This is a long review from someone who has played the game since release, reached high ranks in ranked mode (Gold II), and seen some ♥♥♥♥ turn to diamonds. I'm reviewing Siege in terms of its current state, July 2016. Also, I'm too lazy to proof read so excuse any typos/grammar errors.

Summary:
Siege is an online-only game. I've played this game since it's release, and I can definitely say I recommend this game... to a certain audience. Simply, this is a tactical shooter, where patience truly is a virtue. I can see how some players may find this frustrating compared to other popular fast-paced shooters, but in my perspective I feel they are completely different genres using the same elements of game play. For instance, you'll find yourself crouching 80% of the time to avoid detection and remain out of sight of the apposing team. In my experience, this is the best tactic to use when starting out, which again, may be frustrating for some. Now, for the issues which I personally have come across and still exist. Note that there have been bug and minor gameplay fixes (i.e. increased Mute's Jammer range, people hiding in certain spots of the map which cannot be accessed on the other end).

Issues:

Hackers - The obvious issues which I've come across while playing, of course, are the hackers. The new anti-cheat system has potential and I encourage Ubisoft to keep improving FairFight. In some cases, hackers are still getting away even when five players report 'suspicious behavior', there have been times where the other team was co-operative enough to boot the player who's using hacks. In ranked, it's much less likely to happen because the team you start with is the team you end with. Despite popular opinion, I've found most of the player base non-toxic compared to its first release. What I've noticed, however, are that majority of hackers are around the Gold and beyond ranks of Siege, meaning casual and early points of ranked are relatively hacker-free.

FPS drops on Yacht (one map) - Maybe this is just me, but for some reason (I'm guessing due to the snowy environment) my FPS drops from 60 to 25-30 in this map. (AMD Radeon 380 4GB VRAM, 8GB RAM, 6-core AMD Processor for the curious). This seems to only happen on Yacht, but I've read that some have similar issues on other maps. Otherwise, I'm running Siege on (almost) highest settings available.

Pricing - I bought the game full price on it's release and haven't regretted it. However, I can see how intimidating it is for the general consumer, being $70 CAD for basically two game modes, split into random objectives on both (Bomb, Secure, and Hostage). This, I believe, is the biggest issue since I've come across the same players in the game over a span of days, weeks, and to my surprise, months (which I'm fine with, but going somewhere with this). The price pretty much lowers population of the Siege community and I fear once the game gets a price drop, Siege will become irrelevant, thus, a dying community. The starter edition (which is gone now, I think) did help boost player base, but...

In-game currency/THE GRIND - The starter edition is a massive grind. let me explain. I'm totally fine with the system Siege has for unlocking weapon skins, headgear, and other aesthetics, but I bought the regular edition, meaning I don't get access to new and upcoming operators for free on their release, where instead I must collect in game currency (reknown) to unlock them - which is arguably fair. Regular operators (in other words, classes) are easy and fast to buy. New ops cost much, much more unless you buy them with real money to skip ahead/season pass/gold edition/etc. 2k vs 25k. each match typically rewards 200-450 depending how well you did. To put this into perspective, I've only bought two of the four new operators in my 160 hrs of playtime. Although, I'll be fair to say I spent ~20k on aesthetics. but still. 160 hrs and I havent unlocked all Operators.

The Good:

Graphics & Sound - Beautiful and stunning. It's such a great success that the game gets little more challenging when I'm playing in a daytime vs nighttime map because it becomes hard to focus your sights indoor vs outdoor. Other than Yacht, I've had smooth performance in the game in (almost) max settings. The game emphasizes on sound, which really got me hooked on the game. 9/10

Gameplay - Very well done and is slowly improving as updates come. Maps are as destructible as possible, meaning you can blast through walls, barricades, windows, floors, whathaveyou - pretty much, anything made of wood. No mini map, no kill streak garbage, and the only info on your HUD are bullet count, available items to use, and compass. Bugs have been fixed (however, some do linger) and some operators obtained improved gadgets/traits. For PvP, given you're playing people with a similar skill set, it's very fun and intense. You're more likely to win by communicating than staying silent (i.e. rather than complaining about your death, you instead notify your team of the position of the opposing players and what you think they're planning) Even in death you can be useful by navigating cams. PvE (Terrorist Hunt) is also fun, but I use that game mode to blow off steam. In some cases, can be challenging, but again, patience is a virtue. Don't run around. I use some nice, high quality headphones which help gameplay drastically (You can sometimes hear enemies at the other side of a wall where you can shoot through). If you have a co-operative team, all the better. Guns are great, however there are a small amount of OP guns which need nerfing... particularly guns new operators use. 9/10

Community - Despite popular opinion and NOT taking in hackers in consideration, I like the Siege community. Yes, during it's first months, there had been much unnecessary ♥♥♥♥ talking and team killing. Don't get me wrong though, I'm fine with people boasting about their wins, however, people look stupid after ♥♥♥♥ talking while playing on casual. save it for ranked bud. Anyways, when I play casual I try my best to give new players tips and ideas, which mostly have respected and taken in consideration, but I don't let the bad apples spoil the bunch. The sense of community is a big deal to me in Siege because of it's co-operative aspect. Listen to teammates, follow them if you aren't sure what to do (which I always remind people), don't yell on your mic cause you ran in my line of fire, therefore don't be a ♥♥♥♥. Lastly, sometimes I've come across teams which just don't want to communicate at all, but that's just casual. Casual vs ranked really does feel like a different type of community. 7/10

Overall - I like that Ubisoft hasn't forgotten about this game and are at least doing somethings to improve it. Even since release, I've been able to avoid/ignore issues which were first introduced in the game and still am because they're manageable. It's super fun, rewarding, challenging, realistic-ish, and my favorite tactical shooter. I recommend this game, but not at it's full price given the content and how likely you are to stick with the game. Be aware, though, that for a good experience you're hardware may need to be of some quality, but this seems to be the standard for AAA games nowadays. I give this game a confident 9/10 at a sale price.