Rainbow Six, one of the most reputable tactical shooters in the industry, has been on an indefinite hiatus for a considerable amount of time. Plagued with layoffs, tumultuous delays and entire in-game overhauls, many feared the Tom Clancy-inspired series had peaked. But today, Ubisoft dragged the beloved franchise back rather triumphantly into the limelight in the form of Rainbow Six: Siege, a tactical-based shooter due for release in 2015.
The game was formed from the ashes of Rainbow Six: Patriots, which, after its acclaimed debut in 2011, abruptly slipped off the radar, forcing the development team at Ubisoft Montreal to send the project back to the drawing board. Now, though, Rainbow Six: Siege will drop players into the über tense world of hostage situations, with two teams of five competing over the safety of an AI target. With a concentrated focus on close-quarters combat, Ubisoft’s reboot-of-sorts will retain many of the beloved tropes associated with the long running series.
Judging from the brief footage demonstrated, those concentrated maps won’t be entirely static, either. Using tactical explosives and a variety of in-game armaments, players will be able to blast through walls during the heat of battle to acquire objectives. With other features teased such as drones, deployable shields and even rappelling, Ubisoft will hope to inject a certain intensity into the world of online competitive shooting.
Rainbow Six: Siege is currently without a release date, but Ubisoft Montreal is aiming to bring the game to current-gen systems and PC sometime in 2015.
