Sam Fisher has stepped out of the darkness and has joined Team Rainbow in the latest expansion to the game. Here’s our first look at Y5S3: Operation Shadow Legacy.
The next season in Rainbow Six Siege brings over one of the biggest crossovers the game has ever had. Sam Fisher, the main playable character, from the Splinter Cell series will join the operator roster of Siege as a new playable attacker. Alongside Fisher, this new expansion introduces a whole bunch of new additions and quality of life changes in the form of reworked optic sights, a new ping system, map bans, spectator support and much more.
From Shadows into the Light
The much-loved Sam Fisher of the Splinter Cell series appearing under the codename ‘Zero’, is a medium speed, medium armor attacker is armed with a SC3000k, which is more or less the weapon he’s been using since the first Splinter Cell game, keeping up with his stealthy characteristics. Alternatively he can also use the MP7 SMG and a 5.7 USG handgun with a built-in suppressor as his secondary sidearm.
Zero specializes in gathering intel and he does so in a very stylish manner with his Argus Launcher. The Argus Launcher comes equipped with four launchable drill cameras which can be fired at almost any surface on the map, from barricades to reinforced walls. These cameras provide vision to both sides of the wall, providing a peek into the enemy’s defence lines. Moreover, each Argus projectile can also fire a single laser that can either deal damage to the enemy team or, more helpfully, destroy enemy gadgets as well. The trailer launched at the reveal showcases the Argus destroying Kaid’s Electroclaw, disarming a reinforced surface.
Although the drill cameras are very noticeable by the anyone from the defenders and can be destroyed by a single bullet, the camera placement possibilities that the Argus Launcher provides is so wide that keeping their eyes peeled at all times is a must for the defensive team.
Also, such a handy gadget does have its fair share of weaknesses. The cameras cannot be used if it’s under the effect of Mute’s Jammer, also it cannot be placed on electrified surfaces by Bandit’s Shock Wires or Kaid’s Electroclaws which can also destroy a pre-placed drill camera. Jäger’s active defense system and Wamai’s Mag-Net will completely snap up launching drill cameras if it’s under its area of effect. Also, despite being a stealthy character, Zero’s gadget does make a lot of noise when used, which can be easily heard as a sound clue. With so many places which can be used as potential peek points, Fisher is sure to make his presence known in Team Rainbow.
A fresh reworked ping system: Ping 2.0
One of the biggest quality-of-life change comes in the form of a revamped ping system. Much like the pings in Apex Legends, Hyper Scape or Valorant, pings now provide more contextual information without having to go in to text or voice communication each round. Each ping will now be numbered, with players being assigned a number before every match, so players will be able to identify exactly who is pinging what. Also when things of interest are pinged like the defuser or operator gadgets (Ex: Kapkan’s Entry Denial Device) the pings will now show an icon over it to provide more contextual information to the entire team. Additionally, players can now ping from cameras or drones. It’s a very neat change for the people without comms or for the people who hate to talk much, like me.
Facelift of a Classic: The Chalet Rework
Every season in Rainbow Six Siege comes with either a new map or a rework of an old one. This one’s no different as the classic snowy French haven in the name of Chalet. This map rework puts an emphasis to player maneuverability. Attackers can now rappel up to the roof allowing for more unpredictable points of entry, the balcony by the master bedroom has been turned into an indoor area with a new staircase that connects it to the trophy room. The basement also has more rotation opportunities, as a new corridor connecting both bombsites will be added. There’s also a new window above the garage door, massively reducing its chokepoint capabilities for the attacking team as even the snowmobiles can’t save attackers from that line of sight.
Map Bans
The new Map Ban system now allows the players to choose what map to go on before the start of an Unranked or a Ranked game. From a pool of three randomized selections from the active duty pool, players can vote on to which map would be the final choice. We speculate that as a side result, this could result in some maps being played much more over the others and map play rates will drastically change.
Thatcher Rework: A nerf to the classic EMP grenade
Thatcher has long been the most reliable counter of all the electronic defender gadgets with his destructive EMP grenade, but now his EMP blasts will only disable all enemy gadgets, not destroy them, just like it did with Maestro’s Evil Eyes or Echo’s Yokai Drones before. The gadgets will come back online once this disabled state ends, so Attackers will have to time their game-plans to take advantage of this window of opportunity, while defenders who are looking to Bandit trick will have to change their tactics. Thatcher was one of the most picked and banned attacker with his tremendous utility and his fragging potential so it doesn’t come as a shocker that he is receiving a quality-of-life change.
New Optics: New ways to play
This update introduces one of the most noticeable gameplay changes to ever hit Siege in the form of new optic sights. New scopes, sights and new magnification levels have been added. The classic ACOG is now known as the scope 2.5x. New holographic sights and Red-dot sights have been added while the classic ones and the custom Russian sights are still in play. Some Operators now have different optics for different guns. Also players can customize the color and opacity of their reticles allowing for much more comfort plays.
Sharing is Caring: The Reinforcement pool
Previously, every Defender had two reinforcements each to deploy on walls and hatches. But from Operation Shadow Legacy, the defending team will now draw from a pool of ten reinforcements. So, for example, a speedy player could run to upper floors and reinforce more than two hatches, and anchors won’t have to worry about roamers leaving the site without first reinforcing. (I also can’t wait for a random newcomer reinforcing every single wall by himself in casual xD.)
More ways to Blast walls: A secondary Hard-breaching Gadget
Some attacking operators now have a new secondary gadget allowing them to breach a sizeable hole in reinforced walls (big enough to vault through) or destroy reinforced hatches. While it is vulnerable to destruction in the usual ways, this means that Attackers will have more hard-breaching options even beyond the usual hard breaching operators: Thermite, Hibana, Maverick, and Ace’s gadgets. More ways to blow up walls and more face-offs incoming.
Match Replay Support
My favorite addition in this whole expansion, the alpha phase of match replay will allow players to load up any match from their past 12 games and view the replay from the spectator camera view showcased in custom games or pro matches or from the perspective of any player in the match. Now one can look up an old game and have an in-depth look at their plays, mistakes and even dig out clips for content creation. The Match Replay feature has hit the Test Server as of this article going live.
All of the above features will be free for all players at the launch of Operation Shadow Legacy. Sam Fisher, aka Zero, will be unlocked exclusively for Year 5 Pass holders at launch, and will be available for everyone else to purchase seven days later with Renown or R6 credits. To keep up with the latest in Siege news, follow RedJacket.
