Year 3 of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is well underway, and Ubisoft continues to expand and refine the game with a regular schedule of new content. Season 2 of the year kicks off later this summer with Operation Para Bellum, a big expansion that introduces new Operators, maps, and more to the ever-evolving tactical shooter.
Headlining Operation Para Bellum are two new Operators: Alibi and Maestro, both of whom are members of the Italian counterterrorism unit, the Gruppo di Intervento Speciale. In contrast to the previous pair of Operators, the Attackers Lion and Finka, Alibi and Maestro are both Defender-class characters, and their special skills are tailored to more strategic play.
Alibi's abilities revolve around deception. She can deploy three holographic decoys to trick opponents. Maestro, meanwhile, excels at blocking access to important areas. He can lay bulletproof cameras down around the map that fire laser-powered rounds at opponents. Each Operator on their own is tricky to deal with, but Ubisoft says the two especially shine when used together.
We recently got a chance to try both new Operators out ahead of their release. In the video above, you can watch us play several matches of Siege with Alibi and Maestro. We also got to play on the new Villa map--which is likewise arriving as part of the Operation Para Bellum update--as well as the newly buffed version of Clubhouse.
Operation Para Bellum launches for Rainbow Six Siege this summer. On top of the new Operators and map, it introduces a Pick & Ban system, which gives players the ability to counter opponents by banning certain Operators from play. The update also makes some balance tweaks to existing Operators, particularly Echo, who will receive a second Yokai drone and other buffs.