For the first time in a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six game, players will engage in sieges, a new style of assault where enemies have the means to transform their environments into modern strongholds while Rainbow Six teams lead the assault to breach the enemy’s position. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege gives players unprecedented control over their ability to fortify their position - by reinforcing walls and floors, using barbed wire, deployable shields and mines, and more - or breach the enemies’ using observation drones, sheet charges, rappelling, and more. The fast pace, lethality and uniqueness of each siege sets a new bar for intense firefights, strategic gameplay and competitive gaming.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege also features a technological breakthrough that redefines the way players interact with a game environment. Leveraging Ubisoft Montreal’s proprietary Realblast engine, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege incorporates procedural destruction that is realistic and unscripted, meaning the environment reacts authentically, distinctively and dynamically, based on variables like the caliber of bullets or the amount of explosives used. This advance allows players to leverage destruction in meaningful ways. Walls can be shattered, opening new lines of fire. Ceilings and floors can be breached to create new access points. This ability to modify the level design in real time enables players to create new gameplay opportunities directly within the game level.

The team at Ubisoft Montreal is offering you a chance to be part of the development process with a Closed Alpha. Check out the Hostage Rescue mode shown off at E3 and get your hands on two maps as well as all ten of the newly revealed Operators. See them in action in the gameplay trailer below.

This is a chance for the dev team to really put Rainbow Six Siege through its paces, but because it’s in alpha you may notice some things in the environment seem unfinished. That’s because the team at Ubisoft Montreal is working hard to put the siege gameplay and innovative destruction technology first for players to get a good sense of how the game will feel and play. “The overall player experience is a big focus for the dev team,” Gameplay Designer Andrew Witts tells us. “Level design, player navigation, readability and input are our primary focus. The game really shines when a player gets his hands on the controller and goes into a match.”

While no final specs of the game are locked down (it’s still far too early for that), the team can say it will run at 60 FPS. “With the game being all about indoor close quarter combat, we are making sure that 60 FPS and low latency are mandatory so that player’s input is fast and responsive,” says Witts.

In addition to the House map premiered at E3 2014, the Alpha will also let players try out the brand new Plane map – a huge three-level monstrosity laden with trap doors and lethal choke points. “We were inspired by previous Rainbow games in terms of settings for some of the maps,” says Witts. “The plane was one of them, and it was a test. We really just wanted to try it. When we were developing it, it was kind of what we call an “edge case,” which is meant to stress our systems and gameplay in terms of size and in terms of choke points and things like that.”

“Our level design team is no joke. They made an awesome prototype and it was very fun. We thought it was just too awesome to not show and let people play, especially since we ourselves considered it to almost be the map that shouldn’t work. This is a map that, on paper, should not work, but it does and it’s incredibly fun.”

From the moment you and your fellow Attackers are dropped outside of the plane, it is a battle through a labyrinth of barricaded hallways and traps set by the Defenders. Take advantage of the ladders spread through the plane and don’t forget that you can always just make your own doorways. You can even try going through the ceiling if you really want to get the drop on the other team. As the Defenders, your squad will need to build a veritable fortress, which is where Operators like Castle (and his heavy-duty Kevlar barricades) come in handy. Keep a watchful eye on all nearby funnels and be ready for anything. Be sure to take out any surveillance drones you spot so your enemies never know what you’re planning.

The Closed Alpha will begin on April 7 at 10am ET and end on April 13 at 10am ET. Those who make it in will also have the chance to try out the ten recently revealed Operators, like the brutish Sledge and the ever-vigilant Pulse. If you weren’t able to get access to the Closed Alpha, you can head to the official website and sign up to be placed on the waiting list for the console and PC beta coming later this year, or pre-order Rainbow Six Siege for automatic entry.

Key Features

• Counter terrorist operatives are trained to handle extreme situations, such as hostage rescue, with surgical precision. As “short range” specialists, their training is concentrated on indoor environments. Operating in tight formations, they are experts of close quarter combat, demolition, and coordinated assaults.
• For the first time in Rainbow Six, players will engage in sieges, a brand-new style of assault. Enemies now have the means to transform their environments into strongholds: they can trap, fortify, and create defensive systems to prevent breach by Rainbow teams. To face this challenge, players have a level of freedom unrivaled by any previous Rainbow Six game. Combining tactical maps, observation drones, and a new rappel system, Rainbow teams have more options than ever before to plan, attack, and diffuse these situations.
• Destruction is at the heart of the siege gameplay. Leveraging Ubisoft Montreal’s proprietary Realblast engine, players now have the unprecedented ability to destroy environments. Walls can be shattered, opening new lines of fire, and ceiling and floors can be breached, creating new access points. Everything in the environment reacts realistically, dynamically, and uniquely based on the size and caliber of bullets you are using or the amount of explosives you have set. In Rainbow Six Siege, destruction is meaningful and mastering it is often the key to victory.