New life for an old tactical shooter. Rainbow Six Siege X review

Ten years for an online game is almost an eternity (World of Warcraft looks at you with surprise - ed. note). You have to compete every day for the attention of players in a world where every season is a mini premiere, and every update is a chance to fly up the charts again. Rainbow Six Siege has been through everything: the euphoria of the launch, years of goals, toxicity, the heyday of the esports component, stagnation, neon chaos in the store and attempts to please everyone at once. But, despite this, it did not disappear and is now returning in an updated form under the name Rainbow Six Siege X. This short review tells how Siege X looks in practice. What has actually changed, whether the improvements have affected the feeling of the game and whether it makes sense to return to those who have left long ago. Or to enter for the first time, if you have been hesitant.

Access model: conditional openness

Rainbow Six Siege X officially opens its doors to everyone. The game is now free to download, and from the first minute the player has access to three modes: Quick Match, Unranked and the new Dual Front. The menu also features a full tutorial with interactive training tasks, and there are training modes with bots. This really looks like an attempt to make the game more friendly for beginners.

But if you dig deeper, the monetization model remains. To unlock Ranked, participate in tournaments, use the full set of operators and modes, you will have to spend money. Although operators are not locked by the mandatory purchase of the game, they can still be unlocked for in-game currency. Paid versions of the game immediately open access to all content. Elite Edition opens Ranked and gives 16 additional operators, Ultimate Edition – full access and the entire list of available agents (unfortunately, among them there are Russian ones, including from the FSB – ed.).

Players who owned the game before June 10, 2025, received full access to the modes automatically with all progress, skins, currency and unlocked operators. Some operators are unlocked through special challenges, but if they have already been opened before, then completing these tasks gives a good amount of currency. There is also a cosmetic pack available for veterans of the game. The earlier players started playing Rainbow Six Siege, the more valuable cosmetics you will unlock.

Ubisoft is not hiding anything, but the first contact with Rainbow Six Siege X may create the false impression of complete freeware.

What's new in the game?

The Rainbow Six Siege X update isn't just about the menu and cosmetics. Ubisoft has tackled the fundamentals: how the game looks, sounds, and feels. First and foremost, it's Dual Front, a new 6v6 mode with respawns, side switching, and higher dynamics. This is a new line of development for the project, which gives space not only for classic tactics, but also for more aggressive game styles. Instead of the old formula, one mistake is death, players have a second chance, and the battle takes on a greater scope. The Dual Front mode seems to be a deliberate contrast to the classic Siege, where every move has weight. Here is a large map, where two teams simultaneously attack and defend. The tasks are similar to the same ones in regular game modes. For example, place a Defuser on an enemy point, and prevent the enemy from doing the same on their own.

The maps have also been updated. Five classic maps, Clubhouse, Chalet, Border, Bank and Kafe Dostoyevsky (we understand that the original game was released 10 years ago, but why drag this pro-Russian content into the new version? - ed. note), have received new lighting, detail and textures. Although these updates are mostly not noticeable, especially if you entered the game a couple of years ago, modern technologies still do their job. The visual upgrade is not only pleasing to the eye, but also functional - improved visibility, clearer shadows, better orientation. In the future, the developers promise to update three maps every season, gradually refreshing the entire pool.

Along with the visual changes, new interactive elements have appeared. For the first time in the game, you can destroy objects on the map that were previously decorative. Gas cylinders, pipes, fire extinguishers, metal detectors - all this now reacts to the player's actions. Explosions can create noise, smoke or open new lines of fire. This does not overturn the tactical component, but adds depth and variability for non-standard solutions in defense or assault.

Another notable change is the revamped rope movement. Rappelling is now more natural and maneuverable: you can change position while descending or climb along the wall more smoothly. Animations have become shorter, the response to player commands has improved, and rope movement has become faster, more controlled, and opens up new opportunities for aggressive play, rather than just a slow approach from the side. However, in some situations, the rope does not behave as you might expect.

In addition to the visuals and gameplay, Siege X has also updated its security systems. ShieldGuard is a new anti-cheat technology that aims to detect cheating faster and implement bans through a centralized control system. At the same time, the reputation system has been improved: players are rated for their playstyle, behavior, frequency of leaving matches, and toxic chat activity. Reputation affects the speed of matchmaking, access to some features, and even profile visibility.

