At the Six Invitational, the public got a first look at the first season of Year 8. The new operator Brava was introduced.
The attacker side of Rainbow Six Siege is getting a boost that will completely change matches in the future. Brava is the name of the new operator that comes with Y8S1 “Commanding Force”.
The Brazilian has brought along a special drone that will give defenders a lot of headaches. Because the so-called “Kludge Drone” can hack the defenders’ tools and destroy them, or – much meaner – take over! For example, if Brava takes over a Kapkan trap, it will no longer be triggered by attackers running by during the match, but by the defenders themselves. Nasty!
We already had the opportunity to play Brava at a preview event in the Ubisoft Montreal studio. Conclusion: The new operator brings a whole new level of thought processes into play that you haven’t had to do before. Suddenly you could walk into your own trap, which you prepared so carefully beforehand.
At the roundtable talk, Associate Game Director Joshua Mills gave a few tips: “Brava works great with IQ. This way IQ can spot and mark the opponent’s tools, then Brava can take targeted action to take them over.” Philosophy of the R6 team. Because IQ was one of the less played operators recently and receives an indirect buff from Brava. “Accordingly, we don’t always want to tweak the characters and gadgets ourselves to balance them, but first wait and see what the new interactions of fresh operators bring to the game.”
Stepped into the mousetrap
While Brava goes in search of enemy gadgets, the R6 development team focuses on other gadgets: mouse and keyboard. While peripherals are standard on PC, they cause problems on console and give players an unfair advantage using them. This is not intended for the Rainbow Six console version. A problem that goes far beyond the limits of Siege and also affects other console shooters. A solution is being sought across the entire industry and has not yet been found. However, Ubisoft believes that it has now taken a significant step forward. With Mousetrap.
As soon as the game recognizes that you have a mouse and keyboard connected to the console, it will activate an input lag that is supposed to negate the advantage. This lasts for several matches. As soon as you switch back to controller, the impact decreases again. “We worked closely with our accessibility team to not inadvertently penalize people who rely on alternate input methods,” Mills said. The unveiling at the Six Invitational was well received by the audience – Ubisoft seems to be on the right track.
Finally teach your friends about victories!
Veterans and noobs alike agree: Getting started with Siege is incredibly difficult. There are many mechanics and expressions unfamiliar to newcomers. Ubisoft is also aware of this problem. With Commanding Force, so-called “Beginner Challenges” find their way into the game, which should make it easier to get started. According to the motto “Practice through Play”, the challenges bring several missions into play that explain the mechanics to newcomers through tasks.
Doing this is worthwhile in several ways: Not only do you really get to know Rainbow Six, but you also unlock operators and other rewards. So that all players then speak of the same thing, the operators are now also given official roles, which are intended to simplify team composition and teamwork.
Apropos Teamwork…
Rainbow Six is not only fed up with cheaters, but also with Toxicity. Montreal has been working on this topic for a long time and is now daring to take the next step. Players who repeatedly misrepresented themselves in voice chat will now be muted in voice chat by default. If you still want to interact with them, you can actively unmute them. A reverse opt-in, so to speak.
The next big change that will affect many matches also belongs to the keyword teamwork: the renovation of the reloading system. Up until now, you could cancel the reloading animation and, as if by magic, had a full magazine available again. This contradicts Siege’s philosophy that actions like reloading are tactical decisions.
Accordingly, now the big change. If you choose to reload, the full animation must happen in order for you to have a full clip again. If you break this off prematurely, there is only a single bullet in the weapon. However, as you know at Siege: A single ball can make all the difference.
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