Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher Confirmed As Latest Operator In Rainbow Six Siege
Ubisoft has announced an update for Rainbow Six Siege called Operation Shadow Legacy. Part of the update brings an iconic character, Sam Fisher from the game franchise Splinter Cell, as a playable operative in Siege. Fisher comes with a new Intel-gathering gadget and a new assault rifle. Operation Shadow Legacy also brings a host of gameplay modifications that will change how Siege is played.
Among the gameplay modifications are Ping 2.0, new and updated optics, a secondary breaching gadget, pooled reinforcements, and map ban capability. The popular map Chalet is reworked and players will be able to check out a new match replay feature that is entering alpha testing on the game's test server.
Sam Fisher joins the game under callsign "Zero." Fisher is a medium-speed, medium-armor Attacker using his iconic SC-3000K assault rifle or an MP7 as his primary weapon. He also carries a 5.7 USG sidearm with an integrated suppressor. The Argus launcher is a new Intel gathering gadget that features three green lasers in a triangle pattern and offers a versatile intelligent-gathering tool to the attacking team.
The Argus launcher can fire projectiles into breakable and reinforced surfaces to burrow through and create camera vision on both sides of the barrier. The camera can look in one direction at a time allowing users to peek into a room the enemy doesn't want them to see into. Argus projectiles can fire a single laser to destroy enemy gadgets or deal minor damage to enemies. The projectiles are easily destroyed by a bullet and make a sound when burrowing into place.
Modifications to the Chalet map include new navigation options, including the ability to rappel all the way up and transverse the rooftop. There are also various new corridors in the building's rooms. Major changes in the Operation Shadow Legacy update include:
- Ping 2.0 – The regular yellow ping will now be numbered, with each player assigned a number at the beginning of each match. Pings will now also be contextual, so when players ping gadgets, the defuser, and other objects of interest, the ping icon will change to reflect which item is pinged (e.g. ping a Frost trap and your ping icon will show Frost’s icon). Players can also now ping from cameras and drones.
- Weapon optics – New scopes and new magnification levels have been added, and the classic ACOG is now known as the 2.5x scope. There is a new red dot sight and a new holographic sight, though the previous designs are still in play. Some Operators now have different optics for different guns, and players can customize the color and opacity of their reticles.
- Reinforcement pool – Instead of every Defender having two reinforcements to deploy on walls and hatches, 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.
- Hard-breaching secondary gadget – A new secondary gadget for Attackers will allow 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 beyond Thermite, Hibana, Maverick, and Ace’s gadgets.
- EMP grenade rework – Thatcher has long been the scourge of Defender gadgets with his destructive EMP grenade, but now his EMP blasts will only disable enemy gadgets, not destroy them. The gadgets will come back online once this disabled state ends, so Attackers will have to time their pushes to take advantage of this window of opportunity, while Defenders keen on Bandit tricking will have to adapt their tactics.
- My Siege Stats – A new tool on the official Rainbow Six website, My Siege Stats will give you a detailed breakdown of your in-game performance so you can identify your strengths and spot areas of improvement.
- Match Replay – Available on the PC test server, the alpha phase of match replay will allow players to load up any of their past 12 matches and view the replay from the spectator camera view or from the perspective of any player in the match. Whether you use it to analyze your opponents or relive your highlights, be sure to give the team feedback on the official forums to help them improve the tool.
- Map Ban – A new phase in Ranked and Unranked matches will give teams the chance to ban one map and give them a little more control over the matches they get into.
In other Rainbow Six Siege news, in January of this year, Ubisoft sued multiple owners of a Rainbow Six Siege DDoS attack website.