Audio that works on the player

One of the most profound changes in Rainbow Six Siege X is the new sound system. Ubisoft has completely rebuilt spatial audio. Now it's not just what you hear, but where it's happening. Footsteps are localized, explosions have volume, and echoes and sound absorption vary depending on the materials and architecture of the environment.

Sound in the game has finally become a powerful tool. If before you just guessed where the enemy was approaching from, oriented only by stereo, now you can clearly determine the floor, direction, nature of the actions. It is important that players no longer have to rely only on visual cues, it is hearing that has become a full-fledged part of tactics.

But there are still some complaints. Some players on Reddit are talking about various issues with positioning and the new sound structure. But this is more of a side effect of the new sound space that you have to get used to. In practice, this is one of the most effective technical updates to the game in recent years.

New dawn

Along with the release of Siege X, a new operation, Operation Daybreak, was launched, which brought the first changes to the balance of classic operators. The biggest update was given to Clash: she can now place a shield stationary and remotely activate a shocker on it, controlling the space even without a direct presence.

In addition to her, Jackal, Sledge, Thunderbird, Jäger, and Blackbeard have undergone minor changes. These are mainly corrections to the operation of gadgets, animations, and team interaction, without a complete overhaul of their game logic.

Separately, Ubisoft has updated the overall damage logic: traps now slow players instead of dealing damage, and limb hits are now less lethal. These are small but important changes that make the game fairer without breaking the fundamentals. This is just the first step in a broader balance overhaul program that Ubisoft has planned for the year.

How does it all feel?

After a few hours in Rainbow Six Siege X, the game feels familiar, but new. The movements are sharper, the sound is deeper, the graphics are cleaner. It's still a tactical shooter, where Time to Kill is short, and one bad maneuver decides the fate of the round. But in this version, everything is better structured, sounds better, works better. Although it causes some disappointment at first glance: "And this is what all the fuss was about?"

The most questions are raised by the new Dual Front mode, which is heavily emphasized. It is difficult to play if you do not abstract from the basis of the old Siege. That is, if you are used to the compact, even chamber, tactical battles of the old version, then in the new mode you have to play completely differently. The pace has changed here, TTK, the map has become simply gigantic by the standards of Rainbow Six Siege, and tactics in such conditions simply do not work. Most of the operatives' gadgets look ineffective, it seems that it is the weapon and shooting skill that work, not tactics.

The mixed feelings are also added by the team members and opponents, who usually run around the map chaotically, trying to play Call of Duty. And, if the enemy kills you somewhere in the middle of the map, then you have to wait for the respawn and run towards the task again, which affects the pace. So far, it seems that Dual Front is made for new players, or for those who want to switch completely. Or simply some of the ideas at its core are not fully realized, which is why it looks like it's stuck somewhere in the middle.

In my information bubble, many expected Rainbow Six Siege X to be a moment of great cleansing. That the game would be stripped of the flashy cosmetics that had transformed a serious tactical shooter into a flamboyant neon mask fest in recent years. That didn't happen. Any operative could still look like a character from a fantasy series or a Muppet show. And it still affects the immersion of the game.

At the same time, Siege X is very similar to the Hunt: Showdown 1896 update - a deep technical rethinking that does not change the essence of the game. Hunt also did not start from scratch. They simply took what already works and brought it to a smart, modern form. It's the same here, just a qualitatively finished game that should have been "cleaned up" a long time ago.

Conclusion

Rainbow Six Siege X is not a fresh start, but a long-awaited transformation. Ubisoft didn't try to build something from scratch. They took the core that still works and reconfigured it to modern standards. And while it didn't solve all the problems, technically Rainbow Six Siege became better in everything - from gameplay to sound, from visuals to the rhythm of the game. Plus, a whole bunch of life improvements were added.

For newcomers, the release of Rainbow Six Siege X is a real chance to enter a complex game with a new mode that gives room for mistakes. For veterans, it is a gift in the form of improvements and signs that the game has not yet been written off. It is alive, and with this update, it is relevant again. And most importantly: it is still about the same thing. About silence, which is more frightening than shooting. About angles. About coordinated actions. And if you missed it, then it is time to return.

PS Dear Ubisoft, maybe you will finally remove Russian operators and Russian maps from the game and add Ukrainian fighters instead. You have two Ukrainian studios for this.