Ubisoft seems dead set on reviving the almost seven-year-old Rainbow Six Siege. After a successful first season for year 7 with Operation Demon Veil, the company is looking to continue the game's success with Operation Vector Glare. Upcoming changes, such as the removal of operator quarantine and the addition of reputation penalties, make it so that newly released operators can enter the competitive scene immediately and those who love to shoot teammates have friendly fire automatically activated for multiple consecutive matches. A new firing range allows players to practice shooting their weapons, while the new Team Deathmatch map, Close Quarters, gives teams a new playground to test their guns out in.
Amid the myriad of changes and additions, it wouldn't be a new Rainbow Six Siege season without the introduction of a new operator. Neon Ngoma Mutombo, AKA "Sens", is the first non-binary operator and the game's newest playable character. A 3-armor, 1-speed operator, Sens works best on the backlines as they aid their fellow attackers with their unique loadout. They come equipped with the brand-new POF-9 assault rifle as well as the 417 marksman rifle for their primary weapons, an SDP 9mm and GONNE-6 shotgun for secondary weapons, and hard breach charges and claymores for their secondary gadgets. But what makes Sens unique is their primary gadget - an R.O.U. projector system that creates walls of light similar to some agent abilities found in Epic Games' hero shooter, Valorant.
Light On Wheels
Upon closer inspection, the R.O.U. projector system is a wheel-like gadget that rolls along the floor. Small, bulletproof projectors are dropped along the R.O.U's path, which create walls of light that block sightlines from both sides. When deployed correctly, the R.O.U allows Sens and the rest of the attacking team to push into areas and defend objectives like an activated defuser.
The R.O.U. is an interesting gadget with some very unique interactions. When hitting surfaces such as walls, it ricochets off and travels in another direction - allowing Sens to create some quirky angles that they can play off of. Attacking operators like Glaz pair well with Sens, as they come equipped with sights that allow them to see and shoot through the walls of light. Twitch can safely pass her Shock Drones through the R.O.U without fear of getting shot by enemies, and Iana can even pull off some Valorant-esque moves by passing her Gemini clone through the R.O.U. projector system. Since the projectors the R.O.U. dispenses are bulletproof, defenders have to use their utility to take them out. In this sense, the gadget is a much more realistic version of the vision-blocking abilities found in Valorant, only with more feasible technology behind it.
Blotting Out The Sun
Despite how strong a mobile light projector seems to be, several defending operators can counter Sens's R.O.U. projector system. Jager's Active Defense System (ADS) and Wamai's Mag-NET can momentarily capture thrown R.O.U.s and change their trajectory after a set amount of time. Maestro's Evil Eye cameras, as well as defending operators' bulletproof cameras, can see through the walls of light but cannot destroy the projectors on account of their bulletproof nature. Mute's Signal Jammers can deactivate projectors that drop in their area of coverage, giving defenders openings through which they can see past the R.O.U. light walls. However, the biggest counter to Sens's primary gadget is Warden's Glance Smart Glasses - which allow him to see through the walls of light and take out anyone foolish enough to use them as cover.
The R.O.U projector system brings more fantastical elements to Rainbow Six Siege in a somewhat realistic way, but it isn't as foolproof as the agent abilities found in Valorant. The gadget can easily be countered and even destroyed by certain defending operators, and attackers have to be wary before stepping through their Sens's walls of light. Only time will tell how effective the new R.O.U.projector system will be, and considering how soon Operation Vector Glare will release (it's on the test servers right now while the official launch is on June 7), Rainbow Six Siege players won't have to wait long to get their hands on it.
Rainbow Six Siege is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
