Rainbow Six Siege X Dual Front Preview: A Strategist’s Dream

With live service games falling just as fast as they rise, it’s a notable achievement for a game to stand its ground as long as Rainbow Six Siege has. With 10 years under its belt, Rainbow Six Siege has continued to adapt, evolve and reinforce its gameplay. Now with, hopefully, the next 10 years in sight, the game is set to undergo another major change in Rainbow Six Siege X.

With Siege X, one of the biggest changes comes in the form of a new mode: Dual Front. It takes the standard R6 Siege formula and turns it on its head, increasing games to a 6v6 format. Not only that, but each team now features both Attackers and Defenders at the same time, funneled into a brand-new two-lane map. It’s the largest map in Siege’s history. Each team starts with two sectors and a headquarters, as well as a neutral zone, with the goal now being for teams to take over their opponents sectors while defending their own. Where things start to get frantic is with the introduction of respawns, with players able to rejoin the fight upon death after a brief cooldown period. Players are also able to repick their Operators upon death, allowing for adjusting strategies as the game goes on. 

The new mode was officially unveiled during the recent Rainbow Six Siege X Showcase, where I was given the chance to test out Dual Front for myself ahead of the Closed Beta. Siege is tricky at the best of times, but has always excelled in allowing players to formulate strategies and adapt to a changing environment. In Dual Front, that’s more true than ever. 

With Dual Front taking place on such a large map, and one where the objective shifts, where and how you reinforce your defences will change continuously. This is largely in part to the ability to change Operators. Whereas before, in regular Siege, once an Operator has been identified that information is permanently revealed. Now, if an opponent changes their Operator on respawn, that Operator choice will be a mystery until they’ve been identified again. The same works for your own team’s Operator choices. It’s important to note that, with an Operator change, any gadgets or devices that you’ve planted with your previous Operator will be removed. So no stacking 30 cameras and turning the map into virtual Big Brother, sorry. 

Increasing the player count to 6v6 is no doubt a choice that’ll leave fans a little skeptical. The same 5v5 mode will remain in Siege’s regular core mode — that isn’t changing — but Dual Front adding an extra player into the mix has its advantages. For one, it evenly splits the Attacker and Defenders to three each on the same team. It also removes the burden somewhat should a teammate fall, coupled with the new respawn. Dropping from a 6-man team to a 5-man team is less of a nail in the coffin than dropping from 5 to 4. So, when I was getting my butt kicked relentlessly by my fellow journalists on the opposing team, it meant my own team wasn’t down on their luck too much. 

Siege X also marks the addition of something that almost feels like it should have been there all along, and it’s what Ubisoft is calling “Destructible Ingredients.” Exploring the map, you’ll come across certain objects, like a fire extinguisher or a gas pipe. The more curious among us probably would attempt to shoot it and expect a reaction. Well, up until recently, doing just that would have done nothing at all. Now, players can expect more reactive environments by interacting with these new elements in what feels like a very intuitive way. Shooting a fire extinguisher, for example, will now create a temporary smoke screen. Any enemies caught to close to it will also be concussed, allowing for a tactical advantage should the conditions line up. A gas pipe, on the other hand, will create a strong flame when shot, forming a barrier and allowing for players to cut off rotations. After a short time, the pipe will eventually explode, damaging anyone too close and also creating a patch of fire on the floor. 

All of these new elements are setting up Dual Front, and Siege X as a whole, to resonate with a whole new audience alongside its core players. It mixes Siege’s usual formula with a pinch of Team Deathmatch, promising a more relentless test of endurance. With each full match lasting roughly 20 minutes, Dual Front poses more of a marathon compared to regular Siege’s sprint. 

It took a moment to get out of the original Siege headspace, but once things started to click, I realised there was a whole new world of Rainbow Six to tap into. Dual Front is a brand new, permanent mode in Rainbow Six Siege — but it’s optional. Core Siege isn’t going anywhere, but it is getting a visual overhaul. Modernized maps offer improved textures, lighting, and audio, with the game’s map rotation steadily getting the updated treatment with each new Season. On top of that, Destructible Ingredients will be making their way into these classic maps, giving players even more to strategize with.

Rainbow Six Siege X rolls out on June 10 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.