My ranking of the game: BWF (I'll explain later).


I originally purchased Siege back in 2016. July 6th. I also refunded it the same day, as I found it dull.

However, one year later, I had heard that some of my friends got the game. At which point, 12th of August, I re-purchased the game to play with them. It took me a good few months to get used to this game and it's surprisingly complex game design. There are about 10-15 things to take into account in one round. So obviously, me coming from a past of singleplayer experiences like Portal, FTL and the like, I was rather baffled at such a gaming scene.

The competitive Multiplayer FPS. Not really a game genre where I felt comfortable. However I stuck with it, grinding up to finally get into the characters I felt more suited for. I think, if not for the specific characters that Siege has, and the unique effect they have on each match, I would never have gotten as involved with this game as I am today.

Now for an actual review of the game, factually speaking.

PROS:

- Very unique operators/characters, as previously stated: Operators on both sides counter eachother almost perfectly with some exceptions.

- Almost perfectly optimized to run, from mine and friends experience: For reference, my graphics card and CPU are only a little above average. They're not bad, but not amazing either. Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 and an i7-5820K CPU, for those who are curious and wish to search them up.

- Destructable enviroments in each map: Destructable walls and hatches, along with partially destructable floor, serve as an interesting mechanic wether you are attacking or defending.

- Exeptionally rewarding feeling when managing to win matches: Rainbow Six Siege is, without a doubt, more satisfying to play and get better at, than any other game I have ever played. The feeling of managing to claw your way back from the 3-0 lead the enemy team has gained is impossible to put into words.

- Communication: I cannot stress this enough. If there is one this you need to think about when buying this game, it's that communication in a game like Siege is key if you want to win. Doesn't matter how good your aim is, if you can't talk and share information with your team, you will struggle. Now this is sometimes difficult as some people either: ignore comms, don't bother talking or in some cases, have terrible microphones.

- Sound Design: Now, to end our list of pros about Siege, is sound. Your best friend, in a game where you only live once. (You know, other than your gun). While some will argue that the sound in Siege is bugged, and yes it sometimes is, it is still one of the best sound designs in gaming. Being able to hear such a simple thing as a light footstep to your left and managing to win the round based on that alone, is great.

CONS:

- Toxicity: Now I hate to talk about this, but it is reality. The community in Siege does have a toxicity problem. Everything from racism, to sexism, teamkilling, trashtalking and homophobia. Ubisoft do their best to stomp on that sort of behaviour in the game, however there isn't much they can do. They've tried everything from a chat filter, that was getting random people banned for not even saying anything bad, to what we have now, which is reverse friendly fire and a chat filter that instead of banning the people who say racial slurs, and so on, instead have their messages sent to Ubisoft for reviewing. Ultimately toxicity will always be there, no matter how hard you try to stop it.

- Hackers and Exploiters: I'm gonna make this bit short and sweet, as there's not much to say about it. These people are in the game. They are pretty sad people and they make Ubisoft's work enviroment a hassle. Hackers and Exploiters aren't Ubisoft's fault entirely, keep that in mind next time you shame Ubisoft. They do a lot of good work that we don't see.

- Bugs: Bugs Bugs Bugs. They are there. Everything from raptor legs, to your gun simply not reloading and certain crashes at times. Personally I've only had the game crash once.

- (IMPORTANT) Solo Queue: This will be my final note in this review and it's a hugely important factor when it comes to buying this game. Playing this game on your own, is something I'd usually advice against if you can play it with friends. This game is team-oriented and it requires teamwork at least 80% of the time (I'm mainly talking about the ranked game mode here). Solo Queueing is pretty annoying. I'm not saying don't get the game if you don't have people who will play it with you. Just be warned that the people you meet in game, are not guaranteed to work with you.

Summary:
Siege is good fun for the casual gamer, the competitive spirit and even..me. The learning curve is steep, but very satisfying.
The game has it's good and bad sides, like any game (Except Portal), but in my 1,242 hours of play, I've found that the pros outweigh the cons.

The game is, as the award states, Better With Friends.