Rainbow Six Siege Operation Velvet Shell will arrive Tuesday, Feb. 7, introducing the new Coastline map as well as operators Jackal and Mira. It's the first major Siege update for 2017 and Ubisoft has shared a sneak preview of the new map and gameplay during its Six Invitational tournament event at Montreal.
Between the intense the matches, A Ubisoft panel featuring developers and YouTube personality MacieJay offered a brief preview of the new elements that both Jackal and Mira could potentially bring to the table. Check out the panel discussion in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber NukemDukem:
The panel begins with the attacker, Jackal. As we already know from the Ubisoft blog, the new G.E.O. operator Jackal is armed with a special tracking visor that reveals the footprints that enemies have left behind. According to Macie, Jackal doesn't necessarily track roamers. In fact, the skill easily allows a player to figure out whether the team of defenders are roaming or not. If the tracks from a reinforcement return to where it came from, Jackal will know the team is camping at the objective.
Jackal is armed with the C7E, a 30-round magazine assault rifle, PDW9, 50-round drum SMG, or an ITA 12L shotgun as primary weapons. But here's where it gets really interesting: Jackal's secondary weapons include the ITA 12S and USP 40. For Siege fans that know a thing or two about firearms, the ITA 12S is a sidearm shotgun, making Jackal the only operator with this unique and deadly loadout. Depending on how a player uses Jackal, the 12S has close quarter killing power but also the ability to destroy drywall to create new holes around the map.
As for Mira, her Black Mirror ability gives her team a one-way glass to offer a wider field of vision to anticipate enemy contact. Mira will have a total of two Black Mirror kits that can cut through both reinforced walls and unreinforced walls. What's more, only Thermite or Hibana will have the ability to cut through Mira's mirror. With this ability, Ubisoft hopes to see teams find new ways to defend objectives in areas previously thought to be undefendable. According to Macie, Mira's ability will motivate a defensive team to hunker down rather than roam.
Like Jackal, Mira will also be equipped with a shotgun as one of her loadouts. More importantly, Mira will have a Vector submachine gun, which possesses one of the most distinctive sounds given by its extremely high rate of fire.
Finally, Ubisoft also shared a glimpse of its new Siege main menu during its panel today. While I missed the opportunity to screen grab an image, we see that the more streamlined menu will remember the last game mode selected and offer it as an option to jump on immediately.
A full Operation Velvet Shell showcase sharing additional information will be revealed tomorrow. Are you excited for Rainbow Six Siege Operation Velvet Shell? Let us know in the comment section below!
