I'd spent time with Rainbow Six: Siege a few times. Once when it was a fresh release and another a few years ago when I was bored. But this year I picked it up again and gave it a real try in earnest, and part of me regrets having not been a bigger fan sooner.

Siege is some kind of cross between Valorant and Overwatch. It's the bomb-defusal shooter of Valorant and CS:GO but without the economy management aspects and gun sharing. The games are also less rounds and TTK is slightly higher. It's not quite as overthetop as Overwatch but it has many, many distinct hero characters with a wide range of abilities and traits. It all amalgams to a video game that feels exceedingly familiar to the bigger standouts in its genre but manages to be comfortably distinct as well.

Siege rewards skilled players and reward map knowledge. There's a shocking amount of teamplay required as you move up the higher ranks but a supremely good player is still easily capable of carrying their team which means that even the most fire of 1v5s can be winnable if you git gud. The destructable environments and walls and array of weaponry make the game pretty unique and pleasing. It's also still very visually appealing even with the game knocking on the door of a decade in existence.

I'm sure had I played this game more consistently for the last eight years I'd have a few different thoughts by now. But all-in-all it really is just a competent hero shooter that feels fun to play. It's nothing groundbreaking and there are better versions of its many elements. But not many compare to the sum of Siege's parts.