PC Gamer UK 01.2021 @InternationalPress75

I

f you haven’t checked
in with Rainbow Six
Siege in a while, you
might have missed
that its technology
has become pretty wild. In 2020,
Rainbow Six’s operational budget
includes laser cameras, moving
holograms, smart glasses and now
laser gates. That’s right, Operation
Neon Dawn adds Aruni to the
roster – a Thai detective who
deploys laser gates and pulverises
walls with her Big Boss-like
prosthetic limbs. She is radiating
coolness from every direction.

It seems like Ubisoft had a lot of
fun with her design, and I love any
chance to naturally incorporate
aspects of an operator’s identity with
their functionality. This is no repeat
of Oryx, whose wall-smashing ability
is satisfying yet mostly useless in
practice. Aruni’s Surya laser gates are
complex, potentially meta-shifting
defensive tools.

GATED COMMUNITY
The hard details of Aruni’s Surya
gate are a lot to take in. She can
deploy her three laser gate projectors
on any door, hatch, or wall
(reinforced or soft). On walls, one
gadget will project spy movie-style
laser wires across the length of one
reinforcement. If a wall takes three
reinforcements to completely cover,
that’s how many Suryas it requires.
Laser gates won’t stop bullets, but it
will intercept any thrown gadget –
Trax Stingers, grenades, Capitão
bolts, everything. After zapping a
gadget (or enemy) the gate will shut
down for 30 seconds to recharge.
The real kicker? The projector
itself is completely indestructible.
No amount of explosions, bullets,
or swings from Sledge’s hammer
can destroy it (I tried). Even the
most durable Siege gadgets can be
destroyed by grenades or hard breach
charges, but Aruni must’ve found
some Vibranium. The Surya’s
strengths and weaknesses are

important to note, because they

represent a shift in gadget denial.

With Jäger’s ADS now working on

a similar cooldown and Wamai

losing one MAG-NET, coordinated

attackers can capitalise on this new

window to push the site undeterred.

Like a more nuanced Castle, Aruni

can dramatically slow down a push

and occasionally stop attackers

completely (if I’m below 30 health

and have nothing to burn on the gate,

it’ll simply kill me). As someone who

almost always anchors on defence,

it’s also nice to see a gadget that

compliments that play style even

better than Year 4’s Wamai.

Aruni is the first operator with a

DMR on defence – she borrows

Dokkaebi’s Mk14 EBR. If Ubi is

feeling some trepidation about

tossing a DMR into a defender’s

hands, it makes sense that it’s testing

the waters with the weakest one in

the game. That said, at 60 damage

per shot it outclasses Goyo/Kaid’s

TCSG shotgun, and has extremely

low recoil.

OLD MAP, NEW FEEL

The final map rework of 2020 is

Skyscraper, a map that I’ve hated

with a passion for years. Defence or

attack, I’ve never jived with its

claustrophobic hallways, exterior

balconies, and lack of fun bomb sites.

The rework still feels a lot like the

original for better and worse, but it’s

safe to say that it’s an improvement.

Gone are most of those terrible

balconies, replaced by scalable walls

and windows. Upstairs, Dragon

Terrace now has a roof over its head.

This small change completely

rewrites how Tea Room is defended,

as there’s a new indoor rotation that

doesn’t force you to take the stairs.

The best improvement is the

near-extermination of the exterior

balconies. I really hated them.

I’ve had a really great time with

Siege’s first full year of map reworks.

Reworking maps can be tricky

business when you risk changing

the identity of a map that players

have loved for years. This year, each

rework has, in my mind, maintained

the map’s personality and unique

features while remodelling areas that

really needed it. With plenty more

maps in the hopper that could be

improved (looking at you Outback,

Fortress and Coastline), I’m perfectly

happy with reworks now. After all,

every good rework is also one fewer

bad map.

As Year 5 comes to a close, it’s

been interesting to watch Ubisoft’s

priorities with the game evolve over

time to prioritise quality over

quantity. Year 6 will add only four

new operators to the game. I like new

stuff, so it’s bittersweet, but I’m

excited by the game’s maturing meta

and how the operator design will

adapt to it. Bring it on.

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASE

December, 2020

PUBLISHER

Ubisoft

DEVELOPER

Ubisoft Montreal

LINK

bit.ly/2Ul0Ude

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE

Hands-on with the final season, Operation Neon Dawn. By Morgan Park

HARD DETAILS

OF ARUNI’S

SURYA GATE ARE

A LOT TO TAKE IN

1

BATHROOM

Newly expanded

to feel less

claustrophobic. One

window has now

been closed.

2

BBQ

BBQ’s deadly

window has been

closed to give

anchors a fighting

chance.

3

BALCONIES

Most of

Skyscraper’s

exterior balconies

have been

demolished to

mitigate runouts.

4

DRAGON

The dragon

terrace is now inside,

giving players more

rotation across the

second floor.

SKY SCRAPED

Delve into the reworked map

3

4

2

1

FIRST FLOOR

SECOND FLOOR

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