Rainbow Six Siege: Shifting Tides was recently revealed and will kick off the fourth Season of Year 4, adding two new operators, a revamped map, and some other crucial improvements in the metagame. I was able to get my hands on the new season early and was impressed with what I played. Time for more details!
Enter Kali and Wamai
As with every new Season, Shifting Tides comes with two new operators, one on each side. Kali is our new Indian attacker while Wamai joins the attackers, representing Kenya. Both come with some special abilities and I must say, they really clicked with me, a lot faster than the previous two operators did. Let’s start with Kali. As a medium speed, medium armor attacker she’s rather light on her feet without really being fast. The most crucial difference between her and the other attackers is her loadout. Her main weapon is the Sniper and since it’s an extremely powerful one, she doesn’t have another main weapon, only a pistol that she can switch to automatic fire as a secondary gun. The emphasis is on her powerful Sniper and it really changes the way you play. A headshot means results in an instant kill while a shot to the chest will result in an instant down. Kali is an attacker to keep a close eye on and if you hear her powerful Sniper go off, you’ll better hide. She is equipped with a CSRX 300 sniper rifle that can breach barricades and hatches in a single shot. Her gadget is its under-barrel, the LV Explosive Lance, that destroys all gadgets on both sides of breakable and reinforced surfaces. You don’t want to be on her bad side… Her strength is also her weakness as playing with a Sniper isn’t always that easy inside building. I struggled to master her skills since finding the right balance between her powerful primary and the weaker secondary gun will take time.
To counter Kali’s strength, the defenders get help from Wamai, a medium speed and medium armor character. His gadget, the Mag-NET System, can attract enemy projectiles and have them detonate at its location. Wamai can make Attackers’ grenades and projectile gadgets useless, or better, turn them against their users. So, Wamai doesn’t have a powerful weapon but a rather standard load-out, his power lies in his special gadget, which has proven itself to be very helpful. It works as a sticky grenade that can stick to any surface. As said before, it attracts projectiles, including grenades, giving you an extra safe-zone while protecting your bomb-sides. It’s a bit dangerous to use since you can still take a lot of damage when you’re too close to the Mag-NET System but if placed strategically, it can really alter the outcome of a match.
A revamped Theme Park
In addition to these two new Operators, players will be able to explore a reimagined Theme Park map, which is back and newly reworked. The Rail Platform has been removed and the East and West sections have been brought closer together. Inside the building, the East section has largely evolved, primarily the downstairs area. Gargoyle and Haunting Dining bomb sites are replaced with the Throne Room and Armory pair. The new Gong Room in this area also becomes the main entrance, while the Arcade Entrance is now blocked.
The revamped map of this new Season is Theme Park and I must say, I really enjoyed playing on this map a lot. It’s a bit hard when you’re playing as an Attacker and the Defenders come outside the safety of their building to kill you from your spawn, but there are a lot of ways to take the upper hand. The map really feels balanced and it offers tons of possibilities to both penetrate and defend the building as long as needed. There are enough small corridors, entry points, and breakable walls to make it interesting until the very end. Of course, since this was only a rather short hands-on with the new Season, we couldn’t test the map extremely well. I’m certain there are a lot more strategic points that we ignored but from what I’ve played until now, this really feels like one of the better maps in the game. It offers everything you want, ranging from tight combat in corridors to embushing the Attackers on one of both floors. It’s an interesting map and I can’t wait to see what the community will discover once this goes online.
More improvements
Of course, a new Season is more than just new operators and revamped maps, the developers always try to improve the core gameplay itself too. The biggest improvement here, aside from some lower prices for certain Operators, is the limb penetration system. For example, if you shoot a character who was briefly holding his/her hand in front of his/her face, you’ll still get a headshot thanks to this new system. It might sound like a small thing but in reality, it makes the game a lot more realistic. Bullets will penetrate the limbs of the characters and if they are blocking their heads with their limbs, this won’t affect your headshot, making it more realistic and of course more fair for everyone.
Conclusion:
Although my time with Rainbow Six Siege: Shifting Tides was rather short, it gave a good impression of what’s to come. The two new Operators really add something new to the game and the revamped Theme Park is a joy to play. Add the small improvements and limb penetration system to the deal and you’ll understand why Season 4 will become a success once more. Be sure to jump back!
