After two decades of sneaking around the world in a number of high-profile missions in the Splinter Cell franchise, video game icon Sam Fisher is coming to another hit Ubisoft property in the form of Rainbow Six Siege.
Under the code name “Zero”, Fisher will play as an offensive operator, using a two-way drill camera, known as the Argus Launcher, to always stay one (or two) steps ahead of the opposition. The Argus Launcher sticks softly as reinforced walls, windows, chunks and is able to stick to any surface in the game. When Fisher activates his premier gadget, he can trace to the other side of the field where the Argus Launcher is attached, allowing him to also allow one laser charge from his camera that can be damaged defenders or their trusted gadgets.
“Sam is all about denying Intel and gadget,” Rainbow Six Siege designer Emilen Lomet told ESPN in an interview about Fisher’s arrival. “Those two things are already [explored] in the Siege, but the new area of gameplay is that [Fisher] has a tool that is able to go through walls and reinforcements without destroying them, and that’s new to us. For this operator, there was an extra layer [in creating him] – we do Sam Fisher, we need a gadget that fits Sam Fisher. And from that, we had to start our operator process a little differently, so we had to do something that fit in Siege, but Sam Fisher was great. “
While the idea of one of Ubisoft’s legends joining forces with one of its most popular persistent games felt like a slam dunk from the first time it was proposed, the development team wants to make sure Splinter Cell fans franchise know that her hero isn I will not play the same as he in the Splinter Cell franchise. While they have brought elements of Fisher’s essence into the game through the gadgets they created for him to torment his rivals, as Splinter Cell fans watch Siege play as a secret sneak mission, they will end with a less than ideal time.
Fisher’s introduction is also another step in Ubisoft’s evolution of adding new characters to the game. In general, for every addition of an operator in Siege, there would be a second character who also joins the ranks. Because the game’s roster has remained flowery over the years since the game’s official release in April 2015, the development team has made a decision to slow down adding characters, in search of continuing them. mission to have every new operator either bring something completely new to the Siege world or add a special twist to something already in the game.
Many operators in Siege already know about the art of exploration, but Fisher is ready to show the boys how it’s done.
“I think [Fisher] has a pretty balanced role, “said lead designer Jean-Baptiste Halle. I find it funny, though [looking at it] As another one of them, it is like an instructor who comes to train the operators. He has a really advanced kit. And of course, now we know it’s hard to find a place in the meta as part of the Attackers composition, so I can not say for sure if he will find one, but we hope with such a balanced kit, perhaps he will find a place at the [pro] level. “
When asked if Fisher’s arrival could mean opening doors for other characters from other iconic gaming franchises while having a chance to take part in the Siege roster, ala Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series , the developers mentioned that while this will not be the start of a new trend taking over the game, that door is open. The obvious connection within the company made the Sam Fisher license straight away, while any popular character outside of the Ubisoft umbrella would take an agreement between two sides.
For the makers, however, it’s less about how big of a name a character can bring to Rainbow Six Siege, but how they can shift and fit the landscape they’ve been carefully collecting over the past five years. While dealing with all of their newfound operators, they threw Fisher into the wringing of tests that eventually led to the best professional Siege players in the world getting their hands on him to test out. While Halle said the pro-workshops can be hit-or-miss in terms of how much they like having a new operator, the development team sometimes even sees how much they can “play with fire” with their characters, Fisher’s balanced, round kit got two thumbs up from the teachers who got their hands on him.
“He’s absolutely stealthy,” Halle said. “You have to play relatively patient, maybe a little more than other operators. I think you have to play sensibly too. He has great cannons, but if you want to make the most of him, you can not be a run-n-gun player. “You have to think.”
Fisher will be available in the upcoming third season of the fifth year of Rainbow Six Siege, Operation Shadow Legacy. Along with the Splinter Cell legend, the new season will also include a redesigned Chalet card and additional game features, including a reworked ping system and a map veto system. The test server for Operation Shadow Legacy will go live on August 17th.
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