the level design in real time enables players to create new gameplay opportunities directly within the game level.
“As fans of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six and tactical shooters in general, we set out to create the game we always wanted to play within the counter-terrorism universe. We asked ourselves ‘how could we capture the incredible tension and unique tactics of these confrontations?’ We found the answer in the Siege gameplay and procedural destruction.” said Xavier Marquis, creative director at Ubisoft. “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is the game that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six fans have been waiting for, and first-person shooter players will be drawn to its unique gameplay.“
From more information on Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, please visit:
www.rainbowsix.com
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2013-14 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,007 million. To learn more, please visitwww.ubisoftgroup.com
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