After five years of availability, Ubisoft is finally beginning to merge its other properties into the publisher’s highly-popular multiplayer shooter, Rainbow Six Siege. Announced just a few days back, Ubisoft revealed that Sam Fisher, the main protagonist from the Splinter Cell franchise, is set to be the newest Operator joining the larger roster of Siege. The addition of Fisher makes him likely the most marquee character in the game — other than The Lord, of course — at this point in time and is sure to garner interest from both lapsed fans of Siege along with those who are fans of Splinter Cell but have maybe never given Rainbow Six itself a shot.
Ahead of the formal release of Fisher in Rainbow Six’s Operation Shadow Legacy update, Ubisoft let me get some hands-on time with the iconic new Operator to get a better idea of how he’ll play. In a general sense, I found that Fisher’s a great addition to the larger R6 package, even though playing as him won’t necessarily remind you of past appearances for the stealth agent.
How Does Sam Fisher Play in Siege?
Fisher, who is dubbed ‘Zero’ within Rainbow Six Siege, is an attacking Operator. His loadout consists of either an SC3000K assault rifle or an MP7 submachine gun to go along with a 57USG handgun and grenades or claymores.
What sets Zero apart from other operates comes in the way his special ability, which involves some very invasive cameras. Zero can fire piercing cameras into walls with a device called the Argus Launcher. These cameras are able to penetrate anything, including reinforced surfaces. The cameras themselves have a limited view, but they allow you to get a better idea of where the enemy team might be on the map.
Best of all, each camera also comes equipped with two cool features. The first is more of an aesthetic and nostalgic addition than anything, with each unit bosting night vision tech. That means when you fire the camera into a wall and then turn it on, you’ll hear the iconic night vision goggles sound effect from Splinter Cell kick on. It’s a small inclusion, but one that put a genuine smile on my face when I first utilized it.
The second aspect available with every Argus Launcher camera comes in the way of a laser shot. Each camera can fire a single laser blast, which allows you to destroy certain defenses that the opposing team may have set up. You can also fire these lasers at enemies, but the damage you’ll be doing isn’t vast whatsoever.
In a good match with Zero, you’ll want to primarily try to find where the defending squad is hunkered down before then using your cameras to scout ahead. Since you can penetrate any surfaces with Fisher’s nifty gadgets, it’s helpful to use him to get a better idea of what you’ll be running into before entering certain rooms or areas. Once you get an idea of what’s lying in wait, you can then plan out how to attack with your team, or at the very least, ping out where various structures and foes might be at.
While Fisher is fun to play in Siege, just like most other characters are, he’s not drastically different enough in playstyle to make it truly feel like you’re playing as the legendary stealth agent. Don’t expect to be shimmying along pipes, sneaking up behind opponents and choking them out, or marking and executing everyone in sight to easily pull off a 1v5. Zero has a unique playstyle to be certain, but he more often than not only feels like Sam Fisher in name and nothing else.
What Other Changes are Coming to Operation: Shadow Legacy?
While Fisher is the notable add-on with Operation: Shadow Legacy, Ubisoft has also made a variety of other changes this time around. Perhaps the most interesting one comes in the way of something that isn’t being included: a second Operator.
In recent history, Ubisoft has tended to add both one new attacking and one new defending Operator in updates in order to keep the roster balanced. However, that isn’t happening here with Shadow Legacy. Fisher is all we’ll be getting this time around, with his inclusion now bringing the attacking roster to 29 characters with defenders sitting at 28. It’s a bit odd but isn’t anything that’s going to ruin Siege by any means.
The map that is being reworked this time around is that of Chalet, the popular location which resides in a lodge on a snowy hilltop. Chalet has primarily seen a lot of visual reworks, but other small changes have also been added. The roof itself can now be traversed upon and the basement has been fleshed out a bit more to make it not as tight.
Operation: Shadow Legacy also includes a number of smaller tweaks as well. New scopes, sights, and map bans are all present in Rainbow Six Siege now. Reinforcement tools for defenders have also been overhauled, with the full team pulling their wall setups from a larger pool. This latter feature is actually quite helpful and allows for more strategy in the early-game phase for defenders.
In whole, Shadow Legacy feels like another solid update for Siege as a whole. Ubisoft has been great about continually refining Rainbow Six Siege over the years, and Shadow Legacy feels like another well-done injection of new content in the game’s third season of year five.
Rainbow Six Siege’s Operation: Shadow Legacy update is set to go live tomorrow, August 17, in a beta iteration via the game’s test server on PC. It will then be fully releasing all platforms, including PS4 and Xbox One, later on.
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