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A much needed fresh take on the mobile FPS market | Soft Launch Review - Rainbow Six Mobile

3K View2023-08-31

Rainbow Six Mobile

7.8

ActionCasualTactical ShooterShooter

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From the highly popular Rainbow Six franchise, Rainbow Six Mobile is a free-to-play competitive, multiplayer first-person shooter experience tailor made for mobile phones, which has now been soft launched in a limited capacity. It is now available in Canada for both iOS and Android, while the Soft Launch for other countries will go live starting with Mexico on September 4, with more coming next month.

🟩Pros
+Intense team-based PvP gameplay
+Tactical depth with variety of operators to choose from
+Destructible Environments
+Straightforward operation progression system
+Responsive and customizable controls

🟥Cons
-Stability and network issues

Rainbow Six Mobile features the same PvP FPS experience that started with Rainbow Six Siege back in 2015, which has continuously been updated throughout the years with new content, operators, and changes.

While many gameplay elements, mechanics, and maps look the same, Rainbow Six Mobile is not simply a 1:1 port of Rainbow Six Siege with touch controls, but rather a proper adaptation of the formula to the mobile platform. It features a more vibrant and clean looking graphics — for the dual purpose of toning down the graphics for phones, while at the same time making them more appealing to the mobile gaming market. The graphics are still impressive nonetheless, featuring console-like visuals with smooth performance to go along with it. With my Snapdragon 888 device reaching up to 60fps ranges.However, the network performance and general stability is another story. Constant disconnections, rubber banding, and crashing are things I have already experienced even during my first few hours of play.

Mechanically, Rainbow Six Mobile is a unique FPS game with distinct features that differentiate it from the oversaturated battle royale market that we currently have. It is a team-based PvP shooter, with a focus on player abilities, verticality, and destructible environments.

The game is simply intense, it is very competitive, the shooting feels like Call of Duty, but the feeling that the enemy could come from anywhere, anytime with its destructible environments and dynamic objectives is unparalleled. The hero shooter game mechanics with the different operators and abilities are also similar to Valorant/MOBA games because you have different classes and roles that compliment/counter each other

There are two game modes in the soft launch, which focuses the game on two key components: Team Deathmatch, which is a straightforward frags game mode, and the Random game mode, which is an objective based match which revolves around Attacking and Defending key areas of the map. They game currently features four maps so far that will be familiar to R6S fans: Bank, Border, Clubhouse and Oregon.

It’s not that noticeable due to the competency of bots, but there are plenty of bots in my early matches, however this will change as the game releases in more regions and picks up more players.

The two sides are pretty different from each other in how it plays, leading to a dynamic and engaging experience all match long. As the attacker, players must find the randomly spawning objective first by using drones, before actual deployment, then proceed to systematically enter and breach the location in whatever approach they want. As the defender, players must first set up defense, barricade entry points, hunt for drones, before the enemies can deploy.

The destructible environments are the heart of Rainbow Six Mobile's gameplay, Walls, floors, and ceilings can be destroyed, allowing players to create new paths, sightlines, and unexpected strategies. Each round is a dynamic puzzle, where both attackers and defenders must adapt to changing circumstances, keeping the gameplay fresh and engaging.

Rainbow Six Mobile boasts a diverse roster of operators, each with their own special abilities and gadgets. From hard breachers and gadget counters to intel gatherers and team support, the operators offer a wealth of tactical options. These operators are all unlockable via in-game grinding, so far the process is decently implemented, with a ticket system allowing players to try out these operators, one ticket at a time, until they eventually “recruit” them permanently to their rotation.

Although unlocks and progression can only be made once the operator is recruited, which adds an additional layer of grind. Players can also spend real money to buy platinum coins, which costs around $20 for 2-3 operators, with also options to purchase cosmetics for their operators. For this soft launch, progression will finally be made permanent going into the full launch, so no more wipes or restarts as far as players are concerned.

The controls are very typical of touch-based FPS games, but feature more buttons than a traditional one due to the use of gadgets, left and right leaning, and additional commands such as rappelling down walls or using security cameras. For the most part, the controls are still easy to learn and not as overwhelming as I expected, but I felt that the placement of some of the buttons could use a little bit of tweaking – fortunately made possible by the customizable HUD elements. Sadly, there is no physical controller support as of now, when I tested with my Xbox controller.

Conclusion:

Rainbow Six Mobile is a pretty solid experience that brings a much needed fresh take on the mobile gaming scene. Its faithful adaptation of the popular PC shooter, vibrant graphics, diverse operators, and focus on team-based strategy make it a promising addition to the competitive mobile FPS genre. Sure, there are kinks that need to be ironed out, but so far the direction they’re headed is great. Down the line, it could easily earn a place among the best multiplayer games available on mobile platforms.

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Rainbow Six Mobile

7.8

ActionCasualTactical ShooterShooter

Get

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