The next seasonal case in Rainbow Six Siege is a dystopian game of hold away. The limited-time mode, aptly called Apocalypse, transports players to a dilapidated version of the Outback map devastated by a “severe reactor failure.” The water has been polluted, crops have been burned, and the air is filthy. Attackers and defenders battle for possession of the world’s last living plant.
The setup of Apocalypse is dramatic. It reads, “Whoever has it has the ability to re-grow life on Earth.” “Who will be given the key to humanity’s new beginning after a century of global aridity?”
Despite that explanation, Apocalypse seems to be just the usual bomb mode (with the prized plant serving as the bomb) with a minor twist. “You will be able to pass the [plant] container across the map as the Defenders. As an Attacker, you can activate separate scanner rooms to determine whether or not a Defender is present.” That’s pretty cool. A typical Siege match is based on predictable bomb site tactics, but shifting the payload throws all of that out the window. On each team, only a few operators are available:
Attackers
- Fuze
- Gridlock
- Maverick
- Nomad
- Twitch
Defenders
- Maestro
- Melusi
- Rook
- Smoke
- Valkyrie
Along with the ten operators, you’ll find new irradiated looks for all of them in premium Apocalypse Collection alpha packs, which are so pricey that I have no trouble asking you not to purchase any. If you’re very fond of some of the outfits on sale, you can purchase them individually for about $15 each (still expensive).
Apocalypse is meant to be laid-back, but setting it to Outback doesn’t pique my interest. Outback is currently one of the least balanced maps in the game, so much so that it was omitted from Siege’s Ranked playlist (likely because it kept getting instantly banned by players). The chart will be updated in the second half of the year.
Apocalypse begins tomorrow, May 4, and will last two weeks, until May 18. I’ll probably give this a try, as I have with Siege’s other bizarre seasonal activities, and then return to the regular game.
