Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy brings one of the most comprehensive updates to Siege yet, from full map teardowns, to new operators, to smaller quality of life tweaks. A few anticipated features had been delayed in Rainbow Six Siege, but it seems like Operation Shadow Legacy is bringing most of them to the party.

For example, the replay editor, stats system, and new ping system were all supposed to be arriving earlier in the year with Operation Steel Wave, but all three were pushed back due to the pandemic. Thankfully for fans of the game, Operation Shadow Legacy is able to deliver them, along with a lot of new features all of its own.

The big headline grabber is without a doubt the arrival of Sam Fisher, or as he’s known here, Zero. It isn’t a new Splinter Cell, but it still feels good to see Fisher hasn’t been entirely forgotten about just yet.

Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy release date

The operation is currently on the test server, but it usually takes around a month to hit full release. While Ubisoft hasn’t provided an actual date, it’s widely believed the Shadow Legacy release date will be September 14, 2020.

Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy: new operator, zero

The big news for Operation Shadow Legacy is that Sam Fisher of Splinter Cell fame is arriving, under the code name Zero. While fans of Splinter Cell will be happy to get to play as him again, it’s now been seven years since we’ve had a Splinter Cell game. It seems like Ubisoft are still willing to showcase Fisher, but perhaps not Splinter Cell as a franchise.

In any case, Zero joins as a medium speed, medium armour attacker in Rainbow Six Siege, bringing with him a new loadout and a new unique gadget. You can read an more in depth rundown of Zero here.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: NEW gadgets

The new gadget Zero brings to Rainbow Six Siege is the Argus Launcher, which allows him to fire a camera into walls. If this is a penetrable surface, Zero will be able to view two camera feeds, one for each room, but will only be able to look at one feed at a time. The whole team has access to these feeds. On impenetrable walls, the camera merely sticks.

Zero’s cameras can be used to ping, and can fire a single laser beam, either to destroy an enemy gadget or to deal minor damage to an operator themselves. While stealthy, these cameras do make a distinctive noise as they’re being set up and can be easily destroyed with a bullet.

Away from Zero, Operation Shadow Legacy also introduces a new secondary gadget, the hard breach charge. It’s used to blow a hole through a wall, and is powerful enough to take out medium surfaces, but comes with greater blowback. The charge is automatically detonated.

In a gadget rework, Thatcher’s EMP grenades come in for a nerf, losing the ability to destroy enemy tech, and now only able to disable for a short while.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: chalet rework

The Chalet map comes in for an extensive remodel in Operation Shadow Legacy, with perhaps the biggest change being the new ability to rappel up to the chalet hut rooftops.

Several internal changes to this map have been made too, with Ubisoft trying to add in more rotation points. The list of changes can be found below:

• One hallway was added to improve rotation between the sites in Basement
• Trophy site switched out for a new one in Dining
• The biggest changes are with Bedroom and Office. The stairs that led up from the first floor have been moved to connect Trophy
• A brand-new room replaces the balcony next to Master Bedroom: the Solarium
• The Bathroom no longer connects directly into Bedroom, but rather serves as a rotation point
• A few other noticeable changes include the extension of the Mezzanine to connect to Office Balcony (where most windows have been blocked), and Wine Cellar no longer being separated into two rooms
• There is also a window above garage to put pressure on attackers on that site

It’s not a new map, but it certainly feels like a significantly different layout.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: replay editor

One of the game’s most anticipated incoming features is the match replay feature, which lets you watch any of your last ten matches back for analysis. The replays can be watched from multiple angles to allow you the best vantage point of every single decisive moment in the match. You’ll be able to watch from the POV of any player, as well as from the overhead camera.

The replay editor arrives in alpha status alongside a stats page, which you’ll be able to access to further analyse your performance. The replay editor could also be used to generate highlight reels, either of your best kills or most embarrassing deaths.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: NEW scopes

Operation Shadow Legacy’s updates to sights and scopes could quietly be the most important as they aim to improve accessibility in Rainbow Six Siege. Sights now come in a variety of colours, so that colour blind or visually impaired players can choose the best sights for them.

Scopes have also been changed, and now come in four zoom sizes; 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0, as Ubisoft tweaks the balancing and tries to sprinkle some smaller doses of freshness into the update.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: reinforcement pool

The reinforcement pool system in Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy changes the way teams prepare for combat. Rather than operators having two reinforcements each in their inventories, teams will now have access to a reinforcement pool of ten to share amongst themselves.

This means there’s the same number of reinforcements, but the way you use them will be different. It lets players with more knowledge of the map delegate where reinforcements can best be used and offers a greater chance for communication and collaboration.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: map ban

Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy will now allow teams to opt out of maps they absolutely hate. At the start of a round, teams will be presented with a selection of three maps and will each get to choose one map to ban. If they both choose a different map, the third remaining map will automatically be selected.

If teams chose the same map, one of the two remaining maps will be selected randomly by the game, and if teams actually quite like all three maps, they can elect not to ban any of the maps and just roll the dice.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: NEW ping system

Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy also brings with it a new ping system, which Ubisoft is calling Ping 2.0. It basically adds a lot more depth to the ping system, while keeping the deliberately simplistic charm.

Pings can now be colour coded for greater context, will be numbered with a code so your teammates know who sent the ping, and pings now work from drones or cameras, as well as from operators. These upgrades mesh well with Zero’s arrival, so there’s plenty of ways to use them.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE OPERATION SHADOW LEGACY: squadfinder

Like the stats page, the SquadFinder isn’t an addition to the game itself, but is instead a service on the Rainbow Six Siege website which has in-game benefits.

SquadFinder allows players to create profiles based on their stats and habits, setting up requests for specific game sessions, languages, playstyle and game modes to find similar players with good compatibility. You’ll also be able to send friend requests to help gain new teammates.

And that’s everything we know about the changes Operation Shadow Legacy brings. Sam Fisher joining the game is the headline change, but there’s a lot of extra trimmings which should all help improve the day to day play of the game too.

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